Matthew Barnaby

Matthew Barnaby (born May 4, 1973) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey right winger. Barnaby played in the NHL for the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers, Colorado Avalanche, Chicago Blackhawks and the Dallas Stars.

Matthew Barnaby
Born	May 4, 1973 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	191 lb (87 kg; 13 st 9 lb)
Position	Right Wing
Shot	Left
Played for	Buffalo Sabres Pittsburgh Penguins Tampa Bay Lightning New York Rangers Colorado Avalanche Chicago Blackhawks Dallas Stars
NHL Draft	83rd overall, 1992 Buffalo Sabres
Playing career	1992–2007
Website	Matthew Barnaby

Playing career

He was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres 83rd overall in the fourth round in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. Barnaby was drafted from the QMJHL where he spent four seasons with the Beauport Harfangs, Verdun Collège Français and Victoriaville Tigres, leading the league in penalty minutes in consecutive seasons in '92 and '93.[1] After completing his QMJHL career with the Tigres, Barnaby joined the Sabres for the end of 1992–93 season.

Barnaby was generally considered a pest and agitator and spent the next few seasons playing between the Sabres and AHL affiliate the Rochester Americans. Barnaby established a full-time role with the Sabres in the 1995-96 recording a career-high in penalty minutes with 335. He was frequently involved in on-ice altercations and among other incidents he made headlines in 1996, when in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers after a few hits and Barnaby lying on the ice presumably injured, a brawl between the two teams started. With the brawl in full motion, Barnaby jumped to his skates to punish Garth Snow, goaltender of the Flyers, who was poking Barnaby with his stick while the officials weren't looking.[2] In 1996-97 Barnaby showed his scoring talents when he scored a career-high 19 goals and 43 points in 68 games.

After seven seasons with the Sabres organization during the 1998–99 season, Barnaby was traded by the Sabres to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Stu Barnes on March 11, 1999. One of his most celebrated fights came the following season in 2000 against his former Sabre teammate Rob Ray after dining with Ray the previous night.[3]

Barnaby played in 129 games with the Penguins before he was traded on February 1, 2001, by Pittsburgh to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Wayne Primeau. After struggling to provide an impact to start the 2001–02 season for the Lightning, Barnaby was again traded to the New York Rangers for Zdeno Ciger on December 12, 2001. After going scoreless with the Tampa Bay in 29 games Barnaby responded with resurgence of form with the Rangers, scoring 21 points in only 48 games.

Matthew became a fan favourite in the Big Apple and played in 196 games before he was traded to the playoff bound Colorado Avalanche in the 2003–04 season, for David Liffiton and Chris McAllister on March 8, 2004.[4]

On July 2, 2004, he signed a lucrative three-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks.[5] After the 2004 NHL Lockout, Barnaby played his first season with the Hawks in 2005–06. Suffering from the year of hiatus he was subsequently bought-out of his contract following the season.[6]

Barnaby, again a free agent, signed a one-year deal with the Dallas Stars on July 5, 2006.[7] In the 2006–07 season, Barnaby recorded his 300th, and final point, on December 23, 2006 against the Edmonton Oilers.[8] He played only 39 games with the Stars before suffering a season ending concussion against the Phoenix Coyotes on January 9, 2007. Struggling with the effects of his concussion Barnaby announced his retirement from the NHL in July 2007.[9]

Broadcasting career

In September 2007, it was announced via the Sabres website that Barnaby would be given a tryout for replacing Jim Lorentz as color commentator for the Sabres. He served in that capacity for the September 26th pre-season game. The permanent position, however, went to Harry Neale instead. He also co-hosted The Enforcers on Time Warner Cable SportsNet with Rob Ray until joining ESPN as an NHL analyst in late 2008.[10]

Barnaby was forced to depart Time Warner Cable SportsNet after joining ESPN as its lead NHL analyst in October 2008, when Barry Melrose returned to the league to coach the Tampa Bay Lightning. Melrose returned to the network shortly after being fired just 16 games into the season. He is an occasional broadcaster and analyst for the show NHL on TSN and will serve as an analyst for their new hockey highlights show That's Hockey 2Nite.[11]

On December 5, 2011, ESPN terminated its contract with Barnaby after his arrest on suspicion of DWI earlier in the day.

