Brian Willsie

Brian Willsie (born 16 March 1978 in London, Ontario ) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is since August 2012 in TPS Turku in the SM- liiga under contract.

Career

Brian Willsie was selected during the NHL Entry Draft in 1996 as a total of 146 players from the Colorado Avalanche. His career as a hockey player, he joined the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League, for whom he played a total of three years from 1995 to 1998.

Prior to the 1998/99 season the Canadians was the first time in the squad of the former farm team of the avalanche, the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League, recorded, for the first time he played in professional hockey. During the following season Willsie came to his debut in the National Hockey League, but he played just once until end of season for Colorado. Because of exceeding the salary cap the winger was released to the Washington Capitals in 2003, where he was under contract as a whole three years, although he played during the lockout in the 2004/ 05 NHL season for the Portland Pirates of the AHL.

After another year at the Capitals Willisie signed on 4 July 2006 a contract as a free agent with the Los Angeles Kings, for which he was the following two seasons active until it likewise as a free agent on July 15, 2008 his ex - Club Colorado Avalanche returned. For the franchise from Denver the right shooter came in the 2008/ 09 season to 42 inserts and also collected match practice at their farm team, the Lake Erie Monsters in the American Hockey League. In the following season, however, Willsie went mainly for the Monsters in the AHL on the ice. In July 2010, the Canadians signed again as a free agent contract with the Washington Capitals. He succeeded not settle to play in the NHL squad of the Caps and he spent almost the entire 2010/11 season in the farm team for the Hershey Bears, where the winger with 68 scorer points in 76 games the second best scorer of the team was during the regular season.

On July 7, 2011, Willsie agreed on a two-way contract with a term of one year with the Montreal Canadiens, but was used exclusively with the Hamilton Bulldogs in the AHL. After spending four years almost exclusively in the AHL, he decided in the summer of 2012 to return to Europe, where he signed a trial contract with TPS Turku. During the following season, his contract was initially extended until the end of the season and was appointed captain for Willsie. Until the beginning of the play-offs, he scored 24 goals, so his contract was extended for one season in February 2013. Then Willsie was loaned to the end of the season to the Kloten Flyers to support this in a relegation battle in the National League A.

Awards and achievements

Career Stats

( Key to Career statistics: Sp or GP = Games Played, T or G = goals scored, V or A = achieved assists; Pts or Pts = scored points scorer, SM or PIM = received penalty minutes, / - = Plus / Minus balance sheet; PP = scored majority gates; SH = scored shorthanded goals, GW = achieved victory gates; Play-downs/Relegation 1 )