Brett Festerling (born March 3, 1986) is a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

who is currently an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

. He most recently played under contract with the then

Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the ...

in the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). His twin brother Garrett also plays hockey in the DEL and is under contract with

Grizzlys Wolfsburg Grizzlys Wolfsburg are a professional ice hockey club of the German professional ice hockey league Deutsche Eishockey Liga. They play their games at Eisarena in Wolfsburg. History Wolfsburg earned their first promotion to the DEL in 2004. Howe ...

Playing career

Known primarily as a defensive defenceman, Festerling began his

major junior Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

career with the

Tri-City Americans The Tri-City Americans are a major junior ice hockey team of the Western Hockey League, based in Kennewick, Washington. The team plays its home games at Toyota Center. Every game is broadcast locally on the Tri-City Americans' flagship radio ...

of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

(WHL), initially appearing in three games in 2001–02. He was the Americans' fifth overall pick in the 2001

WHL Bantam Draft The WHL Bantam Draft is an annual outing, in which the teams of the Western Hockey League select players who have graduated from bantam. The draft's order of selection depends on where the team finishes in the league standings. The teams that mi ...

. After breaking his wrist in his

NHL draft The NHL Entry Draft (french: Repêchage d'entrée dans la LNH) is an annual meeting in which every franchise of the National Hockey League (NHL) systematically select the rights to available ice hockey players who meet draft eligibility requirem ...

-eligible year, Festerling was traded midway through the 2004–05 season to the

Vancouver Giants The Vancouver Giants are a major junior ice hockey team playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL). Inaugurated in 2001–02, the Giants have won one President's Cup (now known as the Ed Chynoweth Cup) in 2006 and one Memorial Cup in 2007 in t ...

(along with forward Ryan Costanzo) in exchange for forward Shaun Vey and defenceman Mike McDonald. After winning the

President's Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...

as WHL champions with the Giants in 2006 and subsequently appearing in the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

, Festerling was named

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

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 The Medicine Hat Tigers are a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League (WHL) who play in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. Established in 1970, the team has won two national Memorial Cups, five WHL League Championships and seven Divis ...

in seven games. As

2007 Memorial Cup The 2007 MasterCard Memorial Cup was played in May 2007 in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the Pacific Coliseum. It was the 89th annual Memorial Cup competition and determined the major junior ice hockey champion of the Canadian Hockey League (CH ...

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 a

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) team, Festerling was invited to the

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Mighty may refer to: * ''Mighty'' (The Planet Smashers album) * ''Mighty'' (Kristene DiMarco album) * ''The Mighty'' (1929 film), a 1929 American action film *'' The Mighty'', a 1998 comedy-drama film * ''The Mighty'' (comics), a DC Comics title * ...

's training camp ahead of the 2005–06 and was subsequently 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 The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL), for the 2007–08 season. He posted 14 points in his first professional season. Festerling started the 2008–09 season with the

Iowa Chops The Iowa Stars, later known as the Iowa Chops, were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. The club was based in Des Moines, Iowa at the Wells Fargo Arena. History The Stars were founded by Howard Baldwin, of Hockey Holdi ...

. When Ducks defenceman

François Beauchemin Joseph Jean-François Vinet Beauchemin (born June 4, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). Although he spent tenures with the Montreal Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets, Toron ...

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 The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

on November 16, 2008, logging 17 minutes of ice-time paired with

Scott Niedermayer Scott Niedermayer (born August 31, 1973) is a Canadian former ice hockey defenceman and current special assignment coach of the Anaheim Ducks. He played 18 seasons and over 1,000 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New Jersey Devi ...

. He played 40 games total in his NHL rookie season, recording five assists. In the off-season, on August 20, 2009, he signed a two-year contract extension with Anaheim. On October 14, 2010, Festerling was demoted to the Ducks' new AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. After starting the 2010–11 season with the Crunch, on December 31, 2010, he was traded (along with the Ducks' fifth-round pick in the

2012 NHL Entry Draft The 2012 NHL Entry Draft was the 50th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held June 22–23, 2012, at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first time that Pittsburgh hosted the draft since the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. The top thr ...

) to the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

in exchange for

Maxim Lapierre Maxim Lapierre (born March 29, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. Drafted out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), he was selected 61st overall in 2003 by the Montreal Canadiens. He spent parts of his first ...

. Festerling was then immediately assigned to the Canadiens' AHL affiliate, the

Hamilton Bulldogs The Hamilton Bulldogs are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League that began to play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the Bulldogs play their home games at FirstOntario Centre. They were purcha ...

. On February 28, 2011, Festerling was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for goaltender

Drew MacIntyre Drew MacIntyre (born June 24, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. , he is a developmental goaltending coach and scout for the Manitoba Moose in the American Hockey League. Playing career MacIntyre played his en ...

. On July 23, 2012, Festerling signed with the

Nürnberg Ice Tigers The Nürnberg Ice Tigers are a professional ice hockey club located in Nuremberg, Germany. They play in the country's premier league, the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. History The roots of the team can be traced back to SG Nürnberg, an ice hockey cl ...

of the German top-flight Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). In two seasons with the Ice Tigers, he provided a physical defensive presence and totalled 20 points in 72 games. On April 24, 2014, Festerling signed with DEL rivals Hamburg Freezers on a four-year contract. The move re-united him with twin brother Garrett, who had played with Hamburg since 2010. After the Freezers folded in May 2016, Festerling became a free agent. On June 24, 2016, he returned for a second stint in Nürnberg with the Ice Tigers, where he played for four more seasons.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Festerling, Brett 1986 births Anaheim Ducks players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Chicago Wolves players Hamburg Freezers players Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players Ice hockey people from British Columbia Iowa Stars players Living people Quesnel Millionaires players Portland Pirates players San Antonio Rampage players St. John's IceCaps players Syracuse Crunch players Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers players Toronto Marlies players Tri-City Americans players Canadian twins Twin sportspeople Undrafted National Hockey League players Vancouver Giants players Winnipeg Jets players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany