Steve Bégin - WikiHQ

Joseph Denis Stéphan Bégin (); born June 14, 1978) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who was a centre in 13 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons. He was a second-round selection of the Calgary Flames, 40th overall, in the 1996 NHL entry draft, and played with the Flames, Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators in his NHL career. After missing a full season due to injury, Bégin made a successful comeback by rejoining the Flames in 2012–13 before another injury forced his retirement.

Bégin played junior hockey with the Val-d'Or Foreurs where he was a member of their Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) championship winning team in 1998. He also led the Saint John Flames to the American Hockey League (AHL)'s Calder Cup championship in 2001 and won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs. Bégin adopted a role as a defensive specialist and grinder in an NHL career where he has played over 500 games.

Personal life

A native of Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Bégin grew up in a single-parent household, raised by his father Gilles on a welfare income. Gilles worked as a landscaper, while Steve often helped his father at work until he was 18 years old.

Introduced to hockey by family friends, Bégin began playing at age six and was an offensively minded player in his minor hockey years. He wore second-hand equipment as his father struggled to pay the costs of hockey, but from a young age expressed his confidence he would make it to the National Hockey League (NHL).

Bégin moved to Val-d'Or, Quebec, to play junior hockey, where he met his wife, Amélie. The Calgary Flames selected him with their second round pick, 40th overall, in the 1996 NHL entry draft. Following the 1996–97 QMJHL season, the Flames assigned Bégin to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Saint John Flames, with whom he recorded two assists in four playoff games.

Bégin earned a spot with the Calgary Flames to begin the 1997–98 season.

Bégin made his lone appearance with the Canadian national team that season, playing and serving as an alternate captain with the junior team at the 1998 World Junior Hockey Championship.

Calgary Flames

After graduating from junior hockey, Bégin played his first full professional season with Saint John in 1998–99. He had 20 points and 156 penalty minutes in 73 games, and scored his first professional goal on October 8, 1998, against the St. John's Maple Leafs. He appeared in 13 games with the Flames in 1999–2000 and scored his first NHL goal on February 12, 2000, on goaltender Sean Burke of the Phoenix Coyotes.

Montreal Canadiens

thumb|right|Bégin as a member of the Boston Bruins.|alt=A hockey player in a Black uniform with gold trim and a stylized "B" logo on his chest defends his position during a game.

Bégin was promoted by Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff as a hard working, "blue collar" type player that Sabres fans would enjoy watching, but he never played a game with the Sabres. He was exposed to the waiver draft prior to the start of the 2003–04 NHL season and claimed by the Montreal Canadiens. He played an energy role for the Canadiens, and scored 10 goals for Montreal in 52 games. Bégin returned to the Canadiens in 2005–06 and set career highs in goals (11), points (23) and penalty minutes (113). Plagued by injuries, Bégin missed time due to rib and shoulder injuries. He appeared in only 52 games in 2006–07 and 44 games in 2007–08 and scored 18 points combined over the two seasons. Stars' general manager Les Jackson promoted Bégin's qualities as a checking-line forward: "Steve is a gritty, honest player with a very strong work ethic. He's good on the penalty kill and he is a competitor in every sense of the word." Bégin had 12 points in 62 games combined between Montreal and Dallas. He played in 77 games for Boston, the most of any single season in his career, and recorded 14 points. The Bruins opted not to re-sign the 32-year-old Bégin, due both to their salary cap constraints and a desire to build a younger lineup.

Without a contract, Bégin remained a free agent as the 2010–11 season began. He eventually signed a one-year contract with the Nashville Predators on October 22, 2010, but was assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. but was released by the team during the pre-season.

When Hartley took over as the Flames' head coach prior to the 2012–13 NHL season, he offered Bégin a tryout in Calgary. Over two years since his last NHL game, Bégin returned to the league, He appeared in 36 games for the Flames, scoring four goals and adding four assists. He was unable to play due to another injury and, after doctors informed him that he would miss the entire season, Bégin announced his retirement from professional hockey on January 16, 2014.

