Eric Cairns
| Eric Cairns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
June 27, 1974 Oakville, ON, CAN |
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| Height | 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) | ||
| Weight | 241 lb (109 kg; 17 st 3 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
New York Rangers New York Islanders London Racers Florida Panthers Pittsburgh Penguins |
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| NHL Draft | 72nd overall, 1992 New York Rangers |
||
| Playing career | 1996–2007 | ||
Eric Cairns (born June 27, 1974) is a Canadian retired ice hockey defenceman and current pro scout for the New York Islanders. His last season (2006) was with the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL. Eric is still being featured in EA Sports' yearly NHL hockey game; he was featured in NHL 10 despite being retired for a number of years.
Drafted in the third round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers. He began his second year of professional hockey with the Charlotte Checkers in the ECHL where he played 14 games before the Rangers promoted him to the Binghamton Rangers of the AHL. A year later was playing in the NHL with the New York Rangers, where he spent several seasons before being placed on waivers. The Rangers' crosstown rivals, the New York Islanders, claimed Cairns on December 22, 1998. He played six seasons with the team before they declined to renew his contract. After the 2004–05 NHL lockout the Florida Panthers signed him as a free agent. Cairns was then traded to the Penguins mid-season. He missed most of the 2006–2007 season with post-concussion syndrome and various other injuries.
Cairns, an enforcer, received less playing time in his last year of play as the enforcer role is less prominent in the post-lockout NHL. Since entering the league in the 1996–1997 season with the Rangers, Cairns accumulated 1,117 penalty minutes, 10 goals, and 32 assists.
During his tenure with the Islanders, Cairns was actively involved in the team's rivalry with the Rangers, particularly feuding with Theo Fleury, Sandy McCarthy, Matthew Barnaby and Dale Purinton. In a game on November 8, 2001, McCarthy challenged Cairns to a fight; initially, Cairns declined, but he later chased McCarthy down the ice into the Islanders' zone. During this time, McCarthy scored on a rebound. As McCarthy celebrated, Cairns gave him a jab to the jaw, which led to a fight between Cairns and Steve McKenna. Afterward, with Cairns in the penalty box, Fleury mocked him by flapping his arms like a chicken to suggest that Cairns was afraid to fight McCarthy, who flexed his biceps and looked at Cairns. In the next game between the two teams, on December 21, Cairns and McCarthy fought at the beginning of the first period following an early Islanders goal. Cairns won the fight, and McCarthy said of him after the game, "I never said he wasn't a tough guy."
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