Blake Comeau

Blake Comeau (born February 18, 1986) is a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger currently playing for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the second round, 47th overall, by the New York Islanders at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. He played five seasons in the Islanders organization before joining the Calgary Flames in 2011–12. He has also played in the NHL for the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Colorado Avalanche, and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Blake Comeau
Comeau with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014
Born (1986-02-18) February 18, 1986
Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 202 lb (92 kg; 14 st 6 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shoots Right
NHL team
Former teams		 Dallas Stars
New York Islanders
Calgary Flames
Columbus Blue Jackets
Pittsburgh Penguins
Colorado Avalanche
NHL Draft 47th overall, 2004
New York Islanders
Playing career 2006–present

Comeau had a successful major junior career, winning two Western Hockey League (WHL) championships and one Memorial Cup as a member of the Kelowna Rockets. He was also a member of Canada's gold medal-winning team at the 2006 World Junior Hockey Championship. He is often described as a modern NHL Journeyman, having played for numerous clubs in his professional career thus far.

Playing career

Junior

Comeau played four seasons in the Western Hockey League (WHL) for the Kelowna Rockets. He was a second round selection of the team in the 2001 WHL Bantam Draft.[1] After appearing in three games as a 15-year-old, Comeau joined the Rockets full-time in 2002–03, where he scored 23 points in 56 games.[2] He appeared in 19 playoff games as the Rockets won the President's Cup.[3] Comeau improved to 33 points in 2003–04, and while the Rockets failed to repeat as WHL champions, they qualified for the 2004 Memorial Cup as tournament hosts. Comeau and the Rockets won the national championship with a 2–1 victory in the final game over the Gatineau Olympiques.[4]

Comeau during his tenure with the Flames.

Following the triumph, Comeau was selected by the New York Islanders as their second round selection, 47th overall, at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.[5] He returned to the Rockets for the 2004–05 season, where he scored 24 goals and 47 points.[2] He also added 18 points in 24 playoff games as the Rockets won their second President's Cup in three years.[5] The Rockets failed to defend their title at the 2005 Memorial Cup, however, losing all three games they played.[6]

Comeau completed his junior career in 2005–06. He scored 74 points in 60 games and was named to the WHL's Western Conference All-Star Team.[7] He then joined the Canadian junior team for the 2006 World Junior Hockey Championship. Comeau led Team Canada in scoring with seven points in six games to lead Canada to its second consecutive gold medal.[8] Comeau began his professional career to conclude the season, joining the Islanders' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, for seven playoff games.[2]

Professional

New York Islanders

The Islanders assigned Comeau to the Sound Tigers for the 2005–06 season, where he scored 43 points in 61 games.[2] He earned a brief recall of three games to the Islanders and made his NHL debut on December 7, 2006, against the Montreal Canadiens.[9] Comeau split the 2006–07 season between New York and Bridgeport. He had 19 points in 31 AHL games and 15 points in 51 NHL games.[2] He scored his first NHL goal, against Dany Sabourin of the Pittsburgh Penguins, in a 4–2 victory on December 21, 2007.[10] Comeau again split season between New York and Bridgeport in 2008–09, scoring 25 points in 53 games with the Islanders. He finally earned a permanent spot with the NHL team in 2009–10. Comeau scored 17 goals and 35 points in 61 games.[2] He scored his first career hat-trick on March 2, 2010, in a 5–3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.[11] He established career highs in 2010–11 with 24 goals, 22 assists and 46 points, a season which earned Comeau a one-year, $2.5 million contract from the Islanders.[12]

Comeau with the Blue Jackets in 2013.

Calgary Flames

Comeau struggled to begin the 2011–12 season, and after failing to register a point in 16 games, was placed on waivers by the Islanders, where he was claimed by the Calgary Flames.[13] He scored five goals and 15 points with the Flames. Comeau became a restricted free agent following the season; the Flames would have had to give him a qualifying offer at least equal to his last contract to retain his rights. The Flames declined to offer him a contract, and he subsequently became an unrestricted free agent. Despite this, Comeau chose to re-sign with the Flames, taking a 50% pay cut to do so; the two parties agreed on a one-year, $1.25 million contract for 2012–13.[14]

Columbus Blue Jackets

Days before the 2013 NHL trade deadline, Comeau was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a 2013 fifth-round draft pick.[15] Comeau finished the season with 5 points in 9 games. A knee injury limited him to 61 games the following year.

