Brian McGrattan

At 42 years old, Brian McGrattan has this physical status:

Brian McGrattan (born September 2, 1981) is a retired professional ice hockey player and current Calgary Flames player development worker.

McGrattan was a fourth-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings (104th overall) in 1999, but he did not sign with the team.

He joined the Ottawa Senators in 2002 and made his NHL debut with the team three years later.

McGrattan has also played for the Phoenix Coyotes, Nashville Predators, and Calgary Flames in the NHL.

He was also a member of five American Hockey League (AHL) clubs, and he finished his career in England in 2017 as a member of the Nottingham Panthers of the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). With 551, he holds the AHL record for most penalty minutes in a season, which was set in 2004-05 with the Binghamton Senators.

McGrattan overcame an alcohol use disorder that dogged him early in his career and made him a key member of the NFL's substance abuse program and mentor to other players.

McGrattan returned to the Calgary Flames in a player development role following the completion of his playing career.

Personal life

In 2012, McGrattan married Michelle McGrattan. After Bill Murray's character "Big Ern McCracken" in the film Kingpin, his nickname is "Big Ern."

McGrattan had been an educator and mentor to former Nashville teammate Jordin Tootoo in Tootoo's attempts to tackle similar addictions for four years by the time he began his second stint with the Flames in 2013. McGrattan's experiences inspired him to help others; he works with the NHL drug rehab team to be a mentor to others in need of a fellow player's recommendation, and he wants to spend his off-seasons studying a university degree in addiction counseling. McGrattan has worked with Be The Game, a charity that helps underprivileged children.

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Playing career

McGrattan, a native of Hamilton, Ontario, played minor hockey in the city where he was one of his teams' top scorers before heading to Toronto to play bantam and junior hockey. Between 1997 and 2002, he spent five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He appeared in 25 games with the Guelph Storm in 1997–98, and although he did not appear in any playoff games, the Storm's J. Ross Robertson Cup champions were named OHL champions. McGrattan was sent to the Sudbury Wolves after playing just six games with Guelph the previous season, where he made 153 points in minutes (PIM) in 53 games to go along with 17 points. In 1999-2000, he continued his scoring by scoring 32 points and receiving 245 PIM in a season split between Sudbury and the Mississauga IceDogs.

Despite playing only 31 games, McGrattan led the IceDogs with 20 goals in the 2000–01 season. Since suffering a knee injury in a January 1, 2001 match against the Kingston Frontenacs, he missed the majority of the season. He began his OHL career in 2001 as Mississauga's captain, but he was eventually traded to the Owen Sound Attack in October 2001, then to the Oshawa Generals a few days later. He was traded back to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds appeared in January 2002. McGrattan appeared in 60 games, scored 20 goals and 35 points, and had 159 PIM.

McGrattan was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the fourth round, 104th overall, of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, but the Kings refused to keep him, despite his knee injury. He attended the Detroit Red Wings' development camp prior to the 2001-02 season before deciding to work with the Ottawa Senators on June 2, 2002. He played three seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL) with Ottawa's affiliate, the Binghamton Senators. McGrattan's first professional appearance came against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on October 11, 2002; he was an assist on a Jeff Ulmer goal that also became the first goal in Binghamton's history.

McGrattan believed he had a fair shot to make it to the NHL because of his size. Dennis Bonvie, the all-time penalty champion in professional hockey, taught him how to be a better fighter when he was teammates in Binghamton. McGrattan finished second in the AHL with 327 points in 2003–04 after posting 173 PIM in 2002–03. With 551 in 2004-05, he set a single-season record for penalties.

McGrattan was a member of Ottawa's roster for the 2005–06 season after establishing himself as an enforcer and with the Senators' need to bring physical fitness to their lineup. He appeared in 60 games with Ottawa, where he gained five points and 141 PIM. McGrattan scored his first NHL goal against goaltender Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils on November 19, 2005, and led the league in 19 fights. Tie Domi of the Toronto Maple Leafs was his most memorable match. McGrattan knocked his opponent down with a single punch, which the Toronto Star called Domi's "most decisive loss in ten years."

McGrattan's time with the team deteriorated over the next two seasons, when he appeared in only 45 games in 2006–07 and 38 in 2007–08. During the two seasons, he had only five points and 146 PIM combined, with just five points and 146 PIM. McGrattan made news midway through the 2007–08 campaign when he confronted fellow and goaltender Ray Emery – himself a well-known fighter – in combat. McGrattan's on-ice performance had suffered in Ottawa over time as a result of a worsening drinking disorder he had acquired early in his career with Binghamton.

