Bryan Little

For other people of the same name, see Bryan Little (disambiguation).
Bryan Little

Little with Winnipeg Jets in 2013
Born (1987-11-12) November 12, 1987
Edmonton, AB, CAN
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Centre
Shoots Right
NHL team
Former teams
Winnipeg Jets
Atlanta Thrashers
NHL Draft 12th overall, 2006
Atlanta Thrashers
Playing career 2007present
Medal record
Competitor for  Canada
Ice hockey
Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament
2005 Piešťany
IIHF World U20 Championship
2007 Sweden

Bryan Matthew Little (born November 12, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He is currently playing for the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL). Little was selected by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 1st round (12th overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Early life

Although Little was born in Edmonton, Alberta, he was raised in Cambridge, Ontario. He grew up with his younger brother Shawn and his parents, Brenda and John. Little played much of his minor hockey for the Cambridge Hawks of the Alliance Pavilion League until 2001-02 season. He then played for the Cambridge Winter Hawks Jr.B hockey team at the age of 14, while he attended Southwood Secondary School until age 15, when he moved on to the OHL Barrie Colts. Little was selected in the 3rd round (50th overall) in the 2003 OHL Draft after a standout season with the Winter Hawks.

Playing career

Little as a member of the Atlanta Thrashers.

Little was selected first round, 12th overall, in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Atlanta Thrashers. He won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2007 World Junior Hockey Championship. He played Junior B for the Cambridge Winter Hawks. After four seasons playing for the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) in which he played in 2006 CHL-NHL Top Prospects Game. Little joined the Thrashers' farm team, the Chicago Wolves, for two games in the 2007 playoffs, recording no points or penalties. According to one local columnist, "He didn’t play much, and he was playing out of position, but the biggest thing was that he fit right in ... he played like he'd been there all season."[1]

Little signed a three-year NHL entry level contract with the Atlanta Thrashers and was committed to them up to the end of the 2009–10 NHL season. He made the Thrashers out of training camp in 2007 and joined the team full-time. He made his NHL debut on October 5, 2007, scoring in his first game, the first Thrasher ever to do so. Midway through the season, he was demoted to the Wolves, where he would go on to win the 2008 Calder Cup Championship. He would spend the entire 2008–09 NHL season with the Thrashers, scoring 31 goals.

Little re-signed with the Atlanta Thrashers as a restricted free agent in August 2010. He signed a three-year contract worth $7.15 million. He is now committed to them up until the end of the 2012–13 NHL season. Due to team relocation he now plays for the Winnipeg Jets. When the team relocated to Winnipeg, he changed his uniform number from #10 to #18 out of respect for Dale Hawerchuk who played for the original Winnipeg Jets. Prior to going to arbitration, Little and the Winnipeg Jets agreed to a 5-year, $23.5 million contract on July 22, 2013. In the first year of his new contract in the 2013–14 season, Little had a career year offensively, putting up 64 points, playing in all 82 games.

International play

Little was first selected in an international tournament for the Team Ontario in 2003–04 in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Newfoundland, winning a gold medal. He was then included with Canadian National Under-18 Summer Team at the 2004 World Junior Cup in Břeclav, Czech Republic and Invited to the December 2005 Canadian World Junior hockey team selection camp. Little was a member of the gold-medal winning 2007 Canadian World Junior hockey team.

Personal life

Little and his wife Brittany, currently reside in Cambridge, Ontario, when he is not living in Winnipeg during the hockey season. Little is known to like to keep his personal life to himself, and does not interact at all on social media.

Awards

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2002–03 Cambridge Winterhawks MWJBHL 40 20 15 35 14
2003–04 Barrie Colts OHL 64 34 24 58 18 12 5 5 10 7
2004–05 Barrie Colts OHL 62 36 32 68 34 4 5 1 6 2
2005–06 Barrie Colts OHL 64 42 67 109 99 14 8 15 23 19
2006–07 Barrie Colts OHL 57 41 66 107 77 8 4 5 9 8
2006–07 Chicago Wolves AHL 2 0 0 0 0
2007–08 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 48 6 10 16 18
2007–08 Chicago Wolves AHL 34 9 16 25 10 24 8 4 12 10
2008–09 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 79 31 20 51 24
2009–10 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 79 13 21 34 20
2010–11 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 76 18 30 48 33
2011–12 Winnipeg Jets NHL 74 24 22 46 26
2012–13 Winnipeg Jets NHL 48 7 25 32 4
2013–14 Winnipeg Jets NHL 82 23 41 64 58
2014–15 Winnipeg Jets NHL 70 24 28 52 24 4 2 1 3 0
NHL totals 556 146 197 343 207 4 2 1 3 0

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2004 Canada Ontario U17 1st 6 4 4 8 4
2005 Canada IH18 1st 5 4 2 6 0
2007 Canada WJC 1st 6 1 1 2 14
Junior totals 17 9 7 16 18

References

  1. Custance, Craig (May 14, 2007). "Little looks good for Wolves". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2006-05-28.

External links

Preceded by
Alex Bourret
Atlanta Thrashers first round draft pick
2006
Succeeded by
Zach Bogosian
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, November 17, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.