Jonathan Girard (born May 27, 1980) 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 ...

player, who played for 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 ...

of the

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 ...

. Girard was born in

Rawdon, Quebec Rawdon is a municipality located on the Ouareau River in southwestern Quebec, Canada, about 60 kilometres north of Montreal. It is the seat for the Matawinie Regional County Municipality, Regional County Municipality of Matawinie, in the Lanaudi� ...

and raised in

Joliette Joliette () is a city in southwest Quebec, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Montreal, on the L'Assomption River and is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of Joliette. It is considered to be a part of the North Shore of G ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Playing career

As a youth, Girard played in the 1993 and 1994

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament () is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, and give an opportunity for international competition to p ...

s with the Sélects-du-Nord

minor ice hockey Minor ice hockey or minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body c ...

team. A defenceman, Girard played junior hockey for the

Laval Titan Collège Français The Laval Titan was one of the names used by a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) franchise that played in Laval, Quebec, Canada, between 1971 and 1998. History The Rosemont National began in the 1969–70 QM ...

(later the Acadie-Bathurst Titan) of the

QMJHL The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

and was drafted in the second round, 48th overall, by the Bruins in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

). He played 150 games over five seasons with Boston, scoring 10 goals and recording 34 assists. He also spent time with the

Moncton Wildcats The Moncton Wildcats are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) based in Moncton, New Brunswick. The franchise was granted for the 1995–96 QMJHL season, 1995–96 season known as the Moncton A ...

of the QMJHL and the

Providence Bruins The Providence Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Providence, Rhode Island. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). They play at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. Hi ...

, Boston's AHL affiliate. On July 24, 2003, Girard was driving near his hometown in

when he lost control of his car and it flipped over. Girard required surgery for a

broken pelvis A pelvic fracture is a break of the bony structure of the pelvis. This includes any break of the sacrum, hip bones (ischium, pubis, ilium), or tailbone. Symptoms include pain, particularly with movement. Complications may include internal ble ...

. While at the time it was not known if Girard would ever play hockey again, he showed tremendous resilience in returning to skating at the Bruins' practice facility in

Wilmington, Massachusetts Wilmington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population was 23,349 at the 2020 United States census. History Wilmington was first settled in 1665 and was officially incorporated in 1730, from parts of Woburn, Re ...

in March, 2004. However, the loss of the 2004–05 NHL season due to a

lockout Lockout may refer to: * Lockout (industry), a type of work stoppage **Dublin Lockout, a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers 1913–1914 * Lockout (sports), lockout in sports leagues **MLB lockout, locko ...

nullified his attempt at a return to hockey that year. Girard signed a one-year contract with the Bruins on August 10, 2005, and played one game with Providence in the AHL on October 15, 2005. On November 30, Girard announced his decision to retire, having fully recovered from his injuries but unable to play professional hockey again.

Career statistics

References

External links

* 1980 births Acadie–Bathurst Titan players Boston Bruins draft picks Boston Bruins players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey people from Lanaudière Laval Titan Collège Français players Living people Moncton Wildcats players People from Joliette Providence Bruins players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen {{Canada-icehockey-defenceman-1980s-stub