Jay Bouwmeester

Jay Daniel Bouwmeester (born September 27, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman.

He played seventeen seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues.

Bouwmeester was born September 27, 1983, in Edmonton, Alberta.

He is the son of Dan and Gena Bouwmeester, and has an older sister, Jill.

His father is a school teacher and coach in Edmonton, and played defence for the University of Alberta Golden Bears hockey team.

Bouwmeester was a naturally gifted player; his father said he could handle a hockey stick at an early age, and learned to skate shortly after he learned to walk.

An all-around athlete, Bouwmeester also played baseball and soccer competitively, and ran track, played volleyball and basketball at school.

However, he had natural talent for hockey and learned to play on a backyard hockey rink his father maintained and in the basement of the family home.

As a youth, he played in the 1996 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Edmonton.

Bouwmeester played bantam and midget hockey with the Edmonton South Side Athletic Club, winning the Alberta midget championship in 1997–98.

He was selected by the Medicine Hat Tigers first overall at the Western Hockey League's (WHL) 1998 Bantam Draft, and appeared in eight games with the Tigers in the 1998–99 WHL season.

He joined the Tigers full-time in 1999–2000, scoring 34 points in 64 games as a 16-year-old.

He appeared in three consecutive World Junior Championships between 2000 and 2002, winning a silver and two bronze medals.

His offensive totals improved in his next two WHL seasons: 53 in 2000–01 and 61 in 2001–02.

He was a first round selection, third overall, of the Panthers at the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.

He was named to the WHL's East All-Star team, and was considered a candidate to be selected first overall at the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.

Instead, he was taken third overall by the Florida Panthers, behind Rick Nash and Kari Lehtonen.

Bouwmeester made his NHL debut with the Panthers at the start of the 2002–03 Season, and appeared in all 82 games for Florida, a franchise rookie record.

He scored his first NHL goal on November 11, 2002, against the Chicago Blackhawks, and finished the season with 4 goals and 16 points.

He was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 2003 and played seven seasons in the Panthers organization before being traded to the Calgary Flames in 2009, with which he played four seasons.

He made his debut with the senior national team in 2003, winning the first of two consecutive World Championship titles.

He was named to the 2003 NHL All-Rookie Team on defence.

He improved to 20 points in 61 games in 2003–04, though he missed 18 games with a foot injury.

He held one of the longest iron man streaks in NHL history as he appeared in 737 consecutive regular season games between 2004 and 2014.

Bouwmeester was a member of the 2004 World Cup of Hockey championship team and won a gold medal with Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The 2004–05 NHL lockout forced him to play in the American Hockey League (AHL) that season.

He joined the Panthers' AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, but experienced difficulties adapting to playing in the minor leagues.

Despite struggling to generate offence, Bouwmeester participated in the AHL All-Star Game, and was loaned to the Chicago Wolves when it became evident the Rampage would not qualify for the playoffs.

Bouwmeester and the Wolves reached the Calder Cup Finals, where they lost to the Philadelphia Phantoms.

Bouwmeester experienced a break-out season after the NHL resumed play in 2005–06, scoring 5 goals, 41 assists and 46 points in 82 games, all career highs, and was invited to join Team Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics in place of injured defenceman Scott Niedermayer.

He made news that off-season in his hometown of Edmonton when he was arrested for driving under the influence, a charge he pleaded guilty to the following summer.

Bouwmeester again appeared in all 82 games for the Panthers in 2006–07 and set a new career high with 12 goals.

He appeared in his first NHL All-Star Game, representing the Panthers in the game held in Dallas, Texas.

He played in the 2007 and 2009 NHL All-Star Games.

Bouwmeester improved again to 15 goals in 2007–08 while again playing in every game for the Panthers, and led the NHL in average ice time at 27:28 minutes per game.

He signed a new one-year, $4.875 million contract as a restricted free agent following the season, turning down the Panthers' long-term offers in the hopes of becoming an unrestricted free agent at the expiry of his new contract.

Another 15-goal season followed in 2008–09.

Bouwmeester was then traded to the Blues in 2013.

Bouwmeester won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Blues in 2019, becoming the twenty-ninth member of the Triple Gold Club.

Internationally, Bouwmeester has represented Canada numerous times.