Keith Primeau

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Position Center
Shot Left
Nickname Prims
Height
Weight		 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
220 lb (100 kg)
Pro Clubs Detroit Red Wings
Hartford Whalers
Carolina Hurricanes
Philadelphia Flyers
Nationality Flag of Canada Canada
Born November 24, 1971,
Toronto, ON, CA
NHL Draft 3rd overall, 1990
Detroit Red Wings
Pro Career 1990 – 2006

Keith Primeau (born November 24, 1971, in Toronto, Ontario) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He is currently an analyst on Comcast SportsNet's Post Game Live, a program which follows every Philadelphia Flyers game. His younger brother Wayne Primeau plays for the Calgary Flames.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

Primeau was drafted third overall in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by the Detroit Red Wings after playing two years with the Niagara Falls Thunder of the OHL. He split his first two professional seasons with Detroit and the Adirondack Red Wings of the AHL. He set career highs in assists (42), points (73), and plus/minus (+34) in 1993-94. He made his only Stanley Cup Finals appearance while with the Red Wings in 1995, losing in a sweep to the New Jersey Devils. Primeau held out after the club signed Igor Larionov and after playing for Canada in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, Detroit traded him along with Paul Coffey and a 1997 first round draft pick (Nikos Tselios) to the Hartford Whalers for Brendan Shanahan and Brian Glynn prior to the 1996-97 season.

Primeau became a leader with his new team when the franchise moved to North Carolina and became the Carolina Hurricanes, being named team captain in 1998-99. He missed the majority of the 1999-2000 NHL season after holding out, however, and was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers along with a 2000 fifth round draft pick (Kristofer Ottosson) for Rod Brind'Amour, Jean-Marc Pelletier and a 2000 second round draft pick (Agris Saviels) on January 23, 2000. On May 5, 2000, Primeau scored the game-winning goal in the longest game in modern NHL playoff history (five overtime periods for a total of 152 minutes and one second) against Ron Tugnutt of the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Only two games in 1933 and 1936 were longer.

In his first full season with the Flyers, Primeau led the team in goals (34) and tied his career high in points (73) in 2000-01. Early in the following season, he was named team captain after defenseman Eric Desjardins resigned from the position. After posting nearly identical seasons statistically in 2001-02 and 2002-03, Primeau was given the task of centering a more defense-oriented line in 2003-04. He did well enough to earn a place in the 2004 NHL All-Star Game, the second of his career. In the 2004 playoffs Primeau recorded 9 goals and 7 assists for a total of 16 points; it was the best playoff year of Primeau's career and his play carried the team to within a game of the Stanley Cup Finals. Hockey legend Phil Esposito would later tell Primeau that "During the 04 playoffs when you and the Flyers took the Lightning to seven games, you were the most dominating player I ever saw. More than Orr, Howe, Gretzky, or anyone."[1]

Nine games into the 2005-06 season, Primeau suffered a concussion which ended his season. As a result of ongoing post-concussion syndrome, he officially announced his retirement on September 14, 2006.[2] On February 12, 2007, Keith Primeau was honored before a game against the Detroit Red Wings, the team which originally drafted him. An emotional Primeau thanked the fans for welcoming him after being traded to Philadelphia.[3]

[edit] Awards

[edit] Records

  • May 5, 2000: Ended longest game in modern NHL playoff history with his goal at 92:01 of overtime

[edit] Career statistics

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1987-88 Hamilton OHL 47 6 6 12 69 11 0 2 2 2
1988-89 Niagara Falls OHL 48 20 35 55 56 17 9 6 15 12
1989-90 Niagara Falls OHL 65 57 70 127 97 16 16 17 33 49
1990-91 Adirondack AHL 6 3 5 8 8 - - - - -
1990-91 Detroit NHL 58 3 12 15 106 5 1 1 2 25
1991-92 Adirondack AHL 42 21 24 45 89 9 1 7 8 27
1991-92 Detroit NHL 35 6 10 16 83 11 0 0 0 14
1992-93 Detroit NHL 73 15 17 32 152 7 0 2 2 26
1993-94 Detroit NHL 78 31 42 73 173 7 0 2 2 6
1994-95 Detroit NHL 45 15 27 42 99 17 4 5 9 45
1995-96 Detroit NHL 74 27 25 52 168 17 1 4 5 28
1996-97 Hartford NHL 75 26 25 51 161 - - - - -
1997-98 Carolina NHL 81 26 37 63 110 - - - - -
1998-99 Carolina NHL 78 30 32 62 75 6 0 3 3 6
1999-00 Philadelphia NHL 23 7 10 17 31 18 2 11 13 13
2000-01 Philadelphia NHL 71 34 39 73 76 4 0 3 3 6
2001-02 Philadelphia NHL 75 19 29 48 128 5 0 0 0 6
2002-03 Philadelphia NHL 80 19 27 46 93 13 1 1 2 14
2003-04 Philadelphia NHL 54 7 15 22 80 18 9 7 16 22
2005-06 Philadelphia NHL 9 1 6 7 6 - - - - -
NHL Totals 909 266 353 619 1541 128 18 39 57 213

[edit] International play

Played for Canada in:

[edit] International statistics

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
1996 Canada W-Cup 5 0 0 0 21
1997 Canada WC-A 11 3 3 6 14
1998 Canada Olym 6 2 1 3 4
1998 Canada WC-A 6 3 1 4 4

[edit] References

  1. ^ Rumors, Rumors, Rumors, and Breaking the Forsberg Story..., HockeyBuzz.com, retrieved on February 26 2007
  2. ^ Concussion effects force Keith Primeau to retire, ESPN.com, retrieved on December 17 2006
  3. ^ Fond farewell for Primeau in Philly, NHL.com, retrieved on February 27 2007

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Kevin Dineen		 Carolina Hurricanes captains
1998-99		 Succeeded by
Ron Francis
Preceded by
Eric Desjardins		 Philadelphia Flyers captains
2001-06
Derian Hatcher 2006		 Succeeded by
Peter Forsberg

Note: Primeau missed nearly all of the 2005/06 NHL season, due to a concussion. Derian Hatcher served as Flyers captain (due to Primeau's absence), during the last-half of the 2005/06 NHL season.

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