Todd Fedoruk (born February 13, 1979 in Redwater, Alberta) is a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who is currently playing with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League.

[edit] Playing career

Todd Fedoruk spent his first seven professional seasons in the Philadelphia Flyers organization after being drafted 164th overall by the Flyers in 1997. He made his NHL debut during the 2000–01 season and played in 220 games over four seasons with the club, recording at least 100 penalty minutes in each season. He played with the Philadelphia Phantoms during the 2004–05 NHL lockout and took part in that team's run to the Calder Cup championship.

Shortly after the lockout came to an end, Fedoruk was traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for a 2005 second round draft pick (Pierre-Olivier Pelletier) on July 29, 2005. The 2005–06 season saw Fedoruk post career highs in games played (76), assists (19), points (23), and penalty minutes (174) as a member of the Ducks. The Flyers re-acquired Fedoruk on November 13, 2006 for a fourth round draft pick.^[1]

Fedoruk, who is known for his skills as an enforcer, had titanium plates permanently embedded into his face to repair injuries caused to him in a fight with Minnesota Wild enforcer Derek Boogaard during the 2006–07 NHL season. Later in the season, on March 21, 2007, Fedoruk was once again injured in a fight against New York Rangers enforcer, Colton Orr. Fedoruk was knocked out unconscious and had to be carried off the ice on a stretcher.^[2]

On July 9, 2007, Fedoruk signed a one-year contract with the Dallas Stars.^[3] In at start of the 2007-08 season, Todd struggled to make the lineup and played only a handful of games before he was demoted to affiliate, the Iowa Stars of the AHL on November 20, 2007.^[4] Before playing a game with Iowa, Fedoruk was claimed off waivers by the Minnesota Wild on November 22, 2007.^[5] Fedoruk played out the season with the Wild and scored his first career playoff goal during the Wild's first round defeat to the Colorado Avalanche.

Fedoruk signed a three-year contract with the Phoenix Coyotes on July 1, 2008.^[6] In the 2008-09 season, Todd played in 72 games with the Coyotes scoring 13 points.

On July 21, 2009, Fedoruk was traded by the Coyotes, along with David Hale to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Radim Vrbata.^[7]

[edit] Facial injuries

On November 11, 2003 Fedoruk was involved in a scrap with former New York Islanders Defenseman Eric Cairns. Fedoruk was deemed to have had the better of the exchange at the time but what was not apparent at the time is that a right from Cairns had broken Fedoruk's orbital bone. Fedoruk under went surgery and was back on the ice not to long after.

On October 24, 2006 while Fedoruk was playing with the Anaheim Ducks he asked current Minnesota Wild enforcer Derek Boogaard to a fight which evolved into one of the most controversial fights to take place in the NHL. Boogaard landed a brutal punch on Fedoruk that knocked him to the ice and shattered his cheek bone, Fedoruk left the ice directly following the fight in visible distress and wouldn't return to play. Many of his team mates were concerned at the time and rightly so, Fedoruk under went serious surgery to reconstruct the side of his face.

Fedoruk was traded from Anaheim to his former club the Philadelphia Flyers, his club before the NHL lockout during the 2004/05 season which saw Fedoruk playing AHL hockey. While at the Flyers, Fedoruk was involved in another scrap, this time with New York Rangers enforcer Colton Orr. During this fight Fedoruk was knocked down due to a wild right from Orr. He lay on the ice unable to move for around four minutes before being stretchered, there were no serious injuries acquired from this fight but it couldn't of done Fedoruk any good being clocked by yet another brutal punch.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Todd Fedoruk's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Todd Fedoruk's biography at Legends of Hockey
• Profile at Hockeyfights.com