Pittsburgh Penguins

On July 1, 2014, Comeau signed a one-year contract as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the 2014–15 season.[16] Comeau proved a solid addition to the Penguins, proving his versatility in skating alongside, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. On November 26, 2014, he scored his second career hat-trick, with two goals scored during regulation and one as the game-winning overtime, against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Comeau scored 11 goals in 32 games before he suffered a wrist injury against the Florida Panthers on December 22.[17] Having missed 20 games, Comeau later returned to the line-up however was still hampered by his wrist to suffer a drop in production.[18] Despite his injury, Comeau still recorded his best year since 2011 with the Islanders, in producing 16 goals, including a team leading 5 game-winning tallies, and 31 points in 61 games. Comeau recorded his first post-season goal against the New York Rangers on April 16, 2015.

Colorado Avalanche

On July 1, 2015, Comeau signed a three-year contract as a free agent with the Colorado Avalanche holding an average value of $2.4 million a year.[19] He made his debut with the Avalanche in the 2015–16 season on opening night in a 5-4 defeat to the Minnesota Wild on October 8, 2015.[20] In adding a missing versatility to the Avalanche bottom 6 forwards, Comeau became a staple of the team's penalty killing unit alongside Carl Söderberg.[21] On November 14, 2015, in his 500th career game, Comeau registered his first goal in an Avalanche uniform, marking his 200th NHL point in a 6-1 defeat of the Montreal Canadiens.[22] On March 28, 2016, Comeau scored his 100th career goal, adding the opening marker in 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators.[23] Unable to help Colorado qualify for the post-season, Comeau contributed with 12 goals and a career best 24 assists for 36 points in 81 games.[24] On March 4, 2017, in the midst of the worst season in Colorado history, Comeau became an infamous viral sensation when he passed to a teammate behind him on a breakaway, which was intercepted by a Winnipeg player. The Avalanche were losing 5-0 at the time.

In his final season with the club, Comeau recorded 13 goals and 21 assists in 79 games. The Avalanche qualified for the postseason for the first time since 2014, matching up with the Western Conference-leading Nashville Predators. Comeau scored two goals in six games during their first-round exit.[25]

Dallas Stars

On July 1, 2018, Comeau left the Avalanche organization after three seasons to join the Dallas Stars on a three-year, $7.2 million contract.[26] "I didn't want to waste their time or my time," Comeau said of meeting with other teams. "It's important that I'm on a team that I think can win. Dallas has all those pieces and also wants to improve. That was very appealing to me." [27]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2001–02 Kelowna Rockets WHL 3 0 0 0 4 — — — — —
2002–03 Kelowna Rockets WHL 54 5 18 23 77 19 2 1 3 20
2003–04 Kelowna Rockets WHL 71 10 23 33 123 17 4 2 6 23
2004–05 Kelowna Rockets WHL 65 24 23 47 108 24 6 12 18 34
2005–06 Kelowna Rockets WHL 60 21 53 74 85 12 4 9 13 22
2005–06 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL — — — — — 7 0 3 3 0
2006–07 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 61 12 31 43 46 — — — — —
2006–07 New York Islanders NHL 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2007–08 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 31 4 15 19 30 — — — — —
2007–08 New York Islanders NHL 51 8 7 15 22 — — — — —
2008–09 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 19 4 15 19 22 2 0 0 0 0
2008–09 New York Islanders NHL 53 7 18 25 32 — — — — —
2009–10 New York Islanders NHL 61 17 18 35 40 — — — — —
2010–11 New York Islanders NHL 77 24 22 46 43 — — — — —
2011–12 New York Islanders NHL 16 0 0 0 6 — — — — —
2011–12 Calgary Flames NHL 58 5 10 15 24 — — — — —
2012–13 Calgary Flames NHL 33 4 3 7 14 — — — — —
2012–13 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 9 2 3 5 6 — — — — —
2013–14 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 61 5 11 16 36 6 0 0 0 10
2014–15 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 61 16 15 31 65 5 1 0 1 8
2015–16 Colorado Avalanche NHL 81 12 24 36 58 — — — — —
2016–17 Colorado Avalanche NHL 77 8 12 20 58 — — — — —
2017–18 Colorado Avalanche NHL 79 13 21 34 50 6 2 0 2 2
2018–19 Dallas Stars NHL 77 7 11 18 42 13 1 1 2 16
2019–20 Dallas Stars NHL 55 8 8 16 36
NHL totals 852 136 183 319 532 30 4 1 5 36
Medal record
Representing Canada
Men's ice hockey
World Junior Championship
2006 Canada

