Chris Gratton
Christopher Allan Gratton (born July 5, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who last played with the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is the cousin of Josh Gratton, who had also briefly played in the NHL as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers and the Phoenix Coyotes.
| Chris Gratton | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born |
July 5, 1975 Brantford, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) | ||
| Weight | 230 lb (104 kg; 16 st 6 lb) | ||
| Position | Centre | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
Tampa Bay Lightning Philadelphia Flyers Buffalo Sabres Phoenix Coyotes Colorado Avalanche Florida Panthers Columbus Blue Jackets | ||
| National team |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Canada | ||
| NHL Draft |
3rd overall, 1993 Tampa Bay Lightning | ||
| Playing career | 1993–2009 | ||
Early life
Gratton's father coached him for one season during his youth.[1]
Playing career
Junior Hockey
Gratton played his minor hockey in his hometown of Brantford, Ontario, playing for such programs as the Brantford Nodrofsky Steelers (the same program Wayne Gretzky played in many years earlier) and the Brantford CKPC Knights. As a 15-year-old, he played one season with the Jr B Brantford Classics.
In 1991, Gratton was selected third overall in the OHL Priority Selection by the Kingston Frontenacs. After his rookie year in the OHL, Gratton received the Emms Family Award as rookie of the year. In 1993, he was selected third overall in the NHL Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Gratton made his NHL debut for the Lightning on October 6, 1993, against the New Jersey Devils. He recorded his first career point (a powerplay assist on a Bob Beers goal) in his second game against the New York Rangers the next night. He scored his first career goal against Robb Stauber of the Los Angeles Kings in a 4–3 Lightning loss on October 20, 1993[2]
Philadelphia Flyers
In 1997, Gratton signed with the Philadelphia Flyers as a free agent after four seasons with the Lightning, earning a $9 million signing bonus. In 1997–98, Gratton matched his career-high of 62 points and recorded a career-best plus/minus rating of +11. Gratton was traded back to Tampa Bay the next season.
Second Stint with Lightning
Gratton served as Tampa Bay's captain during the 1999–2000 season until his trade in March, 2000, when Tampa Bay traded Gratton to the Buffalo Sabres.
Buffalo Sabres
Gratton would play for the Sabres from March 2000 until March 2003, when the Sabres traded him to the Phoenix Coyotes for Daniel Briere. One year later on March 9, 2004, Phoenix traded Gratton (along with Ossi Väänänen and a second-round draft pick, ultimately used to select Paul Stastny) in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Derek Morris and Keith Ballard.[3]
Florida Panthers
After the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Gratton signed a one-year contract with the Florida Panthers. Gratton signed a two-year contract extension with the Panthers in March 2006.[4] He was traded back to the Tampa Bay Lightning again on June 13, 2007, in exchange for a second-round draft pick (used to select Jacob Markström).[5]
Return to Tampa Bay Lightning
During the 2007–08 season, Gratton scored 21 points in 60 games before tearing the acetabular labrum in his left hip which required season-ending surgery.[6] Gratton re-signed with the Lightning for the 2008–09 season but was waived in December and was assigned to Tampa Bay's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals.[7]
Columbus Blue Jackets
Gratton was claimed off of re-entry waivers on February 21, 2009, by the Columbus Blue Jackets.[8] He played in six games for Columbus, recording an assist, before retiring in 2009.
Personal life
Gratton lives in Ancaster, Ontario and has one son, Zachary, who plays hockey, and three daughters. He has coached his son in minor hockey, first in house league in Ancaster, then for AA and eventually with the Hamilton AAA Jr. Bulldogs' bantam team.[9][10]
Gratton is co-owner of the Florida Jr. Blades Organization (in the 29-team Empire Junior Hockey League).
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1989–90 | Brantford Classics | MWJHL | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | Brantford Classics | MWJHL | 31 | 30 | 30 | 60 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Kingston Frontenacs | OHL | 62 | 27 | 39 | 66 | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Kingston Frontenacs | OHL | 58 | 55 | 54 | 109 | 125 | 16 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 42 | ||
| 1993–94 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 84 | 13 | 29 | 42 | 123 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 46 | 7 | 20 | 27 | 89 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 82 | 17 | 21 | 38 | 105 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 27 | ||
| 1996–97 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 82 | 30 | 32 | 62 | 201 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 82 | 22 | 40 | 62 | 159 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 1998–99 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 26 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 41 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 52 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 102 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–2000 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 58 | 14 | 27 | 41 | 121 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–2000 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 14 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2000–01 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 82 | 19 | 21 | 40 | 102 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 14 | ||
| 2001–02 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 82 | 15 | 24 | 39 | 75 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 66 | 15 | 29 | 44 | 86 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 68 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 93 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 13 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | ||
| 2005–06 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 76 | 17 | 22 | 39 | 104 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 81 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 94 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 60 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 77 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 18 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Norfolk Admirals | AHL | 24 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 1092 | 214 | 354 | 568 | 1638 | 40 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 82 | ||||
See also
- List of NHL players who have signed offer sheets
- List of NHL players with 1000 games played
References
- https://www.thespec.com/sports-story/8312600-ex-nhl-er-has-aaa-credentials/
- https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/199310200TBL.html
- "Avalanche acquire Salo, Gratton". CBC. 2004-03-09. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
- "Panthers lock up Chris Gratton". CBC.ca. 2006-03-09. Retrieved 2008-03-02.
- "Chris Gratton traded back to Lightning". CBC.ca. 2007-06-13. Retrieved 2008-03-02.
- "Lightning's Chris Gratton to undergo hip surgery". lightning.nhl.com. 2008-02-28. Archived from the original on 2008-03-03. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- "Lightning assign NHL veteran Chris Gratton to Admirals". oursportscentral.com. 2008-12-09. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- "Lightning cast off Chris Gratton in waiver-wire move". sportingnews.com. 2009-02-21. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- https://www.thespec.com/sports-story/8312600-ex-nhl-er-has-aaa-credentials/
- https://hamiltonjrbulldogs.com/Contact/
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Roman Hamrlik |
Tampa Bay Lightning first round draft pick 1993 |
Succeeded by Jason Wiemer |
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded by Bill Houlder |
Tampa Bay Lightning captain 1999–2000 |
Succeeded by Vincent Lecavalier |