About Brent Sopel
Brent Bernard Sopel (born January 7, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NHL). Sopel was originally selected 144th overall at the 1995 NHL entry draft by the Vancouver Canucks. He has also played for the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Thrashers and Montreal Canadiens, winning the Stanley Cup in 2010 with Chicago. In addition to his NHL career, Sopel has also played in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with Metallurg Novokuznetsk and Salavat Yulaev Ufa, also briefly playing for the American Hockey League (AHL)'s Chicago Wolves before retiring from professional hockey in 2015. On April 3, 1996, just under a year after being drafted, Sopel signed his first professional contract with his draft team, the Vancouver Canucks. He was told by Coach Marc Crawford that he would never play in the NHL, but Sopel scored his first NHL goal on April 10, 1999, against the Edmonton Oilers' Tommy Salo. On December 31, 2001, and January 21, 2002, Sopel won USA Today's NHL Player of the Week award.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.