International
Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2003 Canada IH18 4th 5 0 0 0 6
2006 Canada WJC 6 3 4 7 8
Junior totals 11 3 4 7 14
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References
  1. Flett, Cory; Watts, Jessie (eds.). 2008–09 WHL Guide. Western Hockey League. p. 66.
  2. "Blake Comeau profile". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
  3. Flett, Cory; Watts, Jessie (eds.). 2008–09 WHL Guide. Western Hockey League. p. 162.
  4. "The 2004 Memorial Cup history". Canadian Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
  5. Robinson, Peter (Spring 2006). "Mission Possible". Prospects Hockey: WHL3–7. ISSN 1703-7182.
  6. "The 2005 Memorial Cup history". Canadian Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
  7. Flett, Cory; Watts, Jessie (eds.). 2008–09 WHL Guide. Western Hockey League. p. 202.
  8. "2006 – Vancouver, Canada". The Sports Network. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
  9. Fornabaio, Michael (2006-12-12). "Comeau receives taste of NHL". Connecticut Post. Archived from the original on 2013-01-25. Retrieved 2012-09-03. – via Highbeam (subscription required)
  10. "Rookie Comeau's two points lead Islanders past Penguins". ESPN. 2007-12-21. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
  11. "Comeau's hat trick lifts Islanders over Chicago". Associated Press. 2010-03-03. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2012-09-03. – via Highbeam (subscription required)
  12. "Comeau avoids arbitration, signs deal with Isles". Fox News. 2011-08-02. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
  13. "Flames pluck Comeau off waivers". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2011-11-25. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
  14. Cruickshank, Scott (2012-06-28). "Despite salary chop, Comeau 'excited' to stay". Calgary Herald. p. E3.
  15. "Flames trade forward Comeau to Blue Jackets - Sportsnet.ca".
  16. "Penguins sign forward Blake Comeau". Pittsburgh Penguins. 2014-07-01. Retrieved 2014-07-01.
  17. "Penguins Blake Comeau sidelined several weeks with upper body injury". CBS Sports. 2014-12-23. Retrieved 2014-12-23.
  18. "Penguins Comeau must deal with wrist injury for rest of season". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
  19. "Avalanche signs Comeau". Colorado Avalanche. 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  20. "Parise has hat-trick as Wild rally to defeat Avs". CBS Sports. 2016-10-08. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  21. "2015–16 year end review: Blake Comeau". milehighhockey.com. 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2016-06-10.
  22. "MacKinnon scores 2 as Avalanche bury Canadiens". CBS Sports. 2016-11-14. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  23. "Avalanche beat Predators 4-3, keep Nashville from clinching". CBS Sports. 2016-03-28. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  24. "Blake Comeau: season in review". Colorado Avalanche. 2016-09-15. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
  25. Myers, Tracey. "Predators put it all together to eliminate Avalanche in Game 6". NHL.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  26. "Stars sign RW Blake Comeau to three-year contract". Dallas Stars. 2018-07-01. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
  27. "Why Blake Comeau says he chose to sign with the Dallas Stars". July 2018.
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