Antoine Vermette

Antoine Vermette (born July 20, 1982 in St-Agapit, Quebec) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player currently with the Ottawa Senators in the National Hockey League. He is known for his speed, penalty kill ability and faceoff success.

Playing career

QMJHL

At the 2000 NHL Entry Draft Antoine was selected 55th Overall to the Ottawa Senators.

2000–01 was Vermette's best year.

In 2001–02 Vermette played just four games at the end of the season. Vermette returned for a strong playoff campaign. In 22 games he scored 10 goals and 16 assists. In the 2008 season, Antoine Vermette was awarded the Derek Dettwiller Trophy for being one of the most notable forwards in the game.

AHL

Vermette played his 2002–03 season with Ottawa Senators AHL affiliate the Binghamton Senators, in 74 games Vermette scored 18 goals and 20 assists and won a place on the AHL All-Rookie Team.

NHL career

2003–04 was the season when Vermette played his first game in the NHL for the Ottawa Senators, he played 57 games with the Sens and scored 14 points, 7 goals and 7 assists.

During the lockout Vermette continued to play with Binghamton, the shootout was introduced for the first time since the 1986–87 AHL season and Vermette proved to be a top selection when the B-Sens advanced to the shootout. Vermette scored a 28 goal, 45 assist season second only to Senators star Jason Spezza on the B-Sens roster.

2005–06 was Vermette's breakout year where he proved he could play hockey and be a valuable part of the Ottawa lineup. Playing well as a penalty killer, he recorded 6 shorthanded goals, second in the league. Vermette had a career high 21 goals. The team was considered Cup contenders by many, however they only reached the second round to the Buffalo Sabres in a five-game series.

On July 18, two days before turning 24 he signed a two year contract worth approximately $2 million.

That previous season saw Vermette amassing 39 points, a career high, but failed to surpass his 21 goals in the previous season, only notching 19. Vermette spent the majority of the season on a checking line with fellow penalty-killer Chris Kelly. The duo were rarely apart. During the playoffs Vermette recorded 5 points in 20 games and helped the Senators to winning the Eastern Conference champions trophy, the Prince of Wales before losing in the Stanley Cup final round to the Anaheim Ducks in another five games.

His number 20 has been used throughout his career with the exception of back in the 2002–03 pre-season when he wore number 48 due to Magnus Arvedson in the 20 sweater. Arvedson went to Vancouver the following season.

On July 31, 2008 Vermette avoided arbitration and signed a two year deal with the Ottawa Senators that will pay him $5.525 million. He will make $2.525 million for the 2008-09 season and $3 million in 2009-10.

Between the legs

Vermette is famous for a goal he scored on December 2, 2006 where he managed to score a goal from behind the net through his legs on the short side of Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Johan Holmqvist. This goal was named TSN's Best Goal of 2006–07 and was Number 2 on the Top 10 plays of the season. Beaten only by the moment when Dallas Stars' forward Patrick Stefan missed an empty net in dying seconds of a game in Edmonton, Alberta, Oilers forward Ales Hemsky then scored the goal to force overtime.

Equipment

Like many other NHL players, Vermette has a sponsorship deal with hockey manufacturer Sherwood and uses both sticks and gloves from this brand. Vermette currently wears a Bauer Vapor XXX skate but has worn the Nike Bauer Vapor XXXX for the majority of the 2006–07 NHL season. Vermette is known that he likes to wear a Nike Bauer cap at most events. Vermette tucks his shirt in on the right side.

First career Hat Trick

Vermette's first career hat trick happened on Thursday, April 3, 2008. The Senators were facing their rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs. He scored those 3 goals against Vesa Toskala. His first goal was on the powerplay. It was assisted by Christoph Schubert and Wade Redden. His second goal was assisted by Cory Stillman and Shean Donovan. The last and final goal came shorthanded and was assisted by Brian Lee and Cody Bass. That was Lee's first career NHL point. The Sens went on to win the game 8–2.

Awards

1999–2000: QMJHL Mike Bossy Trophy (Top Draft Prospect)
2002–2003: AHL All-Rookie Team

Career statistics

			Regular Season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1998–99	Quebec Remparts	QMJHL	57	9	17	26	32	13	0	0	0	2
1999–2000	Victoriaville Tigres	QMJHL	71	30	41	71	87	6	0	1	1	6
2000–01	Victoriaville Tigres	QMJHL	71	57	62	119	102	9	4	6	10	14
2001–02	Victoriaville Tigres	QMJHL	4	0	2	2	6	22	10	16	26	10
2002–03	Binghamton Senators	AHL	74	18	20	38	54	18	2	2	4	16
2003–04	Ottawa Senators	NHL	57	7	7	14	16	4	0	1	1	4
2003–04	Binghamton Senators	AHL	3	0	0	0	6	--	--	--	--	--
2004–05	Binghamton Senators	AHL	78	28	45	73	36	6	1	4	5	10
2005–06	Ottawa Senators	NHL	82	21	12	33	44	10	2	0	2	4
2006–07	Ottawa Senators	NHL	77	19	20	39	52	20	2	3	5	6
2007–08	Ottawa Senators	NHL	81	24	29	53	51	4	0	0	0	4
NHL Totals			297	71	68	139	163	38	4	4	8	18
QMJHL Totals			203	96	122	218	227	50	14	23	37	32
AHL Totals			161	62	73	135	99	20	3	13	16	20