Maxim Noreau (born May 24, 1987) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) 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. In ice hockey, two o ...

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

currently playing for

SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers The SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers are a professional ice hockey club from Rapperswil, Switzerland and are members of the National League. History The Lakers were founded in 1945 and were known as SC Rapperswil-Jona until 2005, when the club chan ...

of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(NL). He has formerly played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL) with the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confe ...

Playing career

On May 22, 2008, Noreau was signed as a free agent to a three-year entry-level contract with the Minnesota Wild. He spent most of the 2009–10 season with the Houston Aeros of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

. He posted 52 points in 76 games to earn selection in the AHL Second All-Star Team. Noreau also made his

debut on April 8, 2010, with the

. Following the conclusion of the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

season, Noreau was traded from the Wild to 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. The club was founded as the Kans ...

for David McIntyre on June 16, 2011. With his rights owned by the Devils on August 1, 2011, Noreau signed a one-year European deal with HC Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and is the top tier of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league ha ...

. In his first season with Piotta in 2011–12, Noreau led the defense and scored 30 points in 44 games. As a result, he was selected to the NLA All-Star Team and was re-signed to a three-year contract extension on November 6, 2011. In the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

season, despite missing out on the post-season for the second consecutive season, he was again the offensive presence from the blueline for Piotta, contributing with 10 goals and 35 assists to lead the league in defensive scoring. Noreau posted 102 points in 146 games over three seasons before he was released from the final year of his contract with Ambri-Piotta to sign a two-year, one-way contract with the

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

on July 7, 2014. He spent the entirety of his contract within the Avalanche's AHL affiliates. During the 2014–15 season with the

Lake Erie Monsters The Cleveland Monsters are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). The team began play in 2007 as the Lake Erie Monsters and since 2015 has served as the top affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hocke ...

, he was leading defensemen with 30 points in 39 games before he suffered a season-ending injury. In the following season, Noreau was reassigned to new AHL affiliate, the

San Antonio Rampage The San Antonio Rampage were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League based in San Antonio, Texas. The Rampage was primarily owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment throughout the team's existence. In 2020, the franchise was sol ...

, again leading the blueline in scoring, placing second overall among the Rampage with 45 points in 64 games. In April 2016, unable to further his NHL career, Noreau put pen to paper on a two-year deal to return to Switzerland with

SC Bern Schlittschuh Club Bern (''Ice-skating Club Bern'' in English) is an ice hockey team based in Bern, Switzerland. They play in the National League (NL), the top tier of the Swiss hockey league system. For the 18th year in a row, the club is the most ...

of the NLA On March 1, 2018, Noreau agreed to a two-year contract with rival NL club, the

ZSC Lions The Zürcher Schlittschuh Club Lions (ZSC Lions) are a professional ice hockey team located in Zürich, Switzerland, playing in the National League (NL). Their home arena is the 12,000-seat Swiss Life Arena. The team was founded in 1930 and pla ...

, worth CHF 1.8 million, starting from the 2018–19 season.

International play

In December 2016, he won his second

Spengler Cup The Spengler Cup is an annual invitational ice hockey tournament held in Davos, Switzerland. First held in 1923, the Spengler Cup is often cited as the oldest invitational ice hockey tournament in the world. The event is hosted by the Swiss t ...

with Team Canada and was named to the tournament's all-star team. One year later, he captained Canada to another victory at the Spengler Cup. In January 2022, Noreau was selected to play for Team Canada at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Bei ...

, marking his second consecutive Olympic appearance.

Personal

His younger brother, Samuel Noreau, is a professional hockey player currently with the

Missouri Mavericks The Kansas City Mavericks are an ice hockey team in the ECHL. Founded in 2009 as the Missouri Mavericks of the Central Hockey League, CHL, the team plays in Independence, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, at the Cable Dahmer Arena. H ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). Th ...

; he was formerly a prospect within the

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

organization.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Noreau, Maxim 1987 births Living people HC Ambrì-Piotta players SC Bern players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey people from Montreal Houston Aeros (1994–2013) players Lake Erie Monsters players Minnesota Wild players Olympic ice hockey players for Canada Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in ice hockey SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers players San Antonio Rampage players Texas Wildcatters players Undrafted National Hockey League players Victoriaville Tigres players ZSC Lions players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland