Brian Rafalski

Brian Christopher Rafalski (born September 28, 1973) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman.

He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings, in the SM-liiga for HPK and HIFK, in the Elitserien for Brynäs IF, and in the ECHL for the Florida Everblades.

As a youth, Rafalski played in the 1987 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Detroit.

Rafalski played for the Madison Capitols of the United States Hockey League (USHL).

In 47 games during the 1990–91 season he scored 23 points with 12 goals and 11 assists.

Rafalski played for four years at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and was a proficient player, scoring 45 points in 43 games in his senior year with the Badgers.

He won several awards that season — he was named to the WCHA First All-Star Team, the NCAA West All-Star Team and the WCHA Defenseman of the Year.

With no immediate NHL prospects, however, Rafalski travelled overseas, spending the 1995–96 season with Brynäs IF of the Swedish Elitserien.

After scoring only nine points in 22 games in Sweden, he then moved to Finland to play a season for HPK of the SM-liiga, scoring 35 points.

After going undrafted, Rafalski spent four seasons in Europe - winning the Pekka Rautakallio trophy as best Liiga Defenseman in 1997, and 1999, the Finnish SM-liiga championship with HIFK in 1998, and the Kultainen kypärä ("the Golden Helmet") in 1999.

He then moved to HIFK in 1997, where he spent two successful years.

In his final year in Finland, he scored 19 goals and 53 points in 53 games, and won the Kultainen kypärä, awarded to the top SM-liiga player of the season, as voted by fellow players.

Notably, he also became the first non-Finnish player to win the award.

After Entering the NHL in 1999 with the New Jersey Devils, Rafalski was part of 3 Stanley Cup Championship teams with the New Jersey Devils in 2000 and 2003; and with the Detroit Redwings in 2008.

Rafalski was named by Sporting News in 1999 as the best hockey player in the world not playing in the NHL.

On May 7, 1999, Rafalski was signed by the New Jersey Devils as a free agent at the age of 25 to start the 1999–2000 season.

Immediately after arriving in New Jersey, Rafalski was partnered on defense with Devils captain Scott Stevens.

In total he played in five Stanley Cup finals in his NHL career (2000, 2001, 2003, 2008, 2009).

His 18 points during the 2001 playoffs set a team record for defensemen, although the Devils lost to the Colorado Avalanche in the Finals.

In the 2001–02 season, Rafalski continued his scoring pace, registering 47 points.

He was selected to participate in the National Hockey League All-Star Game, but was forced to sit out due to injury.

The next season, he once again led all Devils defensemen in scoring, with 40 points.

Rafalski also played for the United States national team in three Olympic ice hockey tournaments (2002, 2006, and 2010).

He was a vital part of a Devils defense that helped the team win the Stanley Cup again in a seven-game series win over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in June 2003.

The two remained as mainstay defensive partners for five years, until Stevens' retirement in 2004.

Rafalski finished his rookie season with 32 points and led all rookie defensemen in plus-minus with a +21 rating, second among Devils defensemen and tied for first amongst all rookie players.

Rafalski helped the Devils win the Stanley Cup that year and along with Calder Memorial Trophy-winning teammate Scott Gomez, he was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team.

Rafalski improved his production in his sophomore season, scoring 52 points.

On July 1, 2007, the Detroit Red Wings signed Rafalski to a $30 million, five-year contract as an unrestricted free agent.

Rafalski had grown up in nearby Dearborn, Michigan, and had been a Red Wings fan growing up.

He was teamed with another legendary defenseman, Nicklas Lidström.

Rafalski set a career high in goals (11) after scoring against the St. Louis Blues on March 5, 2008.

He went on to score 13 goals for the season, amassing that amount in 73 games.

On June 4, 2008, Rafalski helped lead the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup over the Pittsburgh Penguins, Rafalski's third Cup victory.

He helped the cause by scoring the first Red Wings goal on the power play in the first period of Game 6 to help Detroit edge Pittsburgh 3–2.

On January 1, 2009, Rafalski scored the game-winning goal for the Red Wings in the 2009 Winter Classic, the first NHL game played outdoors in Red Wings history.

The Red Wings defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, 6–4.

On May 5, 2009, Red Wings Head Coach Mike Babcock announced that Rafalski would miss Game 3 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals.

It was the first time Rafalski missed the first three games of a series.

Rafalski finished the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs with three goals and nine assists as the Red Wings came within a game of repeating as Stanley Cup champions, falling to the Pittsburgh Penguins.