Christopher Bowie Therien (born December 14, 1971) 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 ...

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 ...

. He played eleven seasons 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) with the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

and Dallas Stars between 1995 and 2006. He was the lead analyst for Flyers Pregame Live and Flyers Postgame Live on

NBC Sports Philadelphia NBC Sports Philadelphia is an American regional sports network owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by locally based cable television provider Comcast (and owns a controlling 75% interest), and the Phila ...

. Prior to the 2018-19 NHL season he was a color commentator inside the glass for the Flyers on

. He was also previously the Flyers' radio color commentator on 97.5 The Fanatic. He is currently the lead commentator for Ice Wars International.

Playing career

After registering 35 goals and 37 assists in 31 games for Northwood School in 1989–90, Chris Therien was drafted by the

in the 3rd round, 47th overall of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. He attended Providence College for three years and joined the Canadian national team after graduating. He was a member of the Canadian team which won silver at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics. He started his professional career in 1994 playing for the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Bears have played in the American Hockey League (AHL) since the 1938–39 season, making it the longest continuously operating member club of the league still ...

of the AHL. Once the NHL Lockout came to an end, he joined the Flyers and played every regular season and playoff game in the abbreviated season, earning a spot on the NHL All-Rookie Team. He enjoyed his best season in 1996–97 by recording a career high in points (24) and plus/minus (+27) in 71 games while helping lead the Flyers to the

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, ) is the annual championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL). The winner is awarded the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional spo ...

. After playing nine and a half seasons with the Flyers, he was traded to the Dallas Stars on March 8, 2004, for a 2004 8th round draft pick and a 2005 3rd round draft pick. He signed a one-year contract to return to the Flyers shortly after the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

came to an end, and ended up playing in 47 games before having his season cut short due to a head injury. Known primarily as a defensive defenceman, Therien was usually partnered with Éric Desjardins over the years. He was also well known for elevating his game when matched up against star forward Jaromír Jágr. His teammates took to calling him Bundy after the character Al Bundy from '' Married... with Children''. Therien took a slapshot that ended the career of

Trent McCleary Trent Kenneth McCleary (born September 8, 1972) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played for the Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins, and Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). His career was ended in 2 ...

in a game, which McCleary attempted to block. The shot ended up striking McCleary in the throat, which had enough force to damage his larynx. He was critically injured when hit in the throat by the shot which fractured his

larynx The larynx (), commonly called the voice box, is an organ (anatomy), organ in the top of the neck involved in breathing, producing sound and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. The opening of larynx into pharynx known as the laryngeal ...

and resulted in a collapsed lung.

Personal life

Therien and his family have been residents of the Marlton section of Evesham Township, New Jersey. Therien's autobiography ''Chris Therien: Road to Redemption'' was released in October 2022.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

* 1993–94: Silver Medal ( XVII Olympic Winter Games) * 1994–95: All-Rookie Team (

NHL 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 ...

)

Records

* His 753 games played as a Philadelphia Flyer is first among defenseman in Flyers history.

References

External links

*
Philadelphia Flyers Hockey Legend Wins in Overtime, Behavioral Corner Podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Therien, Chris 1971 births Living people Canadian ice hockey defencemen Dallas Stars players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Hershey Bears players Ice hockey people from Ottawa Ice hockey players at the 1994 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players for Canada Olympic medalists in ice hockey Olympic silver medalists for Canada Sportspeople from Evesham Township, New Jersey Philadelphia Flyers announcers Philadelphia Flyers draft picks Philadelphia Flyers players Philadelphia Phantoms players Providence Friars men's ice hockey players