This Bryan Berard Autograph New York Islanders 8x10 NHL Photograph is the exact item you will receive.
Bryan Wallace Berard (born March 5, 1977) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. Berard was the first overall pick in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators. He is most noted for a debilitating eye injury he received early in his career. Berard underwent several operations, and played 619 games in his NHL career despite the seriousness of the injury.
Berard was drafted first overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. As the first overall pick, and with the Senators blue line among the weaker in the league, Berard anticipated going straight to the National Hockey League. However, after his first training camp with the team, he was returned to junior hockey. Concerned about his development, Berard requested a trade.
In January 1996, the Senators sent him to the New York Islanders in a trade that saw his rights, along with those of Wade Redden, Martin Straka, Don Beaupre, and Damian Rhodes move between the teams.
Berard joined the Islanders for 1996–97 season and made an immediate impact. With 48 points in his rookie season, he led all defensemen on the team, and finished ninth league-wide in scoring amongst defensemen.
He was rewarded for his efforts by winning the Calder Trophy as the top rookie in the NHL, edging out Jarome Iginla. He also played for the United States in the 1998 Winter Olympics. The team finished sixth.
After three years with the Islanders, the team was concerned with his ability to play defense and were in search of a proven goaltender. The Islanders traded Berard to the Toronto Maple Leafs for goaltender Félix Potvin in January 1999.
Berard put up 19 points in 38 games with the Maple Leafs, and played 17 more contests in the postseason. In his second year with the club, he had 30 points in 64 games when on March 11, 2000, during a game against the Senators in Ottawa, the stick of the Senators' Marián Hossa clipped Berard in the right eye on a follow through.
The eye was severely slashed on the sclera which resulted in a retinal tear and a detached retina. In the hospital after the incident, after being told he might lose his eye, Berard reportedly told his friends that he would play hockey again.
In 2005 he returned and in his first season with the Blue Jackets saw him post impressive numbers with 12 goals and 32 points in just 44 games but a back injury - and subsequent surgery - shut him down in March. In October, when he should have been gearing up for his second year with the club, he had another surgery to repair a herniated disc in his back and managed to play eleven games with the Jackets.