Well I'm going to make my pick.
With our 20th round Pick,
Punk's Puckers select:
At LW
Geoff Courtnall
Geoffrey "Geoff" Courtnall (born
18 August 1962) is a
Canadian former professional
ice hockey player in the
National Hockey League (NHL) from
1983 to
2000. He is currently the head coach of the
Victoria Grizzlies of the
BCHL.
Courtnall was born in
Victoria,
British Columbia,
Canada and raised in
Duncan, British Columbia. He is the brother of former NHL player,
Russ Courtnall. Geoff's son, Justin, was drafted 210th overall in the
2007 NHL Entry Draft by the
Tampa Bay Lightning
The speedy Geoff Courtnall was signed by the
Boston Bruins of the NHL as an
undrafted free agent on
6 July 1983. He played for the Bruins from the
1983-84 NHL season to
8 March 1988 when he was traded along with
Bill Ranford to the
Edmonton Oilers for
Andy Moog. While in Edmonton He helped the Oilers win the
1988 Stanley Cup Championship. Barely four months later, the Oilers traded Courtnall to the
Washington Capitals for
Greg C. Adams, who was also from Duncan, British Columbia. After two seasons in Washington, he was traded to the
St. Louis Blues for
Mike Lalor and
Peter Zezel. Courtnall's first nine seasons were spent bouncing between five NHL clubs and two AHL clubs, the
Hershey Bears and
Moncton Golden Flames.
After less than a season in St. Louis he was sent at the trading deadline to the
Vancouver Canucks in a blockbuster trade. Going to Vancouver were
Robert Dirk,
Sergio Momesso,
Cliff Ronning, and future considerations. Going to St. Louis were
Garth Butcher and
Dan Quinn. This trade marked a major turning point for the Canucks as these players were among the core players that would lead the Canucks on their
Cinderella run to the
Stanley Cup Finals in 1994. Courtnall would only play one more season in Vancouver after the Cup run of '94 as he went back to the St. Louis Blues for the start of the
1995-96 season. He scored a lot of goals for the Blues but he suffered several concussions. After sitting out the last half of the 1998-1999 season with a concussion he returned to the lineup the next season. But only a few games in he went down again with a concussion, this time for the last time. Lingering effects of Post Concussion Syndrome forced Courtnall to retire after the
1999-2000 season.