Steve Brule

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Steve Brule (Born January 15, 1975 in Montreal, Quebec) is a former NHL player who currently playes in Europe.

1 Junior career
2 Professional career
3 Awards & Achievements
4 External Links

[edit] Junior career

Steve Brule played his Junior hockey with St-Jean of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and in his three years with them he quickly established himself as a skilled, high-scoring forward. In 1994 he began his professional career, just days after finishing his Junior run, when he joined the Albany River Rats, the top minor league affiliate of the New Jersey Devils, the club that drafted him in 1993.

[edit] Professional career

With the River Rats, Brule picked up where he left off in Junior with a smooth transition to the AHL. In his first full season with Albany Brule fired home 30 goals and 51 points. The next year he notched 28 goals and 76 points. He then strung together three consecutive 30 plus goal campaigns while his point total never dipped below 76. Brule was now firmly established as consistent, skilled forward at the AHL level, but he was never given a look at the NHL level partly due to the very strong and deep New Jersey roster.

When the Devils began their pursuit of the Stanley Cup in the spring of 2000 Brule was among a handful of players that made up their taxi squad and he spent the spring working out with the Devils and waiting in the wings in case he was needed due to injury or slump. When the Devils squared off against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and rookie Scott Gomez seemed snake bitten Brule's name began to surface as a possible replacement. Eventually, he got his chance.

Brule joined the Devils for a single game and was held off the scoresheet. However, when the Devils advanced to the Finals and defeated the defending champion Dallas Stars, Brule, with zero regular season games in his career, got his name engraved on the Stanley Cup.

Brule left New Jersey shortly after the Cup victory and signed with the Detroit Red Wings as a free agent. Despite a solid training camp with the Red Wings, he couldn't crack their star laden lineup and spent his year with the Manitoba Moose of the International League instead. The following year the Wings moved him to the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks where he was an instant hit. Brule led the team in scoring with 21 goals and 63 points and was named the Ducks Player of the Year for his efforts.

The Following year in 2003 he joined the Colorado Avalanche where he played 2 games before being sent to the AHL's Hershey Bears where he spent the next 2 seasons.

He played the next 3 years in the DEL in Germany.

He currently (2006-07) plays for Graz EC in Austria.