Keith Primeau
Born (1971-11-24) November 24, 1971
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 5 in (196 cm)
Weight 220 lb (100 kg; 15 st 10 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Detroit Red Wings
Hartford Whalers
Carolina Hurricanes
Philadelphia Flyers
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 3rd overall, 1990
Detroit Red Wings
Playing career 1990–2005
Medal record
Representing  Canada
World Championships
Gold medal – first place1997 Finland

Keith David Primeau (born November 24, 1971) is a Canadian businessman and ice hockey coach. He is a former professional ice hockey centre who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Detroit Red Wings, Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers.

He was recently the special assistant to the general manager and director of player development of the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL, now currently an assistant hockey coach at Bishop Eustace Preparatory School, the coach of Revolution in the Revolution Ice gardens, and the owner of a franchise of Bain's Deli in Philadelphia.[1] He is the older brother of Wayne Primeau.

Playing career

Primeau was drafted third overall in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by the Detroit Red Wings after playing two years with the Niagara Falls Thunder of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He split his first two professional seasons with Detroit and their then-American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Adirondack Red Wings. He set career highs in assists (42), points (73) and plus/minus (+34) in 1993–94. He made his only Stanley Cup Finals appearance while with the Red Wings in 1995, losing in a sweep to the New Jersey Devils. Primeau held out after the club signed Igor Larionov and after playing for Canada in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, Detroit traded him (along with Paul Coffey and a 1997 first-round draft pick, ultimately used to select Nikos Tselios) to the Hartford Whalers in exchange for Brendan Shanahan and Brian Glynn a few days following the start of the 1996–97 season.[2]

Primeau became a leader with his new team when the franchise moved to North Carolina and became the Carolina Hurricanes, being named team captain in 1998–99. However, he missed the majority of the 1999–2000 NHL season after holding out and was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers (along with a 2000 fifth-round draft pick, ultimately used to select Kristofer Ottosson) in exchange for Rod Brind'Amour, Jean-Marc Pelletier and a 2000 second-round draft pick (Agris Saviels) on January 23, 2000. On May 5, 2000, Primeau scored the game-winning goal in the longest game in modern NHL playoff history (five overtime periods for a total of 152 minutes and one second) against Ron Tugnutt of the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Only two games, in 1933 and 1936, were longer.

In his first full season with the Flyers, Primeau led the team in goals (34) and tied his career-high in points (73). Early in the following season, he was named team captain after defenceman Éric Desjardins resigned from the position.[3] After posting nearly identical seasons statistically in 2001–02 and 2002–03, Primeau was given the task of centering a more defense-oriented line in 2003–04.[4] He did well enough in his new role to earn a surprise selection to the 2004 NHL All-Star Game, the second of his career.[5][6]

In the 2004 Stanley Cup playoffs, Primeau recorded nine goals and seven assists for a total of 16 points; it was the best playoff year of Primeau's career and his play carried the team to within a game of the Stanley Cup finals. In Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Primeau scored the game-tying goal with 1:49 left in regulation. The Flyers won the game, 5–4 in overtime, sending the series back to Tampa for Game 7. The Flyers went on to lose that game by a score of 2–1. Hockey legend Phil Esposito later told Primeau that, "During the '04 playoffs, when you and the Flyers took the Lightning to seven games, you were the most dominating player I ever saw. More than Orr, Howe, Gretzky, or anyone."[7]

Nine games into the 2005–06 season, Primeau suffered a concussion which ended his season. As a result of ongoing post-concussion syndrome, he officially announced his retirement on September 14, 2006.[8] On February 12, 2007, the Flyers honoured Primeau before a game against the Detroit Red Wings, the team which originally drafted him. An emotional Primeau thanked the fans for welcoming him back.[9]

Primeau has been a resident of Voorhees Township, New Jersey.[10]

Personal life

Primeau, along with his brother, Wayne, and Las Vegas Wranglers general manager Ryan Mougenel, own and operate the Toronto-based Durham Hockey Institute. The three of them are also part-owners of the Whitby Fury, a team in the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL).[11] Keith's son Cayden played his college hockey at Northeastern University, before signing his entry level contract with the Montreal Canadiens after his sophomore season.[12] Cayden was a 7th round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft and started 5 games for the silver medal winning United States men's national junior ice hockey team in the 2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.[13][14]

Primeau and his wife Lisa reside in Voorhees, New Jersey with their four children, where they have resided since his January 2000 trade to the Philadelphia Flyers. The family previously resided in Farmington Hills, Michigan earlier in his career.

