Kevin Bieksa

Kevin Bieksa is a former professional hockey player, and now a television hockey analyst on Hockey Night In Canada (2020-). He also does a lot of guest spots on other sports shows, as he is widely considered to be one of the most entertaining, and also one the most respected hockey minds in the business. After playing 3 seasons for the Burlington Cougars in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, Bieksa earned a scholarship to Bowling Green University, and was a two-time CCHA All-Academic honorable mention in 2003 and 2004. Kevin, also known as 'Juice' was drafted in 2001 by the Vancouver Canucks in the 5th round. Not a lot was expected of the somewhat average sized defenseman in the pro leagues. However his fierce competitiveness, courage and genuine toughness, as well as his intelligence would prove that he was a far better pro player than most, if not all of the pro hockey scouts ever projected. After graduating University with a B.A. in finance, Bieksa singed a tryout contract with the Canucks minor league affiliate, the Manitoba Moose in 2004. While on this tryout with the Moose, a famous incident took place after hours at a bar between Moose teammates. Apparently Bieksa had accidentally spilled a beer that belonged to Fedor Fedorov, younger brother of Russian hockey legend Sergei Fedorov. Bieksa apologized, but Fedor was intent on fighting Bieksa over the incident. By all accounts Kevin originally tried to discourage him from fighting, but eventually said "fine, let's go outside". Bieksa then knocked down Fedor with one punch, who was then laying down in the snow bleeding. The next day, then Vancouver Canucks General Manager Brian Burke heard about the incident, and immediately started working on signing a pro contract with Bieksa. This was just the beginning of a long and storied 13 year NHL professional hockey career. Though he was a good bit smaller than the average fighter, hockeyfights listed Bieksa as having 24 wins, only 1 loss, and 3 draws in his first 28 fights in the NHL. 'Juice' went on to become a highly regarded shutdown defenseman with skill, and the ability to drop people with a single punch. He was among the most feared defenders of his era. Bieksa helped lead his Canucks to two Regular Season 1st place titles, and once within a game of the ultimate NHL prize, the Stanley Cup. Kevin also represented Canada at the Hockey World Championships in 2014, and he was selected to be the team's captain. In his last competitive hockey competition, Kevin helped capture the Silver Medal for Canada at the 2018 Spangler Cup. The physical and aggressive defenseman became renowned in the NHL for performing a variation of a one punch knockout style superman punch on skates, which he executed successfully at least a few times during his NHL career. He claims to have adapted the move from studying MMA fighting. To this day, August 2023, no other NHL player has ever repeatedly knocked out other players with a single punch. Kevin is also known for being an exceptional leader, outrageously funny, and among the world's most intelligent hockey analysts.