Spezza played 19 seasons in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators, Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs. His pro career began when he was drafted #2 overall in the 2001 NHL Draft by Ottawa. Soon he would report to AHL Binghamton. Spezza split time in his first professional season between Binghamton and Ottawa but would return to the B-Sens during 2004-05 year amidst the NHL lockout. Spezza played 80 games that season, recording 32 goals and 85 assists totaling 117 points, the most in the league and earning the Les Cunningham Award for league MVP. He would go on to play the next nine seasons with Ottawa, serving as team captain in 2013. He was an assistant captain for the Dallas Stars in three of his four years in Texas, before finishing his playing career with Toronto in 2022. He finished his career with 1248 games played, 363 goals and 632 assists.
Spezza continues to work in hockey serving as the assistant general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins and is in his second season of overseeing their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. |
