Brandon Saad

Brandon Saad

Saad with the Chicago Blackhawks on December 17, 2014
Born (1992-10-27) October 27, 1992
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 202 lb (92 kg; 14 st 6 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Columbus Blue Jackets
Chicago Blackhawks
National team  United States
NHL Draft 43rd overall, 2011
Chicago Blackhawks
Playing career 2011–present

Brandon Saad (born October 27, 1992)[1] is an American professional ice hockey player for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). Saad was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and attended Pine-Richland High School. He is an American of Syrian descent.[2] He was drafted in the second round, 43rd overall, by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. He won the Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 2013 and 2015.

Playing career

Amateur

In 2008-09 season Brandon played for the Mahoning Valley Phantoms to start his amateur ice hockey career. In the 2009–10 season, Saad played within the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in the United States Hockey League (USHL), finishing the season with the most goals (12) and points (26) on the team. He would then transfer to the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) for the 2010–11 season to play at the major junior level with the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). At the end of the season, Saad was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round, 43rd overall, at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

Professional

On October 4, 2011, Chicago signed Saad to a three-year, entry-level contract.[3] It was announced that he would start the season with the Blackhawks, making him the lowest-selected Chicago draft pick, at 43rd overall, to start with the Blackhawks in their draft year since defenceman Lasse Kukkonen (drafted 151st overall) in the 2003–04 season.[4] Saad later made his NHL debut with the Blackhawks on October 7, 2011, against the Dallas Stars, though he was quickly reassigned to Saginaw five days later, on October 12.[5]

After his return to the Spirit, Saad was named CHL Player of the Week for October 17 to October 23.[6] Following the trade of Saginaw team captain Ryan O'Connor to the Barrie Colts, Saad was named his replacement as captain for the remainder of the 2011–12 season,[7] finishing the year with an OHL-best 1.73 points-per-game average.[8]

Following the conclusion of the OHL season, Saad was recalled to the Blackhawks on April 16, 2012, making his Stanley Cup playoff debut on April 19, 2012.[9] He scored his first NHL point two nights later on April 21 with an assist on a goal by defenceman Nick Leddy against the Phoenix Coyotes, an eventual 2–1 win for Chicago.[10]

Saad with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2011.

On September 15, 2012, Chicago assigned Saad to the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League (AHL) in anticipation of the 2012–13 NHL lockout.[11] He was named CCM/AHL Player of the Week for the period of January 7–13, 2013, after scoring six points in just three games, including two game-winning goals.[12] On January 17, 2013, after the lockout was resolved, the Blackhawks included Saad on the team's starting roster for the shortened, 48-game 2012–13 season.[13] Saad scored his first career NHL goal on February 5 against Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks.[14] On February 22, Saad then scored a game-winning, short-handed goal against the Sharks to secure an NHL-record 17th straight game with at least one point to start a season for the 2012–13 Blackhawks, breaking the previous record of 16-straight games held by the 2006–07 Anaheim Ducks.[15] On May 6, Saad was named as a finalist for the 2013 Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's top rookie of the year, an award which ultimately went to the Florida Panthers' Jonathan Huberdeau.[16] On June 24, during the 2013 playoffs, Saad and the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup after defeating the Eastern Conference-winning Boston Bruins in six games in the Finals.

During the 2014–15 season, Saad tallied a career-high 23 goals and 29 assists for 52 points. He added eight more goals in the 2015 playoffs, including two game-winners and one short-handed goal, while also recording three assists. On June 15, 2015, Saad won his second Stanley Cup championship with Chicago as the Blackhawks defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games in the Finals.[17]

On June 30, 2015, Chicago traded Saad's negotiation rights as a pending restricted free agent, along with prospects Alex Broadhurst and Michael Paliotta, to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Jeremy Morin, Marko Daňo, Artem Anisimov, Corey Tropp and a fourth-round draft pick in 2016.[18] On July 3, Saad signed a six-year contract extension with the Blue Jackets worth $36 million.[19]

On January 6, 2016, Saad was selected to his first All-Star Game.

On April 2, 2016, Saad scored his first NHL hat trick in a 5-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes.[20]

Family

Saad drives to the net during the 2015 NHL Winter Classic at Nationals Park.

