Brett Festerling

Brett Festerling (born March 3, 1986) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who currently plays in the Winnipeg Jets organization.

Playing career
Known primarily as a defensive defenceman, Festerling began his major junior career with the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League, initially appearing in three games in 2001–02. He was the Americans' fifth overall choice in the 2001 WHL Bantam Draft. After breaking his wrist in his NHL draft-eligible year, Festerling was traded midway through the 2004–05 season to the Vancouver Giants, along with forward Ryan Costanzo, in exchange for forward Shaun Vey and defenceman Mike McDonald.

After winning the President's Cup as WHL champions with the Giants in 2006 and subsequently appearing in the Memorial Cup, Festerling was named team captain for the 2006–07 season. Festerling put up a major junior career-high 21 points in 70 games as captain. However, the Giants were defeated in the WHL finals by the Medicine Hat Tigers in seven games. As 2007 Memorial Cup hosts, the Giants met the Tigers in the final game once more and captured the franchise's first CHL title with a 3-1 victory.

Undrafted by an NHL team, Festerling was invited to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks' training camp in 2005 and was signed to a three-year entry level contract. Coming off his Memorial Cup victory with the Giants, he was assigned to the Ducks' minor league affiliate, the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League for the 2007–08 season. He posted 14 points in his first professional season.

Festerling started the 2008–09 season with the Iowa Chops. When Ducks defenceman Francois Beauchemin was placed on the long-term injured reserve with a knee injury, Festerling was called up by Anaheim. He made his NHL debut in a 2-0 win against the Los Angeles Kings on November 16, 2008, logging 17 minutes of ice-time paired up with Scott Niedermayer. He played 40 games total in his NHL rookie season, recording five assists. In the off-season, he was re-signed to a two-year contract on August 20, 2009.

Festerling was sent down to the Ducks AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, on October 14, 2010. After starting the 2010–11 season with the Crunch he was later traded along with the Ducks' 2012 5th-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for Maxim Lapierre on December 31, 2010. He was then immediately assigned to the Canadiens AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs.

On February 28, 2011, Festerling was traded from the Montreal Canadiens to the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for goaltender Drew MacIntyre.