Julien BriseBois
| Julien BriseBois | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 24, 1977 Greenfield Park, Quebec, Canada |
| Citizenship | Canadian |
| Occupation | Assistant General Manager |
| Years active | 2010 – present |
| Employer | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Organization | National Hockey League |
Julien BriseBois (born January 24, 1977) is a Canadian ice hockey executive. He is the General Manager of the Syracuse Crunch in the American Hockey League (AHL), and the Assistant General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the National Hockey League (NHL).
He reports to Lightning vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman and assists him in all aspects of player personnel decisions, analytics, contract preparation and negotiation, as well as salary arbitration for the Lightning and the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League, for whom he also serves as general manager. BriseBois also manages interpretation of the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement and the salary cap for Tampa Bay.
As general manager of the Lightning’s top affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, BriseBois has been the architect of teams that reached the Calder Cup Finals in two of the previous three seasons, including winning the championship in 2012. With the Lightning’s emphasis on drafting and development, the Crunch play an integral role in Tampa Bay’s success. During BriseBois’ tenure overseeing the Lightning’s top minor league affiliate, they have produced two AHL most valuable players, a defenseman of the year and have graduated numerous key players including 2013–2014 Calder Trophy Finalists Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat as well as head coach Jon Cooper.
During the 2011–2012 season, BriseBois’ Norfolk Admirals set a professional sports record with a 28-game winning streak that propelled Norfolk to the AHL’s best regular season record. The team’s regular season success continued in the playoffs as the Admirals won the organization’s first Calder Cup, the first championship by a Lightning AHL affiliate. BriseBois was instrumental in helping build the organization’s depth with signings that proved instrumental to the Lightning and the Admirals, demonstrated by nine players being recalled to Tampa Bay during the season. In 2010–2011 the Hockey News recognized BriseBois as the top hockey executive under 40 years of age in their annual “Top 40 Under 40” listing.
Prior to coming to Tampa Bay, BriseBois spent nine seasons with the Montreal Canadiens after joining the organization on September 1, 2001 as director of legal affairs. In July 2003 he added director of hockey operations to his duties before being named vice president of hockey operations on July 24, 2006. In this capacity, BriseBois oversaw the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. The Bulldogs went on to win the 2007 Calder Cup during the first season under BriseBois’ direction. On August 23, 2007 BriseBois was named the general manager of the Hamilton Bulldogs, making him the youngest in the AHL at the time.
As an American Hockey League general manager, BriseBois has hired two head coaches that have won the Louis A.R. Pieri Award as the AHL’s outstanding coach of the year (Guy Boucher – Hamilton Bulldogs 2009–2010; Jon Cooper – Norfolk Admirals 2011–2012).
A native of Greenfield Park, Quebec, BriseBois was employed by the Heenan Blaikie law firm before joining the Canadiens. During that time he worked in sports law, where he represented several NHL and Major League Baseball clubs in arbitration cases as well as acting as an advisor in contract negotiations. BriseBois also participated in the reform of the Constitution and By-Laws of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
BriseBois is a graduate of the University of Montreal Faculty of Law and earned a Master’s degree in business administration from the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University. He is a member of the Quebec Bar, the American Bar Association and the Sports Lawyers Association. He has been a member of the AHL’s Competition Committee, the AHL’s Player Development Committee and the AHL’s CBA Committee. In 2013, BriseBois won the John Molson School of Business “MBA Alumnus of the Year” award.[1]