page_title: Andrew Alberts
section_title: Professional
hierarchical_section_title: Andrew Alberts / Playing career / Professional
caption_attribution_description: Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Andrew Alberts during a game against the Calgary Flames on March 5, 2009.
context_page_description: Andrew James Alberts is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes and the Vancouver Canucks. A stay-at-home defenseman, he was known for playing a physical style of game.
  After a two-year junior career in the United States Hockey League, Alberts was selected by the Boston Bruins 179th overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. Following the draft, he joined the college ranks with Boston College of the Hockey East conference. In four seasons with the Eagles, Alberts was named Hockey East's Best Defensive Defenseman and was a two-time NCAA All-American. Joining the Bruins in 2005, he played three seasons with the club before being traded to the Flyers. He played with the Flyers for one year, then with the Hurricanes in 2009. At the trade deadline the following year, he was traded to the Canucks. Internationally, Alberts has competed for the United States at the 2006 and 2007 World Championships.
context_section_description: Following his senior year with the Eagles, Alberts signed an amateur tryout contract with the Boston Bruins' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Providence Bruins, on April 1, 2005. He appeared in the final eight games of the 2004–05 AHL regular season before helping the club to the Conference Finals of the playoffs. He scored his first professional goal in Game 5 of the Conference Finals against goaltender Antero Niittymäki in a 6–4 win against the Philadelphia Phantoms.
  After signing a one-year NHL contract with Boston in August 2005, he appeared in his first NHL training camp in September 2005. Making the Bruins' roster for the 2005–06 season, he made his NHL debut on October 5, 2005 in a game versus the Montreal Canadiens. A month later, he notched his first NHL point, an assist, in a game against the Buffalo Sabres on November 19. In December 2005, Alberts received a ten-day assignment to Providence, recording one assist in six games during that span. Returning to the Boston lineup, he scored his first NHL goal late in the campaign during a game against the Buffalo Sabres on March 12, 2006. Playing in 73 games, Alberts scored a goal and six assists. During his rookie season, Bruins head coach Mike Sullivan experimented with playing Alberts at the forward position for roughly a month.
  After re-signing for another year in July 2006, Alberts recorded 10 assists over 76 games the following season. He earned his first multi-year contract in the off-season, re-signing with the Bruins. During the 2007–08 season, he was limited to 35 games due to a head injury suffered on November 26, 2007, during a game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Going down to his knees to block a puck moving into the defensive zone, opposing forward Scott Hartnell bodychecked him, using his elbow to hit Alberts' head against the boards. Alberts left the game injured, while Hartnell received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct; he was later suspended an additional two games by the NHL. Alberts recovered in time to make his NHL playoff debut in April 2008, as the Bruins were eliminated in the first round by the Montreal Canadiens.
  After being a healthy scratch for the Bruins' first two games in the 2008–09 season, Alberts was traded to Philadelphia for Ned Lukacevic and a conditional 2009 draft pick on October 13, 2008. The emergence of younger defenseman Matt Hunwick was partly responsible for his expandability. Alberts became an integral part of the Flyers' defensive corps, leading the team in hits (157) and ranking third in blocked shots (133). His 12 assists and 13 points were career-highs.
  Becoming an unrestricted free agent in the off-season, Alberts signed a two-year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes on July 16, 2009. The contract paid him $800,000 the first year and $1.3 million the second. After appearing in 62 games for Carolina, he was traded at the 2009–10 trade deadline on March 3, 2010, to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft (used to select Austin Levi). Between Carolina and Vancouver, Alberts finished the regular season with 3 goals and 12 points over 76 games. His defensive play struggled in his initial stint with Vancouver, often being made a healthy scratch. He continued to earn criticism from Vancouver fans and media in the playoffs, particularly for his lack of speed and for taking costly penalties.
  Alberts came back to the Canucks with improved play during the 2010 pre-season and beat out Shane O'Brien for the team's final spot on defense (O'Brien was subsequently traded prior to the start of the season). Nearly one month into the season, Alberts suffered a minor knee injury during a game against the Colorado Avalanche, but did not miss any games. Later in the season, he was sucker-punched in the face by enforcer Jody Shelley during a game against the Flyers in December 2010. The two were being restrained by referees during a scrum when Shelley struck him. As a result, he received a two-game suspension from the league and forfeited  $26,829.27 in salary. Th
caption: Alberts with the Flyers in March 2009.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Picasa", "Image DateTime": "2009:03:05 20:39:29", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "204", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2168", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7967", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/200", "EXIF FNumber": "5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:03:05 20:39:29", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:03:05 20:39:29", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "125237/16384", "EXIF ApertureValue": "76085/16384", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "108", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "444", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "594", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "2375", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "1269", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "2020", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "3888000/877", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "432000/97", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Custom", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "d3009e8d63a036509584c3766bdb3ddf"}