Brian Bradley

Brian Bradley took up hockey at a young age and, before he was a teenager, was already representing his hometown of Kitchener, Ontario at the national youth level. His final junior season was 1980-81, when he was with the Guelph Players primarily, in addition to four games with the Wexford Raiders. The following year he graduated to the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League and remained with them through 1985. He was, however, drafted to the National Hockey League (NHL) in the third round of the 1983 draft by the Calgary Flames and thus played four playoff matches with the affiliated Colorado Flames of the Central Hockey League in 1984. During this time, he also won a gold medal at the 1985 World Junior Championships with the Canadian team. For the 1985-86 season, he spent most of his time with the Moncton Golden Flames of the American Hockey League, although he did make his NHL début with six games for Calgary.

For the 1986-87 season, Bradley saw more action with Calgary, although he also spent time with Moncton. His next stop was the 1988 Calgary Olympics, where the hockey tournament had just been opened to professionals. While NHL teams did not permit their players to participate, Bradley was not active with Calgary at the time and was thus able to play. Canada placed fourth overall, just missing the podium.

Upon his return, Bradley was traded to the Vancouver Canucks and would thereafter never leave the NHL. He was with the Canucks through 1991, but was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs mid-season, where he remained through 1992. He was then acquired by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the expansion draft, where he would remain until his retirement in 1998 and experience a career resurgence. During this time, he was selected for the NHL All-Star Games in 1993 and 1994 and only quit hockey due to injuries and concussions. Following his retirement, he tried his hand in broadcasting before going on to be involved in youth hockey. He has been inducted into the Waterloo Region and Tampa Sports Halls of Fame.