Playing career

Vancouver Canucks

On April 3, 1996, just under a year after being drafted, Sopel signed his first professional contract with his draft team, the Vancouver Canucks. Sopel scored his first NHL goal on April 10, 1999, against the Edmonton Oilers' Tommy Salo. In 2002, Sopel won the Fred J. Hume Award for Unsung Hero voted by the Vancouver Canucks Booster Club. On December 31, 2001, and January 21, 2002, Sopel won USA Today's NHL Player of the Week award.

Sopel was traded back to the Canucks during their 2006-07 season on February 1, 2007, the NHL trade deadline day. He missed the first game of the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Dallas Stars after he injured his back while picking up a cracker that was dropped by his daughter. The Canucks beat the Stars in quadruple overtime, in the sixth longest game in NHL history.

New York Islanders

On August 3, 2005, the Canucks traded Sopel to the New York Islanders in exchange for a conditional draft pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. On August 16, just under a week after being traded, Sopel signed a two-year, $4.8 million contract with the Islanders.

Chicago Blackhawks

Heading into the 2007-08 season with no contract, Sopel was invited to the Detroit Red Wings' training camp. However, on September 28, 2007, Sopel left Detroit's camp, instead signing a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks after the Red Wings had only offered a one-year, $500,000 contract. On January 10, 2008, Sopel signed a three-year, $7 million contract extension with the Blackhawks, keeping him in Chicago through to the 2010-11 season. On June 9, 2010, Brent Sopel won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks.

In June 2010, Sopel brought the team's recently-won Stanley Cup to the 2010 Chicago Gay Pride Parade. Sopel brought the Cup to the parade in honour of the late Brendan Burke, son of his former general manager whilst playing for Vancouver, Brian Burke, to display it in the Chicago Gay Pride Parade, stating to the press that honouring Burke's legacy and his father's example of familial support and tolerance was one of his reasons for marching in the parade.

Atlanta Thrashers

On June 23, 2010, Sopel was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers, along with Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager and Akim Aliu, in exchange for the 24th (Kevin Hayes) and 54th overall picks (Justin Holl) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Marty Reasoner, Joey Crabb and Jeremy Morin.

Montreal Canadiens

After playing 59 games for Atlanta, registering two goals and seven points, Sopel was then traded to the Montreal Canadiens, along with Nigel Dawes, in exchange for Ben Maxwell and a fourth-round draft pick in 2011 on February 24, 2011.

Kontinental Hockey League

On July 29, 2011, Sopel announced that he had signed a two-year contract with Metallurg Novokuznetsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). During the 2012-13 season, his second with Novokuznetsk, Sopel was traded to Salavat Yulaev Ufa for their playoff campaign on January 31, 2013. During the subsequent summer, he signed a two-year contract extension with Salavat Yulaev.

Chicago Wolves

On October 10, 2014, the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League (AHL) announced that they had signed Sopel to a standard player contract for the 2014-15 season. On February 27, 2015, however, after 29 games played, Sopel announced his retirement from professional hockey.

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1993-94	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		11	2	2	4	2		—	—	—	—	—
1994-95	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		22	1	10	11	31		—	—	—	—	—
1994-95	Swift Current Broncos	WHL		41	4	19	23	50		3	0	3	3	0
1995-96	Swift Current Broncos	WHL		71	13	48	61	87		6	1	2	3	4
1995-96	Syracuse Crunch	AHL		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1996-97	Swift Current Broncos	WHL		62	15	41	56	109		10	5	11	16	32
1996-97	Syracuse Crunch	AHL		2	0	0	0	0		3	0	0	0	0
1997-98	Syracuse Crunch	AHL		76	10	33	43	70		5	0	7	7	12
1998-99	Syracuse Crunch	AHL		53	10	21	31	59		—	—	—	—	—
1998-99	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		5	1	0	1	4		—	—	—	—	—
1999-00	Syracuse Crunch	AHL		50	6	25	31	67		4	0	2	2	8
1999-00	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		18	2	4	6	12		—	—	—	—	—
2000-01	Kansas City Blades	IHL		4	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
2000-01	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		52	4	10	14	10		4	0	0	0	2
2001-02	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		66	8	17	25	44		6	0	2	2	2
2002-03	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		81	7	30	37	23		14	2	6	8	4
2003-04	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		80	10	32	42	36		7	0	1	1	0
2005-06	New York Islanders	NHL		57	2	25	27	64		—	—	—	—	—
2005-06	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		11	0	0	1	1		—	—	—	—	—
2006-07	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		44	4	19	23	14		—	—	—	—	—
2006-07	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		20	1	4	5	10		11	0	0	0	2
2007-08	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		58	1	19	20	28		—	—	—	—	—
2008-09	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		23	1	1	2	8		—	—	—	—	—
2009-10	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		73	1	7	8	34		22	1	5	6	8
2010-11	Atlanta Thrashers	NHL		59	2	5	7	16		—	—	—	—	—
2010-11	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		12	0	0	0	0		7	1	0	1	2
2011-12	Metallurg Novokuznetsk	KHL		47	2	6	8	33		—	—	—	—	—
2012-13	Metallurg Novokuznetsk	KHL		47	4	6	10	12		—	—	—	—	—
2012-13	Salavat Yulaev Ufa	KHL		4	0	2	2	0		14	4	1	5	6
2013-14	Salavat Yulaev Ufa	KHL		38	1	9	10	14		18	0	1	1	19
2014-15	Chicago Wolves	AHL		29	1	7	8	46		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				659	44	174	218	309		71	4	14	18	20
KHL totals				136	7	23	30	59		32	4	2	6	25

Awards

• 2001 - Player of the Week (December 31, 2001 - January 6, 2002)
• 2002 - NHL Player of the Week (January 21 - 27)
• 2010 - Won Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks

Transactions

• July 8, 1995 - Drafted in the sixth round, 144th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft
• August 3, 2005 - Traded by the Vancouver Canucks to the New York Islanders for the Islanders' second round selection (Bryce Swan — later acquired by Anaheim) in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft
• March 8, 2006 - Traded by the New York Islanders with Mark Parrish to the Los Angeles Kings for Denis Grebeshkov and Jeff Tambellini
• February 26, 2007 - Traded by the Los Angeles Kings to the Vancouver Canucks for the Canucks' second round selection (Wayne Simmonds — originally acquired from Anaheim) in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and the Canucks' fourth round selection (Justin Jokinen — later acquired by Buffalo) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft
• September 28, 2007 - Signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Chicago Blackhawks
• June 23, 2010- Traded to the Atlanta Thrashers along with Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager, and Akim Aliu for the 24th (Kevin Hayes) and 54th overall picks (Justin Holl) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Marty Reasoner, Joey Crabb, and Jeremy Morin.
• February 24, 2011 - Traded to the Montreal Canadiens along with Nigel Dawes for Ben Maxwell and a 4th-round draft pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
• July 29, 2011 - Signed as an unrestricted free agent by Metallurg Novokuznetsk of the Kontinental Hockey League.
• January 31, 2013 - Traded to Salavat Yulaev Ufa.
• October 10, 2014 - Signed by the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League (AHL).

[ Source: Wikipedia ]