Drake Berehowsky

Drake Berehowsky (born January 3, 1972) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers, Nashville Predators, Vancouver Canucks and Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is currently the head coach of the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL.

Playing career
Berehowsky began his junior hockey career with the Kingston Raiders in 1988, and had a very strong rookie season, earning 46 points in 63 games. The Raiders were renamed to the Kingston Frontenacs in 1989–90, however, Berehowsky would only appear in nine games, as he suffered a serious knee injury. He earned 14 points in those nine games, and the Toronto Maple Leafs would draft Berehowsky with their first round draft pick in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. Berehowsky split the 1990–91 season between the Frontenacs and the North Bay Centennials before earning a late season call-up to the Leafs. He returned to North Bay for the 1991–92 season, recording 82 points in 62 games, before helping the Centennials to the OHL finals, as Berehowsky had 31 points in 21 post-season games. Berehowsky would earn another late season call-up to Toronto, appearing in a single game, before being sent to the St. John's Maple Leafs for the 1992 AHL playoffs, where he recorded five assists in six games.

Berehowsky split the 1992–93 and 1993–94 seasons between St. John's and Toronto before earning a full time roster spot in Toronto in the 1994–95 season. Berehowsky appeared in 25 games with the Maple Leafs in 1994–95, however, the team traded him to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Grant Jennings on April 7, 1995. Berehowsky would finish the season as the odd man out on the Penguins defense, as he appeared in only four games with the team, and in only one playoff game. In 1995–96, Pittsburgh sent Berehowsky to the Cleveland Lumberjacks, their American Hockey League affiliate for most of the season, as he would only appear in one game with the Penguins. After the season, Berehowsky became a free agent.

He split the 1996–97 season between the Carolina Monarchs of the AHL, and the San Antonio Dragons of the International Hockey League, and on September 30, 1997, he would sign an NHL contract with the Edmonton Oilers. Berehowsky spent most of the season with the Oilers, as he appeared in 67 regular season and 12 post-season games with the club, however, he did see some time with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL, playing in 8 games.

On October 1, 1998, the Oilers traded Berehowsky, Éric Fichaud and Greg de Vries to the Nashville Predators for Mikhail Shtalenkov and Jim Dowd. Berehowsky would play with the Predators until 2001, having a career season in 1999–2000, when he scored 12 goals and 32 points, leading the Nashville defense in goals. On March 9, 2001, the Predators dealt Berehowsky to the Vancouver Canucks.

Berehowsky's time with the Canucks was short, as he would once again be traded on December 28, 2001, as Vancouver traded Berehowsky and Denis Pederson to the Phoenix Coyotes for Todd Warriner, Trevor Letowski and Tyler Bouck. Berehowsky saw regular time on the Coyotes blueline, helping them to the post-season. An injury suffered in training camp sidelined Berehowsky for most of the 2002–03 season, as he only appeared in seven games with Phoenix, and two with the Springfield Falcons of the AHL before becoming a free agent after the season.

He signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he played from 1994–1996, on August 29, 2003, and after 47 games with the team, Berehowsky would once again be on the move, as on February 11, 2004, the Penguins traded Berehowsky to his original NHL team, the Toronto Maple Leafs for Ric Jackman, where he finished out the season.

With the NHL in a lockout for the 2004–05 season, Berehowsky signed with Skelleftea AIK in Sweden for the season, before signing a contract with Eisbaren Berlin in Germany for the 2005–06 season. After the season with Berlin, Berehowsky returned to North America, where he signed with the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL, before retiring from hockey in the summer of 2006.

He was an assistant coach of the Barrie Colts in 2007-08 and then became an assistant with the ]Peoria Rivermen in 2009.

Awards

 * 1991-92 Max Kaminsky Trophy