David "Dave" Liffiton (born October 18, 1984) 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 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 ...

with the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

and the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Avalanche compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Con ...

Playing career

Liffiton began his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

career with Aylmer Blues in the OHA-B before he was selected in the 16th round, 326th overall, in the 2000

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

priority selection by the

Plymouth Whalers The Plymouth Whalers were a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They played out of Compuware Arena in Plymouth Township, Michigan, Plymouth, Michigan, United States, a suburb of Detroit until 2015 when they were relocated t ...

. Joining the Whalers in the 2001–02 season, and developing as a physical stay-at-home defenseman, Liffiton recorded his best season statistically in 2002–03 with 5 goals for 16 points in 64 games to help the Whalers reach Western Conference finals against the

Kitchener Rangers The Kitchener Rangers are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The Rangers have won the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL ...

. He was subsequently drafted 63rd overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the

. In his final year with Plymouth in 2003–04, Liffiton's rights were included in a trade by the Avalanche, along with Chris McAllister, to the

in exchange for

Matthew Barnaby Matthew Barnaby (born May 4, 1973) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), right winger. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, New York ...

and a third round selection in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

( Denis Parshin) on March 8, 2004. Signing an entry-level contract with the Rangers on July 29, 2004, he began his professional career with Rangers

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

affiliate, the

Charlotte Checkers The Charlotte Checkers are a professional ice hockey team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the top minor league affiliate of the ...

, before moving up to

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 ...

affiliate, the

Hartford Wolf Pack The Hartford Wolf Pack are a professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut. A member of the American Hockey League (AHL), they play their home games at the PeoplesBank Arena. The team was established in 1926 as the Providence Reds. ...

for the majority of the 2004–05 season. In the 2005–06 season he continued to play primarily with Hartford and finished second on the Wolf Pack with 169

Penalty minutes A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penalties ...

. Towards the end of the season, the Rangers were hit with injury on the blueline and David made his NHL debut playing a solitary game against rivals the

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 ...

, registering 2 penalty minutes, in a 3–2 defeat on April 11, 2006. He played in two further games in the 2006–07 season with the Rangers, including his first NHL fight against the Boston Bruins' Jeremy Reich, but again remained entrenched as a physical force among the Wolf Pack blueline amassing 189 penalty minutes in 72 games. In his fourth season within the Rangers organization in 2007–08, Liffiton was limited to only 21 games with the Wolf Pack suffering post-

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

symptoms that kept him sidelined for the majority of the year. On November 4, 2008, Liffiton signed as a free agent to a one-year contract with

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional Association football, football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, Jylland, that plays in the Danish 1st Division, 1st division, the sec ...

of the Danish League,

Oddset Ligaen The Superisligaen, known as the Metal Ligaen for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level ice hockey league in Denmark. The league consists of 9 professional teams. Teams from the Superisligaen can participate in the IIHF's annual Champions Ho ...

. Upon Completing the season, he ended his European stint on July 13, 2009, and came back to North America initially signing a one-year deal with

Syracuse Crunch The Syracuse Crunch are a professional ice hockey team based in Syracuse, New York. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's Tampa Bay Lightning. They play in they home games at the Upstate Medical Univer ...

of the

. David was invited to Syracuse's NHL affiliate, the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. The Blue Jackets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern C ...

, training camp for the 2009–10 season and was signed to a one-year contract with the Blue Jackets before he was reassigned to the Crunch on September 29, 2009. David spent the entire year with the Crunch, and developed a career season high with 5 goals, 15 assists and 20 points as the Crunch failed to qualify for the

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League (AHL). It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In it ...

playoffs. As a free agent, David returned to his original draft team in the Colorado Avalanche, signing a one-year contract on July 2, 2010. He was then reassigned during the

2010–11 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 ...

pre-season to the Avalanche's AHL affiliate, the

Lake Erie Monsters A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a depression (geology), basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land an ...

, on September 23, 2010. His first NHL goal was scored on October 30, 2010, against Steve Mason of the

. With the return to health of

Adam Foote Adam David Vernon Foote (born July 10, 1971) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player who is the head coach for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was also the former head coach of the Kelowna Rocke ...

, Liffiton was returned to the Monsters after 4 games with the Avalanche before suffering a season-ending injury. After his second season as captain of the Lake Erie Monsters, Liffiton left and signed as a free agent for his second stint in Europe, on a one-year deal with newly promoted Hockey Milano Rossoblu of the Italian Serie A on September 11, 2012. Prior to the 2013–14 season, Liffiton remained in Europe, agreeing to a try-out with Swedish club,

Färjestad BK Färjestad Bollklubb (; abbreviated as FBK) is a Swedish professional ice hockey team based in Karlstad. Färjestad has had 21 Swedish Championship final appearances, winning ten times since the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserie ...

, on August 26, 2013. On May 27, 2015, Liffiton signed a one-year contract with Austrian club, HC TWK Innsbruck of the EBEL. After a season in Innsbruck, Liffton opted to leave as a free agent and return to Denmark in signing a one-year deal with Frederikshavn White Hawks of the Metal Ligaen on July 13, 2016.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liffiton, David 1984 births Canadian ice hockey defencemen Charlotte Checkers (1993–2010) players Colorado Avalanche draft picks Colorado Avalanche players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Färjestad BK players Frederikshavn White Hawks players Hartford Wolf Pack players HC TWK Innsbruck players Ice hockey people from Windsor, Ontario Lake Erie Monsters players Living people Malmö Redhawks players New York Rangers players Plymouth Whalers players Syracuse Crunch players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen