Dion Phaneuf

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Dion Phaneuf (born April 10, 1985 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) is a professional Canadian ice hockey defenceman. He is the son of Paul and Amber Phaneuf and has one younger brother, Dane.

Contents

1 Playing career

1.1 Rookie Season

2 Awards
3 Career statistics
4 International play

4.1 International statistics

5 External links

Playing career

Dion Phaneuf was drafted ninth overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Calgary Flames and completed a highly successful run in the Western Hockey League for the Red Deer Rebels in the spring of 2005. Phaneuf is regarded as a potential franchise defenceman in the NHL.

Phaneuf was named to the CHL First All-Star team for the 2003-04 and 2004-5 seasons, selected from the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL. In 2004 he picked up the Bill Hunter Trophy for Top Defenseman and was named to WHL East First All-Star Team. His unrelenting defensive-minded play and his bone-crushing bodychecks have led many to compare him to veteran defenseman Scott Stevens of the New Jersey Devils. In February of 2005 The Hockey News publication named him the number two prospect in the world behind Russian Alexander Ovechkin.

Known for his huge physical presence on the blueline, Phaneuf represented Canada at the 2004 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Helsinki, Finland. The team won silver in a heartbreaking defeat to the American junior team. Despite their loss, Phaneuf was named to the Tournament All Star Team. The following year Phaneuf returned to the 2005 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where the Canadians took gold for the first time in eight years. Phaneuf was again awarded a spot on the Tournament All-Star Team, and was named Top Defenseman of the tournament.

Rookie Season

Phaneuf made his NHL debut on the opening night of the 2005-06 NHL season for the Flames on October 5, 2005 in a 6-3 loss to Minnesota. He recorded his first point, first assist and first goal in the October 10, 2005 game against the Colorado Avalanche and was for the first time named the game's 1st star in a game versus Vancouver on November 7, 2005, recording 1 goal and 2 assists.

In the month of November, 2005, Phaneuf led in scoring among rookie defensemen with 3 goals and 6 assists. This achievement earned him the top rookie spot for the month of November as recognized by the NHL. Hockey's Future listed him as their #3 prospect behind Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby and said that he would likely win the James Norris Memorial Trophy at some point in his career. [link] On April 13, 2006 he became only the third rookie defenceman (along with Brian Leetch and Barry Beck) to score 20 goals in a season. As well, he broke the Calgary Flames' team record for goals by a rookie defenceman which was 18 by Gary Suter. It is especially noteworthy that while many elite NHL forwards tend to flourish early in their careers, due to their speed and dexterity, defensemen usually only come into fruition in their mid- to late-twenties, since they often require more time to build up the stamina to dominate a game physically, play more than 25 mintues a game, and quarterback (ie: effectively distribute the puck during) a power play. (Since 1980, only five defensemen, Ray Bourque, Gary Suter, Brian Leetch, Bryan Berard and Barret Jackman have won the Calder Trophy for best NHL rookie.)

Despite a solid regular season, Phaneuf faltered early in the ensuing playoff run, and was blamed by many for his team's early exit. In seven games against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Phaneuf finished with one goal and had a plus minus rating of -8. He failed to be a productive force on the point on the powerplay as he had been during the regular season. He was obviously outplayed by his rookie counterpart, Francois Beauchemin of Anaheim, and Phaneuf can be held directly responsible for at least a couple of Anaheim's goals in the series. There was some speculation that such an uncharacteristic performance may have been caused by an undisclosed injury. This suspicion was confirmed by Flames coach and general manager Darryl Sutter after the conclusion of the series when he stated that Phaneuf played the series hurt and likely only at 60% health; he was playing with a broken bone in his foot sustained in the final regular season game against Anaheim.

Awards

CHL First All-Star Team (2004)
Bill Hunter Trophy (2004)
NHL Rookie of the Month, November 2005

Career statistics

			Regular Season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2001-02	Red Deer Rebels	WHL	67	5	12	17	170	21	0	2	2	14
2002-03	Red Deer Rebels	WHL	71	16	14	30	185	23	7	7	14	34
2003-04	Red Deer Rebels	WHL	62	19	24	43	126	19	2	9	11	30
2004-05	Red Deer Rebels	WHL	55	24	32	56	73	7	1	4	5	12
2005-06	Calgary Flames	NHL	81	20	28	48	89	7	1	0	1	7
NHL Totals			81	20	28	48	89	7	1	0	1	7

Stats as of May 3, 2006.

International play

Played for Canada in:

2004 World Junior Championships (silver medal)
2005 World Junior Championships (gold medal)

International statistics

Year	Team	Event	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2004	Canada	WJC	6	2	2	4	29
2005	Canada	WJC	6	1	5	6	14
Senior Int'l Totals			0	0	0	0	0

External links

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