Playing style

Bégin's father taught his son that his best chance of making a career in hockey was as a defensive specialist and impressed on him the need for a strong work ethic. He was raised to follow role players like Mario Tremblay, Guy Carbonneau and Bob Gainey rather than stars such as Guy Lafleur or Wayne Gretzky.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"

|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! colspan="5" | Regular season

! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! colspan="5" | Playoffs

|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! Season

! Team

! League

! GP

! G

! A

! Pts

! PIM

! GP

! G

! A

! Pts

! PIM

| 1993–94

| Trois-Rivières Estacades

| QMAAA

| 8

| 0

| 1

| 6

| —

|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1994–95

| Cap-de-la-Madeleine Estacades

| QMAAA

| 35

| 9

| 15

| 24

| 48

| 3

| 0

| 2

| 1995–96

| Val-d'Or Foreurs

| QMJHL

| 64

| 13

| 23

| 36

| 218

| 13

| 1

| 3

| 4

| 33

|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1996–97

| Val-d'Or Foreurs

| QMJHL

| 58

| 13

| 33

| 46

| 229

| 10

| 0

| 3

| 8

| 1996–97

| Saint John Flames

| AHL

| —

| 4

| 0

| 2

| 6

|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1997–98

| Val-d'Or Foreurs

| QMJHL

| 35

| 18

| 17

| 35

| 73

| 15

| 2

| 12

| 14

| 34

| 1997–98

| Calgary Flames

| NHL

| 5

| 0

| 23

| —

|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1998–99

| Saint John Flames

| AHL

| 73

| 11

| 9

| 20

| 156

| 7

| 2

| 0

| 2

| 18

| 1999–00

| Saint John Flames

| AHL

| 47

| 13

| 12

| 25

| 99

| —

|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1999–00

| Calgary Flames

| NHL

| 13

| 1

| 2

| 18

| —

| 2000–01

| Saint John Flames

| AHL

| 58

| 14

| 28

| 109

| 19

| 10

| 7

| 17

| 18

|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2000–01

| Calgary Flames

| NHL

| 4

| 0

| 21

| —

| 2001–02

| Calgary Flames

| NHL

| 51

| 7

| 5

| 12

| 79

| —

|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2002–03

| Calgary Flames

| NHL

| 50

| 3

| 1

| 4

| 51

| —

| 2003–04

| Montreal Canadiens

| NHL

| 52

| 10

| 5

| 15

| 41

| 9

| 0

| 1

| 10

|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2004–05

| Hamilton Bulldogs

| AHL

| 21

| 10

| 3

| 13

| 20

| 4

| 0

| 2

| 8

| 2005–06

| Montreal Canadiens

| NHL

| 76

| 11

| 12

| 23

| 113

| 2

| 0

| 2

|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2006–07

| Montreal Canadiens

| NHL

| 52

| 5

| 10

| 46

| —

| 2007–08

| Montreal Canadiens

| NHL

| 44

| 3

| 5

| 8

| 48

| 12

| 0

| 3

| 8

|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2008–09

| Montreal Canadiens

| NHL

| 42

| 6

| 4

| 10

| 27

| —

| 2008–09

| Dallas Stars

| NHL

| 20

| 1

| 2

| 15

| —

|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2009–10

| Boston Bruins

| NHL

| 77

| 5

| 9

| 14

| 53

| 13

| 1

| 0

| 1

| 10

| 2010–11

| Milwaukee Admirals

| AHL

| 36

| 3

| 6

| 30

| 13

| 3

| 4

| 7

| 12

|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2010–11

| Nashville Predators

| NHL

| 2

| 0

| 4

| —

| 2012–13

| Calgary Flames

| NHL

| 36

| 4

| 8

| 22

| —

|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" | AHL totals

! 235

! 51

! 41

! 92

! 414

! 47

! 15

! 30

! 62

|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" | NHL totals

! 524

! 56

! 52

! 108

! 561

! 36

! 1

! 4

! 5

! 30

International

{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:50em"

|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! Year

! Team

! Event

! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |  

! GP

! G

! A

! Pts

! PIM

| 1998

| Canada

| WJC

| 7

| 0

| 10

Awards and honours

{| class="wikitable"

! Award

! Year

|- style="text-align:center; background:#e0e0e0;"

| colspan="3" | Quebec Major Junior Hockey League

| President's Cup champion

| 1997–98

|- style="text-align:center; background:#e0e0e0;"

| colspan="3" | American Hockey League

| Calder Cup champion

| 2000–01