Brad Bombardir
Luke Bombardir | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 5, 1972 Powell River, British Columbia, Canada |
| Occupation(s) | Ice hockey player (retired), ice hockey executive |
| Known for | NHL defenseman for New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators; Minnesota Wild Director of Player Development; Senior Director of Community Relations |
Luke Bradley Bombardir (born May 5, 1972) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey defenseman who played in the NHL for the New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild, and Nashville Predators. He is presently the Minnesota Wild's Director of Player Development and also holds the position of Senior Director of Community Relations.
Amateur
Raised in British Columbia, Bombardir competed in junior hockey with the Powell River Paper Kings of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League from 1988 to 1990. Over 60 games, he tallied 10 goals and 25 assists. The New Jersey Devils selected him 56th overall in the third round of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. Before being drafted, he had contemplated joining the Victoria Cougars in the Western Hockey League but ultimately chose to attend the University of North Dakota.
Professional
Following completion of a degree in economic development at North Dakota, Bombardir launched his professional journey with the Albany River Rats in the American Hockey League (AHL). In his sophomore season, he earned a spot on the AHL All-Star team. During the 1994–95 NHL lockout, Devils assistant coach Larry Robinson took charge of intense training sessions for the AHL squad, playing a key role in Bombardir’s growth as a player. A broken leg sidelined him for most of the 1996–97 season, but he made his NHL debut in 1997–98, receiving commendations from coach Jacques Lemaire. His first NHL goal came on April 15, 1998.
Bombardir appeared in his first NHL playoff series during the 1999–2000 season when Scott Niedermayer was suspended. That year, the Devils captured the Stanley Cup, and Bombardir had the honor of bringing the trophy to his hometown of Powell River. After recording a personal best of 15 assists in 2000–01, he secured a three-year contract extension with the Minnesota Wild. Notably, he became the franchise’s first player to serve as captain for two consecutive months despite their rotating captaincy approach.
In October 2001, Bombardir suffered a fractured right ankle that kept him out for two months; at that point, he was leading his team with an average ice time exceeding 25 minutes per game. He returned to score his first goal after a drought of 104 games on February 28, 2002.
He reassumed captaincy responsibilities with Minnesota in January 2004 but was traded alongside Sergei Zholtok to the Nashville Predators in February in exchange for third and fourth-round selections in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.
Post-career
Bombardir joined the Minnesota Wild organization as director of community partnerships in September 2006. In 2010, he advanced to Director of Player Development, where he manages player growth and contributes to strategic planning within the club.
Personal life
Bombardir and his wife Heather are parents to three children.
Regular season and playoffs
2000–01 Minnesota Wild NHL 70 0 15 15 42| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |||||
| 1988–89 | Powell River Paper Kings | BCJHL | 30 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 24 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 1989–90 | Powell River Paper Kings | BCJHL | 60 | 10 | 35 | 45 | 93 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | |||||
| 1990–91 | University of North Dakota | WCHA | 33 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 1991–92 | University of North Dakota | WCHA | 35 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 1992–93 | University of North Dakota | WCHA | 38 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 1993–94 | University of North Dakota | WCHA | 38 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 1994–95 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 77 | 5 | 22 | 27 | 22 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | |||||
| 1995–96 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 80 | 6 | 25 | 31 | 63 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||||
| 1996–97 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 32 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | |||||
| 1997–98 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 1997–98 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 43 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 1998–99 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 56 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 1999–2000 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 32 | 3
1 4 6 1 — — — — | |||||||||||||
| colspan="3"| AHL totals !195 !11 !55 !66 !91 !33 !1 !7 !8 !18 |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3"| NHL totals !356 !8 !46 !54 !127 !16 !0 !1 !1 !2|}
International
See alsoExternal links | |||||||||||||||||
- Pages with script errors
- Articles with short description
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1972 births
- Living people
- Albany River Rats players
- Canadian ice hockey defencemen
- Ice hockey people from British Columbia
- Minnesota Wild executives
- Minnesota Wild players
- Nashville Predators players
- New Jersey Devils players
- People from Powell River, British Columbia
- Powell River Kings players
- Springfield Falcons players
- Stanley Cup champions
- North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey players
- Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States
- New Jersey Devils draft picks