Jason Spezza

Jason Rocco Anthony Spezza (born June 13, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and current assistant general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League.

Spezza was born on June 13, 1983, in Mississauga, Ontario.

He was born to Italian parents Rino and Donna Spezza along with twin siblings Michelle and Matthew.

Growing up in the Toronto area, he watched the Toronto Maple Leafs, but has cited Mario Lemieux as his favourite player as a child.

Spezza attended St. Michael's College School.

At age one, Spezza won a baby contest and began his youth modelling career.

The victory resulted in Spezza becoming the poster boy for Baby, a Broadway musical that played at Toronto's O'Keefe Centre in the summer of 1984.

At age five, Spezza was chosen for a Minute Maid commercial.

Two years later, he modelled clothing for stores Woolco and Kmart.

Spezza played for the Toronto Marlboros in 1997, recording 114 points in 54 games.

At age 15, Spezza began his major junior career in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Brampton Battalion in 1998–99, under a rule permitting the then-underage player to play on his hometown team.

He scored at more than a point-per-game pace as an underaged player with 71 points in 67 games.

He subsequently became the youngest player ever to participate in an OHL All-Star game at age 15.

After one season with the Battalion, he was required to enter the OHL Priority Draft and was selected by the Mississauga IceDogs in the team's second season in 1999–2000.

When he made his World Junior debut in 2000, he became the third 16-year-old in history to make the team, after Wayne Gretzky and Eric Lindros.

He recorded 61 points in 52 games that season before requesting a trade and subsequently being dealt 15 games into the 2000–01 season to the Windsor Spitfires.

Spezza went on to record an OHL career-high 116 points in 66 games that season.

After beginning his major junior career at the early age of 15 in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Spezza was selected second overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators, eventually serving as their team captain following the departure of Daniel Alfredsson.

Entering the 2001 NHL Entry Draft having been named the Top CHL Prospect, Spezza was drafted second overall by the Ottawa Senators, after Ilya Kovalchuk was selected by the Atlanta Thrashers.

The second overall pick originally belonged to the New York Islanders but was traded to Ottawa (along with Zdeno Chára and Bill Muckalt) in exchange for Alexei Yashin on the day of the Draft.

During the summer of 2001, Spezza passed on an invitation to the Canadian junior team's summer camp because he said he wanted to prepare for his first NHL camp.

After one more OHL season split between the Spitfires and the Belleville Bulls, resulting in a 105-point season, Spezza began his professional career in the American Hockey League (AHL).

He signed his first professional contract with the Senators, a multi-year deal, on September 5, 2001.

Following Spezza's fourth OHL season in 2001–02, he was assigned to the Senators' AHL affiliate the Grand Rapids Griffins for the 2002 Calder Cup playoffs, where he made his professional debut, playing in three playoff games and scoring one goal.

Spezza played 19 career seasons in the NHL from 2002 to 2022.

He made his NHL debut the next season in 2002–03 with Ottawa, playing in 33 games and recording 21 points, and scored his first NHL goal on October 29, 2002, in a 2–1 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers.

However, he played the majority of the season in the AHL with Ottawa's new affiliate, the Binghamton Senators, and was called-up regularly to replace injured Ottawa players.

He also competed in three Stanley Cup playoff games with Ottawa during his rookie season, helping the team in its 2003 playoff run to the Eastern Conference Finals.

In his playoff debut on May 21, 2003, Spezza assisted on the game-winning goal in Game 3.

The Senators came within one game of the Stanley Cup Finals, losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils.

Spezza played his first full NHL season with the Senators in 2003–04 and scored 22 goals and 55 points in 78 games.

Playing in the American Hockey League (AHL) in 2004–05 due to the NHL lockout, he won the Les Cunningham Award as league MVP with the Binghamton Senators.

However, due to the subsequent NHL lockout, Spezza returned to the AHL in 2004–05.

Scoring 117 points with Binghamton, he outscored Michael Cammalleri of the Manchester Monarchs by eight points to capture the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the league's leading scorer.

Spezza was also awarded the Les Cunningham Award as league MVP.

In 2005–06, Spezza set an Ottawa Senators franchise record with 71 assists, while hitting the 90-point mark for the first of two times in his NHL career.

He later played for the Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Following his retirement, he spent a year in the Maple Leafs' front office, before taking his current role with the Penguins.

Internationally, Spezza represented Canada at three World Junior Championships and two World Championships.

With NHL play set to resume in 2005–06, Spezza returned to Ottawa.