Lee Sweatt

Lee Sweatt (born August 13, 1985 in Elburn, Illinois) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman currently playing in the NHL Vancouver Canucks system. He previously played for TPS and Dinamo Riga in the Kontinental Hockey League, also EC Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Hockey League. His younger brother Bill Sweatt was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and is also currently the property of the Vancouver Canucks.

Playing career
Sweatt played in the United States Hockey League for the Chicago Steel before playing for Colorado College. He turned pro after completing his collegiate career during the back end of the 2006–07 season, playing 11 games for the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League. Without an NHL contract, Lee signed with Finnish club TPS of the SM-liiga for the 2007–08 season.

After spending the preceding 2008–09 season with EC Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Hockey League, on July 13, 2009, Sweatt signed as a free agent to a one-year contract with Latvian club Dinamo Riga of the Kontinental Hockey League. After starting off the 2009–10 season slowly with just 7 points in 37 games, Lee was released from his contract due to an exceeding foreign player quota with the arrival of NHL player Martins Karsums to Riga. Sweatt returned to TPS on January 18, 2010, and won the SM-liiga Championship with the team. He made a new record for points scored by a TPS defenseman in one playoff season. He was named a member of the SM-liiga All-Star Team and also won the Pekka Rautakallio trophy for best defenseman.

On May 31, 2010, Sweatt signed a one-year contract to return to North America with the Vancouver Canucks.