Saad is the son of a Christian-Syrian father, George Sr., and an American mother, Sandy.[21] His father migrated to America at the age of 18 and also aims to bring his relatives still living in Syria over to America, to avoid the threats of the Syrian Civil War.[22][23]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2008–09 Mahoning Valley Phantoms NAHL 47 29 18 47 48 — — — — —
2009–10 U.S. National Development Team (U18) USHL 24 12 14 26 18 — — — — —
2010–11 Saginaw Spirit OHL 59 27 28 55 47 12 3 9 12 10
2011–12 Saginaw Spirit OHL 44 34 42 76 38 12 8 9 17 4
2011–12 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0
2012–13 Rockford IceHogs AHL 31 8 12 20 10 — — — — —
2012–13 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 46 10 17 27 12 23 1 5 6 4
2013–14 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 78 19 28 47 20 19 6 10 16 6
2014–15 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 82 23 29 52 12 23 8 3 11 6
2015–16 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 78 31 22 53 14 — — — — —
NHL totals 286 83 96 179 58 67 15 19 34 16
Medal record
Representing the  United States
Ice hockey
IIHF U18 Championships
2010 Belarus

International

Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
2010 United States WJC18 1st, gold medalist(s) 7 3 3 6 4
2012 United States WJC 7th 6 1 5 6 0
Junior totals 13 4 8 12 4

Awards and honors

Award Year
NAHL
First All-Star Team 2008–09
Rookie of the Year 2008–09 [24]
OHL
First All-Star Team 2011–12 [25]
William Hanley Trophy – (Most Sportsmanlike Player) 2011–12 [26]
AHL
CCM/AHL Player of the Week (Jan. 13) 2012–13 [27]
NHL
All-Rookie Team 2012–13 [28]
Stanley Cup (Chicago Blackhawks) 2013, 2015
NHL All-Star 2016 [29]
International
World U-17 Hockey Challenge – Tournament All-Star Team 2009 [30]

References

  1. ↑ Highly-touted Pittsburgh kid Brandon Saad discusses his NHL dream | Hockey Independent Archived May 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ "Saad, Brandon - NHL Entry Draft Prospect Profiles". National Hockey League. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  3. ↑ Myers, Tracey. "Saad inks deal with Hawks, will start Friday". Comcast Sportsnet Chicago. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  4. ↑ Rogers, Jesse. "Chicago Blackhawks sign Brandon Saad". ESPN Chicago. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  5. ↑ Myers, Tracey. "Saad assigned to Saginaw". Comcast Sportsnet Chicago. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  6. ↑ "Generals' Christian Thomas Named CHL Player of the Week". Ontario Hockey League. December 6, 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-08.
  7. ↑ Austin, Kyle (17 January 2012). "Brandon Saad named Saginaw Spirit captain". The Saginaw News. Retrieved 18 January 2012.
  8. ↑ Austin, Kyle. "Chicago Blackhawks recall Saginaw Spirit forward Brandon Saad". MLive.com. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
  9. ↑ "Blackhawks recall six". Chicago Blackhawks. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  10. ↑ "Chicago Blackhawks vs. Phoenix Coyotes - Boxscore - April 21, 2012". ESPN.com. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  11. ↑ "Blackhawks make roster moves". ESPN.com. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  12. ↑ "IceHogs' Saad named Player of the Week". American Hockey League. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  13. ↑ Kuc, Chris (17 January 2013). "Blackhawks' roster set for season opener". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  14. ↑ "Chicago Blackhawks vs. San Jose Sharks - Boxscore - February 5, 2013 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  15. ↑ "Blackhawks set NHL record for best start to season". ESPN.com/Associated Press. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  16. ↑ Compton, Bryan. "Brendan Gallagher, Jonathan Huberdeau, Brandon Saad named Calder finalists - NHL Awards". National Hockey League. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  17. ↑ Lazerus, Mark (17 June 2015). "Brandon Saad open to giving Hawks a hometown discount". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  18. ↑ Peters, Chris (30 June 2015). "Blackhawks trade Brandon Saad to Blue Jackets in 7-player deal". CBS Sports. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  19. ↑ "Blue Jackets sign left wing Brandon Saad to six-year contract extension". Columbus Blue Jackets Official Website. July 3, 2015. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  20. ↑ https://www.nhl.com/news/brandon-saad-hat-trick/c-280090962
  21. ↑ John Burbridge (8 April 2013). "Blackhawk star rookie makes appearance at The Charleyhorse". nwitimes.com. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  22. ↑ Rob McKenzie (13 April 2014). "Blackhawks star Saad's story of coming to America a happy one". The National. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  23. ↑ Chris Kuc (24 May 2015). "Family, hockey mean everything to Blackhawks' Brandon Saad". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  24. ↑ "Phantoms' Saad named NAHL Rookie of the Year". OurSportsCentral.com. 2009-04-01. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  25. ↑ "OHL Announces 2011-12 All-Star Teams". Ontario Hockey League. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  26. ↑ "Saad OHL's Most Sportsmanlike Player". Ontario Hockey League. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  27. ↑ "Brandon Saad named CCM/AHL Player of the Week". AHL Press Release/Rockford IceHogs. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  28. ↑ "Calder finalists head NHL's All-Rookie team". National Hockey League. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  29. ↑ "Brandon Saad selected to participate in 2016 Honda NHL All-Star Game". National Hockey League. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
  30. ↑ "U17's take bronze at World Challenge". North American Hockey League. 2009-05-06. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
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