Awards

Records

  • May 5, 2000: Ended longest game in modern NHL playoff history with his goal at 92:01 of overtime.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1987–88 Hamilton Kilty B's GHJHL 19 19 17 36 16 — — — — —
1987–88 Hamilton Steelhawks OHL 47 6 6 12 69 11 0 2 2 2
1988–89 Niagara Falls Thunder OHL 48 20 35 55 56 17 9 6 15 12
1989–90 Niagara Falls Thunder OHL 65 57 70 127 97 16 16 17 33 49
1990–91 Detroit Red Wings NHL 58 3 12 15 106 5 1 1 2 25
1990–91 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 6 3 5 8 8 — — — — —
1991–92 Detroit Red Wings NHL 35 6 10 16 83 11 0 0 0 14
1991–92 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 42 21 24 45 89 9 1 7 8 27
1992–93 Detroit Red Wings NHL 73 15 17 32 152 7 0 2 2 26
1993–94 Detroit Red Wings NHL 78 31 42 73 173 7 0 2 2 6
1994–95 Detroit Red Wings NHL 45 15 27 42 99 17 4 5 9 45
1995–96 Detroit Red Wings NHL 74 27 25 52 168 17 1 4 5 28
1996–97 Hartford Whalers NHL 75 26 25 51 161 — — — — —
1997–98 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 81 26 37 63 110 — — — — —
1998–99 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 78 30 32 62 75 6 0 3 3 6
1999–2000 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 23 7 10 17 31 18 2 11 13 13
2000–01 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 71 34 39 73 76 4 0 3 3 6
2001–02 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 75 19 29 48 128 5 0 0 0 6
2002–03 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 80 19 27 46 93 13 1 1 2 14
2003–04 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 54 7 15 22 80 18 9 7 16 22
2005–06 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 9 1 6 7 6 — — — — —
NHL totals 909 266 353 619 1,541 128 18 39 57 213

International

Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
1996 Canada WCH 2nd 5 0 0 0 21
1997 Canada WC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 11 3 3 6 14
1998 Canada OG 4th 6 2 1 3 4
1998 Canada WC 6th 6 3 1 4 4
Senior int'l totals 28 8 5 13 43

All-Star Games

Year Location   G A Pts
1999 Tampa Bay 0 0 0
2004 Minnesota 0 0 0
All-Star totals 0 0 0

References

  1. ↑ Drew Lazor, Philadelphia City Paper Archived 2010-06-11 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Yannis, Alex (10 October 1996). "Whalers Finally Trade Shanahan for Coffey". The New York Times.
  3. ↑ "Flyers Name Keith Primeau Captain". Philadelphia Flyers. October 23, 2001. Archived from the original on December 13, 2001. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  4. ↑ Meltzer, Bill (March 22, 2011). "2004: The Primeau Playoffs". Philadelphia Flyers. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  5. ↑ "NHL: Philadelphia 4, New York Rangers 2". UPI. January 22, 2004. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  6. ↑ Moran, Edward (February 7, 2004). "Flyers eager to enjoy their Star turn". Philly.com. Archived from the original on February 8, 2004. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  7. ↑ Rumors, Rumors, Rumors, and Breaking the Forsberg Story..., HockeyBuzz.com, retrieved on February 26, 2007.
  8. ↑ Concussion effects force Keith Primeau to retire, ESPN.com, retrieved on December 17, 2006.
  9. ↑ Fond farewell for Primeau in Philly, NHL.com, retrieved on February 27, 2007.
  10. ↑ Panaccio, Tim. "Primeau finally deals with reality", The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 14, 2006. Accessed March 17, 2011. "The phone rang at Keith Primeau's house in Voorhees, N.J., on Sept. 6. Flyers general manager Bob Clarke said he wanted to meet the next day."
  11. ↑ Steve Silver (2009-07-15). "Former NHL All-Star named Director of Player Development". lasvegassun.com. Retrieved 2011-03-07.
  12. ↑ "Canadiens sign goaltender Cayden Primeau to entry-level contract". SportsNet. March 31, 2019. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  13. ↑ Engels, Eric (April 3, 2018). "How the Canadiens stole elite prospect Cayden Primeau in Round 7". SportsNet. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
  14. ↑ "Cayden Primeau". eliteprospects. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
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