Colorado Avalanche: Looking Back at Brett Clark's Career

Brett Clark represented the Colorado Avalanche organization as a player for eight and a half years. He also happens to be one of my favorite unsung heroes.

I was inspired to write this when I read another article on this site the other day about Colorado Avalanche defenseman Uwe Krupp. He was one of my favorite players as a kid, and it got me to thinking of even more obscure Colorado Avalanche players that I have a soft spot for. I looked in my closet, and my Brett Clark, Hershey Bears jersey was just staring a hole in me!

Acquisition of Brett Clark

On January 24, 2002, the Colorado Avalanche made a seemingly innocuous trade. They traded Frederic Cassivi, who was the 26-year-old, starting goalie for Colorado’s AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, to the Atlanta Thrashers. In less than three years in the Atlanta organization, Cassivi played a mere eight games for the Thrashers.

In return, the Avalanche received Brett Clark, a 25-year-old defenseman, who had spent the majority of the season playing for Atlanta’s AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. A minor trade, if there ever were such a thing.

Clark had appeared in 102 games for the Montreal Canadiens over the course of his first two pro seasons. However, when he was selected by Atlanta in the 1999 NHL Expansion Draft, his NHL prospects took a turn for the worse. Despite the Thrashers being a bottom-feeder in the standings, Clark only appeared in 44 games over three years for Atlanta before he was traded.

Hershey Bears Career

Brett Clark’s Colorado Avalanche experience was not an overnight success story. He spent the majority of three-and-a-half seasons playing for the Hershey Bears. However, he never stopped working toward getting back to the NHL. Clark amassed 128 points in 243 regular season games, as well as six points in 13 playoff games for the Bears.

More from Mile High Sticking

Toward the end of the 2003-04 season, Clark earned a 12-game stint with the Avs. In the waning moments of a blowout loss to the Edmonton Oilers, on February 18, 2004, Brett Clark scored his first goal as a member of the Colorado Avalanche. While he would not appear in a playoff game for the Avs that year, Clark was working his way up the organizational depth chart.

Clark spent the 2004-05 season as the captain of the Hershey Bears. With no NHL season that year, Clark continued to work his way into the plans of the Colorado Avalanche. He had his best AHL season, putting up 45 points in 67 games. He also solidified his position on the Avs depth chart the following season.

Colorado Avalanche Career

Brett Clark spent five full seasons playing for the Colorado Avalanche, starting with the 2005-06 season. Over the course of those five years, Clark played 359 regular season games for Colorado, averaging over 23 minutes per game during the middle three years. He also played in ten playoff games, including nine in his first full year with the team.

Clark gradually earned the trust of coaches and teammates during his first year with the team. During the regular season, he played under 20 minutes a night. By the time the playoffs arrived, Clark played over 24 minutes per game.

Game 2 of the first round series against the Dallas Stars also featured Clark’s most famous goal as a member of the Avalanche. Clark tallied a short-handed goal with less than three minutes remaining to tie the game, which Colorado would go on to win in overtime.

2006-07 would be a career year for Clark. He scored a career best ten goals and 29 assists, as well as playing a career high 23:41 minutes per game. The following season was shaping up to be almost as good, when a shoulder injury prematurely ended his season. Clark’s injury held him out of the playoffs, where the Avs could certainly have used his skills and grit.

The final two seasons of Clark’s Avs tenure saw him change his game from a two-way style of play, to more of a shut-down defensive d-man role. He never got his offensive game back after he got hurt. However, Clark did lead the 2008-09 Avs with 238 hits, a then team record. He even earned an alternate captain’s ‘A’ toward the end of his Colorado tenure, on a veteran-laden squad.

Clark’s final game with the Colorado Avalanche took place in the final and decisive game of the first round of the 2010 playoffs against the Sharks. The Avs led in the third period, but ultimately lost 5-2. Clark signed with the Lightning the following offseason, where he got to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2011, as a bottom pair defenseman.

Final Brett Clark Memories

Brett Clark had a very solid career with the Colorado Avalanche. His numbers will not jump out at you, and he will never have his number retired. But, if you were fortunate enough to watch him play, night in, night out, during the second half of the first decade of the 2000’s, you would likely remember him as an important piece of some good, but not great, Avalanche teams.

Brett Clark was never the most talented player for the Avalanche. However, he worked hard every night. I honestly cannot remember a game of his where I questioned his effort. He worked on evolving his game, to remain in the NHL when necessary. When his offensive prowess waned, he picked up his hitting. He was also never afraid to block a shot, or stick up for a teammate.

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This dedication and willingness to sacrifice are why Brett Clark is one of my favorite unsung Colorado Avalanche players. If he had been on a Stanley Cup winner, I think he would be more well remembered than he is. But timing, as they say, is everything. With that said, Avs die-hards of a certain age are unlikely to forget the efforts of Brett Clark anytime soon.

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