Keith Primeau
Keith Primeau (* November 24, 1971 in Toronto, Ontario ) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey forward who was active between 1990 and 2006 for the Detroit Red Wings, Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League.
- 4.1 International
Career
Keith Primeau began his career in 1987 in the Canadian Junior Football League OHL at the Hamilton Steel Hawks. After a weak first season, the team moved to and was called Niagara Falls Thunder. There he could put his skills as a scorer to the test and scored 1989/90, 127 points in 65 games, which he led the league in points. The teams in the NHL were thus aware of him and so he was selected by the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL Entry Draft in 1990 in the first round in third place.
The first two years he commuted between Detroit and the AHL farm team Adirondack Red Wings, before he could finally prevail in the NHL 1992/93. Although he was only used in the third series of the Red Wings attack, as the center positions of the first two rows were filled by Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov, but still Primeau had a good points haul. 1993/94 he had his best season with 73 points and the following year he was with Detroit in the finals for the Stanley Cup. The situation worsened in the team during the 1995/96 season, when another star for the position of center forward was committed with Igor Larionov. Primeau responded in the summer of 1996 with a strike, a so-called " hold-out ", for which he was eventually transferred shortly before the start of next season with the Hartford Whalers.
The team moved a year later to Raleigh, North Carolina, and changed its name to Carolina Hurricanes. Primeau went with in the new home of the team and was named team captain before the start of the 1998/99 season. After he and the team did not have a contract extension was agreed in the summer of 1999, Primeau on strike again and was transferred in January 2000 to the Philadelphia Flyers, where he already advanced in the playoffs for the hero, as he after a running time of 152 minutes and thus in the sixth extension thirds scored the 2-1 winning goal for the Flyers against the Pittsburgh Penguins. With his goal in extra time he won the third longest game in the history of the NHL.
Also in Philadelphia, he was one of the leading players and took over in 2001 the "C" as team captain and was at the Flyers for the second time in his career, the 73 -point mark to reach. He played in the following seasons defensively, which is why his points yield decreased slightly, but in the 2003/04 season, he led the Flyers with 16 points in 18 games to the finals of the Eastern Conference, where they with the later Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning could keep up until the seventh and deciding game, but then just dropped out. Primeau was praised by hockey legend Phil Esposito for his great dominance that he had shown in the games against Tampa Bay.
At the beginning of the 2005/06 season he suffered a concussion that the end of the season meant to him. The consequences of the injury eventually led him to announce in September 2006 end of his career.
Since then, he analyzed the televised games of the Philadelphia Flyers. Since July 2009, Primeau is working with the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL as Director, Player Development, including scouting and administration.
Family
His younger brother, Wayne Primeau was also a professional in the NHL. During a game between the Hartford Whalers and the Buffalo Sabres in the 1996/97 season, both provided a brawl.
Awards and achievements
Internationally
Career Stats
Internationally
Represented Canada at:
- World Cup of Hockey 1996
- World Cup 1997
- 1998 Winter Olympics
- World Cup 1998
( 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 )