Brett Sterling Brett Stewart Sterling ( born April 24 , 1984 ) is a professional ice hockey left winger who currently plays for the St . Louis Blues of the National Hockey League . Early life . Sterling , who is Jewish , was born in Los Angeles , California . He grew up in Pasadena , California , having been introduced to the sport by an uncle who bought Sterling his first pair of skates at age two . Playing career . Sterling had an outstanding four - year college career spent with Colorado College , where he played with future Atlanta Thrashers teammate Colin Stuart . He accumulated 108 goals and 184 points in 150 games played over his college career and was drafted in the fifth round , 145th overall , by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft . Sterling scored 28 points in 30 games as a sophomore for Colorado College . He finished third in scoring for the Tigers , missing the first part of the season due to an injury . Sterling ' s best collegiate season came in 2004 – 05 , when he had 34 goals , 29 assists and 63 points . That year , he was a top 3 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award , given annually to college hockey ' s top player . The following year , in his senior season , he was a top 10 finalist . Sterling garnered many accolades in his first season of pro hockey . Playing with the Chicago Wolves , the Thrashers ' American Hockey League affiliate , he amassed 55 goals and 97 points in 77 games . He also added 12 points points in 15 playoff games . He won the Willie Marshall Award as the league ' s leading goal scorer , and also won the Dudley " Red " Garret Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year . In addition , he was also named to the All - Rookie Team and AHL First All - Star Team . With his stellar play in his only season in the AHL , Sterling made the Atlanta Thrashers roster out of training camp for the 2007 – 08 NHL season . He would score his first NHL goal against Johan Holmqvist on October 20 , 2007 . However , he was unable to maintain a high level of play on the struggling Thrashers and was sent back to Chicago shortly into the season . He would be called up several times during the year . During the 2008 – 09 season Sterling ' s goal production dropped by 21 from 38 the previous season to only 17 his lowest total since 2003 – 04 when he was with Colorado College . He rebounded in 2009 – 10 to score 34 goals for Chicago in 55 games , tying with Ryan Keller of the Binghamton Senators for 6th in the league , however he would not play in any NHL games for the first time since his rookie season with the Wolves . On June 23 , 2010 , Sterling was traded by the Thrashers , along with Mike Vernace and a 7th round selection in 2010 NHL Entry Draft ( Lee Moffie ) , to the San Jose Sharks for future considerations in order to help the Thrashers facilitate an earlier trade of Dustin Byfuglien from the Chicago Blackhawks . However , with his contract set to expire the Sharks chose not to resign Sterling and on July 3 , 2010 , Sterling was signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 1 - year contract , worth $ 500 , 000 . Despite his new surroundings Sterling was unable to make the Penguins ' roster coming out of training camp and was placed on waivers . After spending most of the year in the AHL Sterling was called up to the NHL on February 10 , 2011 , he made his Penguins debut later in the day in a game against the Los Angeles Kings . He scored his first goal as a Penguin in the game . On July 4 , 2011 , Sterling signed a one - year , two - way contract with the St . Louis Blues . International . Sterling has represented the United States internationally in three junior lever competitions , the 2002 U - 18 World Championships , and the 2003 and 2004 World Junior Championships . Sterling scored 9 goals and 12 points in eight games helping the U . S . Under - 18 team win its first - ever gold medal . In 2004 he scored 3 goals as part of the gold medal winning US squad .