Eric Brewer (ice hockey)

Eric Peter Brewer (born April 17, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played sixteen seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 2000 to 2015.

He is an NHL All-Star and Olympic gold medalist.

Brewer was born on April 17, 1979, in Vernon, British Columbia, to Anna and Frank Brewer.

He was raised in Ashcroft, British Columbia, and began playing ice hockey in the Ashcroft Minor Hockey program.

When he was fourteen, his family moved to Kamloops, British Columbia, where he attended junior and senior high school.

Brewer excelled with the Kamloops Bantam AAA Jardine Blazers of the British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association (BCAHA).

Brewer was drafted in the sixth round, 81st overall, by the Prince George Cougars in the 1994 WHL Bantam Draft.

After being drafted, he played one final season with the Jardine Blazers, recording 38 points in only forty games.

In 1995, Brewer was exposed to BCAHA Best Ever, a program designed to find and develop players and coaches for play in international competition.

As a young hockey player, Brewer looked up to NHL stars Scott Niedermayer and Jeremy Roenick as role models.

The following year, Brewer began his WHL career with the Cougars, playing 63 games in the 1995–96 season.

Brewer finished his rookie WHL season with fourteen points, including four goals, and was named Cougars' Rookie of the Year.

In his sophomore season, Brewer became a leader on the Cougars' blue line.

Drafted in the first round, fifth overall by the New York Islanders in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, Brewer has spent parts of his sixteen-year NHL career with the Islanders, the Edmonton Oilers, the St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Anaheim Ducks and Maple Leafs, and captained the Blues for two years.

He has also suited up for the Prince George Cougars of the WHL and the Lowell Lock Monsters of the American Hockey League (AHL).

He was named to play for Team Orr in the 1997 CHL Top Prospects Game in February 1997 at Maple Leaf Gardens.

He doubled his point total from the previous season, finishing with 29 points in 71 games played.

Brewer followed his regular season by helping the Cougars go on a playoff run.

After clinching the last spot in the West Division with a losing record, the Cougars defeated the number-one seed Portland Winter Hawks in the conference quarterfinals and the third-ranked Spokane Chiefs in the conference semifinals before finally losing to the second-ranked Seattle Thunderbirds in the Western Conference final.

Brewer finished this run with six points in the Cougars' fifteen games.

Brewer's final season with Prince George was his best, statistically, in the WHL.

Brewer was the highest ranked defenceman at sixth overall among North American skaters heading into the 1997 NHL Entry Draft.

He was drafted fifth overall by the New York Islanders in June 1997.

He began his career as a distinguished junior ice hockey player, named to the Western Hockey League (WHL) West Second All-Star Team and the Western Conference roster for the 1998 WHL All-Star Game (although he missed the game due to injury).

After representing Canada at the 1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, he was named to the Western Conference team for the WHL All-Star Game in Regina, Saskatchewan, which he missed, as well as much of the season, due to injury.

However, Brewer finished the year with 33 points in only 34 games, a near one point-per-game average, and was named to the WHL West Second All-Star Team.

In 1999, Brewer was selected for the Prince George Cougars' all-time team in a Canadian Hockey League promotion.

Brewer has represented Canada at eight International Ice Hockey Federation-sanctioned events, winning three Ice Hockey World Championships gold medals and one World Cup of Hockey gold medal.

He won his Olympic gold medal during the 2002 Winter Olympics.

For this accomplishment, he was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame with his British Columbian teammates in 2003.

In mid-2004, Brewer married Rebecca Flann, whom he met while playing junior hockey with the Prince George Cougars; they live in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Brewers have two daughters.

Brewer's sister, Kristi, played for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds women's ice hockey team.

Brewer is involved in numerous charitable organizations.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Brewer participated in several charity hockey games, playing in the four-game Ryan Smyth and Friends All-Star Charity Tour, the three-game Brad May and Friends Hockey Challenge, as well as the Our Game to Give charity hockey game held at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton, Ontario.

During off-seasons, Brewer has participated in numerous charity golf tournaments, including the Burn Fund Golf Tournament in Prince George and the Recchi-Doan Charity Classic in Kamloops.

Brewer has been a part owner of the Prince George Cougars, the team with which he played his junior hockey, since 2014.

In 2022, Brewer was inducted into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame.

In 2014, Brewer became a part owner of the Prince George Cougars, joining a group of investors that includes fellow Cougars alumnus Dan Hamhuis.

In July 2022, Brewer was inducted into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame as part of the 2020 induction class, after the original induction ceremony was postponed due to COVID-19-related gathering restrictions.