Personal

Barnaby is known for his affable character off-ice and is one of the league's most willing interviewees.[12] While with the Penguins, Barnaby was known for his charity work, being very fan friendly, and had a very loyal band of fans named the "Barnaby Brigade". He had a long-standing feud with Lyle Odelein, Barnaby infamously referred to his longtime rival as "Cornelius," a reference to the Roddy McDowall character in Planet of the Apes.[13] He is mostly of Anglo-Canadian origins, but speaks fluent French, having moved to the province of Quebec with his family, at a young age. He is very attached to the Québécois community and is a big Montreal Canadiens fan.

Post-hockey

Barnaby lives in Ottawa and is a hockey analyst on The Power Play on SiriusXM channel 91. Since 2019, he has hosted a podcast called "Unfiltered with Matthew Barnaby." Outside of hockey, Barnaby is the co-owner of a company called Hunger Cave.[14] He has also been heavily involved in charitable work raising money for Alzheimer’s since his grandmother passed away from the disease.[15]

Career statistics

Bold indicates led league

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1989–90	Hull Frontaliers	QAHA		50	43	50	93	149		—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	Outaouais Frontaliers	QMAAA		2	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	Beauport Harfangs	QMJHL		52	9	5	14	262		—	—	—	—	—
1991–92	Beauport Harfangs	QMJHL		63	29	37	66	476		—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	Beauport Harfangs	QMJHL		19	12	23	35	144		—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	Verdun Collège Français	QMJHL		33	26	35	61	217		—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	Victoriaville Tigres	QMJHL		13	6	9	15	87		6	2	4	6	44
1992–93	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		2	1	0	1	10		1	0	1	1	4
1993–94	Rochester Americans	AHL		42	10	32	42	153		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		35	2	4	6	106		3	0	0	0	17
1994–95	Rochester Americans	AHL		56	21	29	50	274		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		23	1	1	2	116		—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		73	15	16	31	335		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		68	19	24	43	249		8	0	4	4	36
1997–98	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		72	5	20	25	289		15	7	6	13	22
1998–99	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		44	4	14	18	143		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		18	2	2	4	34		13	0	0	0	35
1999–2000	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		64	12	12	24	197		11	0	2	2	29
2000–01	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		47	1	4	5	168		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		29	4	4	8	97		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		29	0	0	0	70		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	New York Rangers	NHL		48	8	13	21	144		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	New York Rangers	NHL		79	14	22	36	142		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	New York Rangers	NHL		69	12	20	32	120		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Colorado Avalanche	NHL		13	4	5	9	37		11	0	2	2	27
2005–06	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		82	8	20	28	178		—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Dallas Stars	NHL		39	1	6	7	127		—	—	—	—	—
2013–14	Dundas Real McCoys	ACH		3	1	2	3	14		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				834	113	187	300	2562		62	7	15	22	170

See also

• Fighting in ice hockey
• Pest (hockey)
• List of NHL players with 2000 career penalty minutes

References

1. "Barnaby putting up fight for teammates, Cup". ESPN. January 18, 2007.
2. "Heroes & Villains: Matthew Barnaby". Philly.com. May 26, 2009.
3. "Interview with Penguin Barnaby". NickBakay.com. March 20, 2001.
4. "Rangers get defenseman, draftee". ESPN. March 8, 2004.
5. "'Hawks rely on grit for turnaround". ESPN. July 30, 2004.
6. "Hawks buyout Barnaby, Brown". Chicago Blackhawks. June 26, 2006.
7. "Addition of Barnaby adds gritty toughness and leadership". Dallas Stars. August 3, 2006.
8. "Klemm's first points, Turco's 20 saves carry Stars to win". ESPN. December 23, 2006.
9. "If Barnaby Comes Back, Stars the Only Choice". Dallas Stars. May 1, 2007.
10. "Welcome, Mr. Barnaby..lets preview 2008–09". ESPN. October 1, 2008. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
11. https://www.tsn.ca/shows/thatshockey2nite/ That's Hockey 2Nite homepage
12. "Matthew Barnaby Brick Hockey Tournament Interview". brickhockeyhighlights. March 20, 2008. Retrieved November 10, 2009.
13. Molinari, Dave (March 20, 2001). "Barnaby, Odelein go ape over long-standing feud". Post-Gazette. Retrieved April 10, 2010.
14. "Our Team". Hunger Cave. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
15. Lance, Lysowski (February 7, 2019). "Sabres Notebook: Matthew Barnaby, Andrew Peters to tell hockey stories for charity". The Buffalo News. Retrieved December 2, 2020.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
• Matthew Barnaby on Twitter