Bracken Kearns (born May 12, 1981) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player. Along with an extensive minor league career, he played for the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...

and

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL).

Playing career

Amateur

Kearns, who graduated from the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

in 2005 with a degree in economics, was captain of the

Calgary Dinos men's ice hockey The Calgary Dinos men's ice hockey team is an ice hockey team representing the Calgary Dinos athletics program of University of Calgary. The team is a member of the Canada West Universities Athletic Association conference and compete in U Sports. ...

team.

Professional

Kearns made his professional debut with the

Toledo Storm The Toledo Storm were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the ECHL from 1991 to 2007. The Storm played their home games at the venerable Toledo Sports Arena along the eastern banks of the Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio. The team colors w ...

during the

2005–06 ECHL season The 2005–06 ECHL season is the 18th season of the ECHL, a professional ice-hockey league based in the United States. The season ran from late October 2005 to early June 2006. The Brabham Cup regular season champions and Kelly Cup playoff cha ...

. He spent the entire 2006–07 season in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL) with

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team based in Milwaukee. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Nashville Predators. They play their homes games at the UW–Milwaukee Panther ...

. During the 2007–08 season, he played 53 games in the AHL with the

Norfolk Admirals Norfolk Admirals has been the name of two professional ice hockey franchises: *Norfolk Admirals (AHL), a team which played in the American Hockey League from 2000 to 2015 *Norfolk Admirals (ECHL) The Norfolk Admirals are a professional ice hockey ...

and also played 17 games in the ECHL with the

Reading Royals The Reading Royals are a professional ice hockey team that currently plays in the ECHL. The team participates in the North Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. The Royals play their home games at the Santander Arena located in downtown R ...

. He played AHL hockey for the next two years with Norfolk and the

Rockford IceHogs The Rockford IceHogs are a professional ice hockey team based in Rockford, Illinois. They are members of the American Hockey League (AHL), having begun play in the League starting in the 2007–08 season. The team plays their home games at the ...

. On July 27, 2010, Kearns was signed as a free agent by the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

who assigned him to their AHL affiliate in San Antonio for the start of the

2010–11 AHL season The 2010–11 AHL season was the 75th season of the American Hockey League. An all-time high of thirty teams played 80 games each during the regular season schedule, which started on October 8, 2010, and ended on April 10, 2011. This season feat ...

. On July 14, 2011, Kearns signed a one-year,

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless o ...

with the

. During the 2011–12 season on October 20, 2011, at the age of 30, Kearns made his NHL debut with the Panthers playing seven shifts for 6:30 of ice time in a 3–0 loss to the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

. Kearns was the second oldest player to make his NHL debut with the Panthers, behind only Magnus Svensson who made his NHL debut with Florida in 1995 at the age of 32. Kearns went scoreless in 5 games with the Panthers, before returning to the Rampage to be among the offensive leaders with 52 points in 69 games. On July 2, 2012, Kearns was again on the move, signing a one-year free agent contract with the San Jose Sharks. With the

2012 NHL lockout 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

in effect, Kearns reported directly to AHL affiliate, the

Worcester Sharks The Worcester Sharks were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2006 to 2015. Affiliated with the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks and located in Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachu ...

, to begin the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season. Kearns was recalled from Worcester on December 28, 2013. The next day, Kearns scored his first NHL goal in the San Jose Sharks 3-1 victory over the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confere ...

against goaltender

Frederik Andersen Frederik Andersen (born 2 October 1989) is a Danish professional ice hockey goaltender for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs. Representing Denmark men ...

. He became the oldest player in Sharks history to score his first NHL goal (32 years, 231 days), besting the previous record holder Jay Leach (30 years, 190 days). On February 24, 2014, Kearns was sent to waivers by the Sharks. As a free agent from the Sharks, Kearns accepted a try-out contract to the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

training camp for the 2014–15 season. Following camp, Kearns was released by the Bruins and after spending his entire professional career in North America, he opted to pursue a European career in agreeing to a one-year contract in the Finnish

Liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mesti ...

with the

Espoo Blues Kiekko-Espoo is a Finnish professional ice hockey club founded in 2018 as a continuation of the Kiekko-Espoo team originally founded in 1984. Kiekko-Espoo men's team plays in the Liiga, where they were promoted for the 2024–25 Liiga season, 20 ...

on October 23, 2014. After a successful season with the Blues, Kearns returned to North America on July 2, 2015, signing a one-year, two-way contract with the

. On June 1, 2016, Kearns signed a new one-year, two-way contract with the Islanders. Kearns played two seasons within the Islanders before leaving as a free agent to sign a one-year, two-way contract with the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

on July 1, 2017. In the 2017–18 season, Kearns was assigned to AHL affiliate, the

Binghamton Devils The Binghamton Devils were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2017 to 2021 as the top minor league affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s New Jersey Devils. During the 2017–18 and 2 ...

for their inaugural season. Among the club's scoring leaders he registered 43 points in 67 games. As a free agent, Kearns left North America in the off-season, agreeing to a one-year pact with Austrian outfit,

EHC Black Wings Linz The Steinbach Black Wings Linz are a member of the ICE Hockey League (ICEHL). They play their home games in Linz, Austria at the Linz AG Eisarena. History The EHC Black Wings Linz was founded in 1992. After several years in the Austrian minor ...

of the

EBEL The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League, ICEHL), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria. It c ...

, on July 23, 2018. On August 25, 2019, Kearns announced his retirement from professional hockey.

Family

Kearns' father is Dennis Kearns, a retired All-Star defenceman for the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kearns, Bracken 1981 births Living people Binghamton Devils players Bridgeport Sound Tigers players Calgary Dinos ice hockey players Cleveland Barons (2001–2006) players EHC Black Wings Linz players Espoo Blues players Florida Panthers players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Milwaukee Admirals players New York Islanders players Norfolk Admirals players Reading Royals players Rockford IceHogs (AHL) players San Antonio Rampage players San Jose Sharks players Ice hockey people from Vancouver Toledo Storm players Undrafted National Hockey League players Worcester Sharks players Canadian ice hockey centres 21st-century Canadian sportsmen Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland