Garrett Stafford (born January 28, 1980 in Los Angeles, California, U.S.) is a professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently a part of the Detroit Red Wings organization.

Playing career

December 9, 2003 - Signed as a free agent by the San Jose Sharks.
July 16, 2007 - Signed as a free agent by the Detroit Red Wings.

Stafford played his first NHL game on February 23, 2008 against the Vancouver Canucks. He was recalled by the Wings earlier that day due to injuries to Niklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski and Chris Chelios.

Slashing Incident

On April 30, 2004 Stafford was playing for the Cleveland Barons against the Hamilton Bulldogs in the Calder Cup playoffs when he got into an altercation with Hamilton's winger Alexander Perezhogin. Stafford cross-checked Perezhogin in the face resulting in them both falling to the ice and as they were getting up Stafford took another swing with his stick, this time making contact with the back of Perezhogin's helmet. In response, Perezhogin swung his stick into Stafford's face as he was getting up. The slash knocked Stafford unconscious resulting in a concussion and sending him into convulsions on the ice as well as causing severe facial wounds which required 20 stitches to repair.

Perezhogin was charged with assault causing bodily harm and was given a one year probation as well as being ordered to cover Stafford's medical expenses and donate a further $5000 to charity. Perezhogin was also suspended for the rest of the playoffs and the whole of the 2004–05 season, the longest suspension in AHL history. Stafford was also suspended for six games for his part in the incident.

Awards

2002 Hockey East Second All-Star Team
2003 Hockey East All-Tournament Team
2004 AHL Second All-Star Team
2004 AHL All-Rookie Team

Career statistics

			Regular Season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1996–97	Des Moines Buccaneers	USHL	37	1	10	11	40	5	0	0	0	0
1997–98	Des Moines Buccaneers	USHL	53	6	17	23	89	12	1	3	4	42
1998–99	Des Moines Buccaneers	USHL	56	8	33	41	54	13	2	2	4	18
1999–00	University of New Hampshire	HE	38	3	9	12	28
2000–01	University of New Hampshire	HE	37	5	21	26	44
2001–02	University of New Hampshire	HE	36	5	22	27	42
2002–03	University of New Hampshire	HE	23	1	15	16	24
2003–04	Cleveland Barons	AHL	73	12	34	46	71	6	0	0	0	6
2004–05	Cleveland Barons	AHL	68	6	18	24	55	–	–	–	–	–
2005–06	Cleveland Barons	AHL	80	11	28	39	86	–	–	–	–	–
2006–07	Worcester Sharks	AHL	77	11	30	41	58	6	0	3	3	2
2007–08	Grand Rapids Griffins	AHL	69	11	33	44	36	–	–	–	–	–
	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	2	0	0	0	0
USHL Totals			146	15	60	75	183	30	3	5	8	60
HE Totals			134	14	67	81	138
AHL Totals			367	51	143	194	306	12	0	3	3	8
NHL Totals			2	0	0	0	0

External links

Garrett Stafford
Garrett Stafford
Born	28 January 1980 (age 44); Los Angeles, CA, U.S.
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position	Defence
Shoots	Right
NHL team; Former teams	Detroit Red Wings; Cleveland Barons (AHL); Worcester Sharks (AHL)
NHL draft	{{{draft}}}Undrafted
Playing career	2003–present

Garrett Stafford career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database