Chris Gratton
| Chris Gratton | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born |
July 5, 1975 Brantford, ON, CAN | ||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) | ||
| Weight | 230 lb (104 kg; 16 st 6 lb) | ||
| Position | Centre | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
Tampa Bay Lightning Philadelphia Flyers Buffalo Sabres Phoenix Coyotes Colorado Avalanche Florida Panthers Columbus Blue Jackets | ||
| National team |
 Canada | ||
| NHL draft |
3rd overall, 1993 Tampa Bay Lightning | ||
| Playing career | 1993–2009 | ||
Christopher A. Gratton (born July 5, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who last played with the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League. He is the cousin of Josh Gratton, who had also briefly played in the NHL as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers and the Phoenix Coyotes.
Playing career
Junior Hockey
Gratton played his minor hockey in his hometown of Brantford, playing for such programs as the Brantford Nodrofsky Steelers (same program Wayne Gretzky played in many years earlier) and the Brantford CKPC Knights. As a 15-year-old, he played one season with the Jr B Brantford Classics.
In 1991, Gratton was selected third overall in the OHL Priority Selection by the Kingston Frontenacs. After his rookie year in the OHL, Gratton received the Emms Family Award as rookie of the year. In 1993, he was selected third overall in the NHL Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Gratton made his NHL debut for the Tampa Bay Lightning on October 6, 1993 against the New Jersey Devils. He recorded his first career point (a powerplay assist on a Bob Beers goal) in his second game against the New York Rangers the next night. He scored his first career goal against Robb Stauber of the Los Angeles Kings in a 4-3 Lightning loss on October 20, 1993[1]
Philadelphia Flyers
In 1997 Gratton signed with the Philadelphia Flyers as a free agent after four seasons with the Lightning, earning a $9 million signing bonus. In 1997–98, Gratton matched his career high of 62 points and recorded a career-best plus/minus rating of +11. Gratton was traded back to Tampa Bay the next season.
Second Stint with Lightning
Gratton served as Tampa Bay's captain during the 1999–2000 NHL season until his trade in March, 2000, when Tampa Bay traded Gratton to the Buffalo Sabres.
Buffalo Sabres
Gratton would play for the Buffalo Sabres from March 2000, till March, 2003, when the Sabres traded him to the Phoenix Coyotes. One year later on March 9, 2004, Phoenix traded Gratton, along with Ossi Vaananen and a second round draft pick (Paul Stastny) in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft to the Colorado Avalanche for Derek Morris and Keith Ballard.[2]
Florida Panthers
After the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Gratton signed a one-year contract with the Florida Panthers. Gratton signed a two-year contract extension with the Panthers in March, 2006.[3] He was traded back to the Lightning again on June 13, 2007, in exchange for a second round draft pick (Florida selected Jacob Markström with the draft pick).[4]
Return to Tampa Bay Lightning
During the 2007–08 season, Gratton scored 21 points in 60 games before tearing the acetabular labrum in his left hip which required season-ending surgery.[5] Gratton re-signed with the Lightning for the 2008–09 season but was waived in December and was assigned to Tampa's American Hockey League affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals.[6]
Columbus Blue Jackets
Gratton was claimed off of re-entry waivers on February 21, 2009, by the Columbus Blue Jackets.[7] He played in six games for Columbus, recording an assist, before retiring in 2009.
Personal life
Gratton is co-owner of the Florida Jr. Blades Organization (in the 29-team Empire Junior Hockey League).
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1991–92 | Kingston Frontenacs | OHL | 62 | 27 | 39 | 66 | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Kingston Frontenacs | OHL | 58 | 55 | 54 | 109 | 125 | 16 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 42 | ||
| 1993–94 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 84 | 13 | 29 | 42 | 123 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 46 | 7 | 20 | 27 | 89 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 82 | 17 | 21 | 38 | 105 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 27 | ||
| 1996–97 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 82 | 30 | 32 | 62 | 201 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 82 | 22 | 40 | 62 | 159 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 1998–99 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 26 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 41 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 52 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 102 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 58 | 14 | 27 | 41 | 121 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 14 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2000–01 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 82 | 19 | 21 | 40 | 102 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 14 | ||
| 2001–02 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 82 | 15 | 24 | 39 | 75 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 66 | 15 | 29 | 44 | 86 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 68 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 93 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 13 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | ||
| 2005–06 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 76 | 17 | 22 | 39 | 104 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 81 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 94 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 60 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 77 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 18 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Norfolk Admirals | AHL | 24 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 1,092 | 214 | 354 | 568 | 1,638 | 40 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 82 | ||||
| OHL totals | 120 | 82 | 93 | 175 | 162 | 16 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 42 | ||||
See also
References
- ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/199310200TBL.html
- ^ "Avalanche acquire Salo, Gratton". CBC. 2004-03-09. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
- ^ "Panthers lock up Chris Gratton". CBC.ca. 2006-03-09. Retrieved 2008-03-02.
- ^ "Chris Gratton traded back to Lightning". CBC.ca. 2007-06-13. Retrieved 2008-03-02.
- ^ "Lightning's Chris Gratton to undergo hip surgery". lightning.nhl.com. 2008-02-28. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ^ "Lightning assign NHL veteran Chris Gratton to Admirals". oursportscentral.com. 2008-12-09. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ^ "Lightning cast off Chris Gratton in waiver-wire move". sportingnews.com. 2009-02-21. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
External links
Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
- 1975 births
- Buffalo Sabres players
- Canadian ice hockey centres
- Colorado Avalanche players
- Columbus Blue Jackets players
- Florida Panthers players
- Kingston Frontenacs players
- Living people
- National Hockey League first round draft picks
- Norfolk Admirals players
- Philadelphia Flyers players
- Phoenix Coyotes players
- Tampa Bay Lightning draft picks
- Tampa Bay Lightning players
- Ice hockey people from Ontario
- Sportspeople from Brantford