Bradley William Ference (born April 2, 1979) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

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 ...

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

who played 250 games in 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

Born in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

, Alberta, Ference played junior hockey with the

Spokane Chiefs The Spokane Chiefs are an American major junior ice hockey team based in Spokane, Washington. The Chiefs play in the U.S. Division of the Western Hockey League's Western Conference, playing home games at Spokane Arena. The Chiefs are two-time M ...

, and

Tri-City Americans The Tri-City Americans are an American major junior ice hockey team playing in the Western Hockey League and based in Kennewick, Washington. Founded in 1966 as the Calgary Buffaloes, the team settled in Kennewick in 1988 after a number of re ...

of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a 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 hocke ...

. Ference was drafted in the first round, 10th overall, of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft by 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 ...

. Before ever playing a game for the Canucks, Ference was traded on January 17, 1999, along with Pavel Bure, Bret Hedican and third-round selection in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft (Robert Fried) to 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 ...

for Dave Gagner, Ed Jovanovski, Mike Brown, Kevin Weekes and a first-round selection in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft ( Nathan Smith). Ference spent nearly four years in the Panthers organization before being traded to 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 ...

on March 8, 2003, for Darcy Hordichuk and a second-round selection in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. After a year and half with the Coyotes, and the lock-out year of 2004–2005 spent in France, Ference was traded to the New Jersey Devils on November 25, 2005, for Pascal Rheaume, Ray Schultz and Steven Spencer. He was on the move again at the end of the season, signing a one-year contract as an unrestricted free agent on July 26, 2006, with the

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

. After Ference's contract with the Flames ended he was signed by the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

and spent a year with their AHL affiliate, the

Grand Rapids Griffins The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional ice hockey team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL), playing their home games at Van Andel Arena. They are the AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings of t ...

. Ference was offered a 1-year deal from Anyang Halla of

Asia League Ice Hockey Asia League Ice Hockey (; ) or ALIH (AL) is an association which operates a professional ice hockey league based in East Asia, with teams from Japan, South Korea, and formerly China and Russia. The league is headquartered in Japan. At the end of ...

in summer of 2008, but did not sign as his wife was pregnant. Ference retired from professional hockey in 2008, returned to Calgary, and began a new career as a

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

in 2009.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ference, Brad 1979 births Living people Albany River Rats players Calgary Flames players Ice hockey people from Calgary Canadian ice hockey defencemen Florida Panthers players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Grand Rapids Griffins players Louisville Panthers players HC Morzine-Avoriaz players NHL first-round draft picks Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights players Phoenix Coyotes players San Antonio Rampage players Spokane Chiefs players Tri-City Americans players Vancouver Canucks draft picks