The Senators failed late in the 2007–08 season, prompting general manager Bryan Murray to make changes to the staff. Both Emery and McGrattan were sent from Ottawa as separate entities. McGrattan, a pending free agent, was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes in 2008 in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. The Coyotes then agreed to a one-year deal for the 2008–09 season. However, he appeared in only three games with Phoenix before he voluntarily joined the league's drug rehab program. McGrattan's heroin use dropped to its lowest level, and he spent more than two months in an Arizona rehab center trying to recover his health. He returned to the Coyotes late in the season but only played in two more games before suffering a shoulder injury that required surgery to repair.

McGrattan was six months sober when he signed with the Calgary Flames for the 2009-2010 season. In a 5–3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on October 16, 2009, he scored his first "Gordie Howe Hat trick" – a goal, assist, and fight. It was his first game in three years. He had only two assists to finish with four points in 34 games. McGrattan has also served 14 times and was allowed to leave the county following the season.

McGrattan was hired by the Boston Bruins on a try-out basis and has since signed the team to a one-year deal. He was drafted to the Providence Bruins in the 2010–11 season and spent the entire season in the AHL. On February 27, 2011, the Bruins traded him to the Anaheim Ducks as a reward for David Laliberte and Stefan Chaput. In a March 12 game against the Rochester Americans, he was assigned to the Syracuse Crunch, where he set a franchise record for shots in one game with 13. McGrattan played for ten goals in a row between Providence and Syracuse, the highest single-season total in his AHL career.

McGrattan was first drafted off waivers by the Nashville Predators on October 11, 2011 after starting the 2011–12 NHL season with the Ducks' organization. The transaction revived his NHL career, assuaging his former coworkers who praised him as a "great guy" and a hard worker. McGrattan appeared in 30 games for Nashville, including his 200th game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on December 8. McGrattan was assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals after two games with the Predators in the lockout-shortened 2012–13 season.

McGrattan was traded back to the Flames in exchange for Joe Piskula on February 28, 2013, after only six games in Milwaukee. McGrattan's positive presence in the locker room as a player who was always ready to play was cited as a reason why Calgary recalled him. The Flames also expected him to play physically on the team, as he did in his re-debut with the Flames, a 4–2 win over Vancouver that featured many hits and a brawl against Tom Sestito, his first NHL fight in over a year. Following the show, he gave the crowd a round of applause and a ten-minute suspension. In 19 games with the Flames, he had three goals and 49 PIM, and the team had a two-year contract extension.

McGrattan appeared on the Flames from 2013-2014. In a season, he set career records in games played (76), goals (4), and points (8). He appeared in his 300th NHL game late in the season. McGrattan, who is best known for his combat abilities, appeared as a peacekeeper during the Flames' 2008 match against the Canucks. During the first intermission, Vancouver coach John Tortorella, who was furious about a line brawl between the two teams at the start of the game, attempted to accost Calgary's coach Bob Hartley in the hallway between the two teams' locker rooms. McGrattan moved between Tortorella and Flames members to ensure that the feud did not escalate into a violent confrontation.

Prior to the 2014–15 NHL season, a league-wide change in attitude favouring speed over stability for a team's key roles culminated in the near-down of the enforcer position. McGrattan appeared in only 8 of Calgary's first 42 games as a result. He was eventually put on waivers and after clearing, he was demoted to the Adirondack Flames in mid-January. McGrattan, Adirondack, reacted angrily and decided to play an all-round game in the hopes of returning to the NHL.

McGrattan, a member of the Flames, has been assigned to the San Diego Gulls in the AHL for the 2015–16 season. McGrattan was knocked unconscious during a game against the San Antonio Rampage on January 19, 2016. The shooting, in which he crashed face first to the ice and had to be stretched off the ice, reignited the discussion over the place of fighting in hockey.

McGrattan decided to play in England from 2016 to 2017 and agreed to a one-year contract with the Nottingham Panthers of the Elite Ice Hockey League, after 14 seasons with the NHL. (EIHL). He scored 12 goals and 19 points in 42 games with the Panthers, while adding 138 minutes in penalties. McGrattan re-joined the Calgary Flames as an off-ice coach, providing on and off-ice assistance for the team's players and prospects in 2017.

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