Brad Larsen
Brad Larsen ( born June 28, 1977 in Nakusp, British Columbia ) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player and current coach who has played during his active career, among other things for the Colorado Avalanche and Atlanta Thrashers in the National Hockey League.
Career
Brad Larsen began his career with the Swift Current Broncos, for which he was held for four years in the Western Hockey League. Larsen was elected in 1995 NHL Entry Draft in the third round as a total 53 players from the Ottawa Senators. A year later, the rights to the player were passed on to the Colorado Avalanche. On the day of the NHL Entry Draft in 1997, he was elected not from Colorado, so it was resumed in the Entry Draft. Then Larsen was still chosen as the 87th overall player of the Avalanche, for whom he made his debut in the National Hockey League in the 1997/98 season. In his first year in Colorado, he came but otherwise exclusively in the American Hockey League for the Colorado farm team, the Hershey Bears, are used. After seven years in which Larsen came for both the Bears and the Avalanche always used, he was taken in 2004 by the Atlanta Thrashers under contract. After six times he came in his first season with the Thrashers in the NHL for use, he bridged the time the lockout of the NHL season 2004/ 05 exclusively at Atlanta's farm team, the Chicago Wolves. In the following three years, the attacker earned a permanent place in the NHL team. On September 26, 2008 Larsen was issued along with Ken Klee and Chad Painchaud in exchange for Mathieu Schneider to the Anaheim Ducks. However, for the entire 2008/09 season he fell out due to injury from the game and never attended a meeting for the Californians. In September 2009, Larsen signed a contract with the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League. As a regular player he came in 59 encounters on a balance of 27 points before he finished his career at end of season. For the season 2010/11 Larsen was an assistant coach with the Springfield Falcons under head coach Rob Riley. For the season 2012/13 he took over the function of the head coach for the Springfield Falcons.
Internationally
As a youth player Larsen played a total of 38 games for the U17 and U20 national team of Canada. With the U17, he won a bronze medal at the World U -17 Hockey Challenge with the U20 in 1996 and 1997 respectively the gold medal at the Junior World Cup.