David Laliberté

David Laliberté (born March 17, 1986) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played 11 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) while a member of the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2009–10 season.

Laliberté started his playing career after being drafted 3rd overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) Entry Draft by the Montreal Rocket. He quickly became a top player for the team as one of their best offensive forecheckers. After just two years with the Rocket, who relocated to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island during his time with the club, he was drafted in the fourth round, 124th overall, by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. During the 2004–05 season, Laliberté sustained an inoperable injury to a nerve in his back, which sent pain shooting down his leg, making it difficult for him to walk. The injury caused him to miss a year of playing and doctors said that he would have to tolerate some pain for the rest of his life. He did not return from the injury until December 2005 of the following season. He scored a hat trick in his first game back and was named team captain, helping lead the underachieving P. E. I. Rocket back into the playoffs after failing to qualify the previous season. Laliberté completed his major junior career in 2006–07 with a QMJHL career high 50 goals and 89 points in 68 games. Following the season, Laliberté was technically an unrestricted free agent after not being signed by the Flyers within two years of being drafted, but he signed a three year, entry level contract with the team on May 17, 2007. Laliberté split the 2007–08 season between the Flyers' minor league affiliates, the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL and the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL, before spending the entire 2008–09 season with the Phantoms. About a month into the 2009–10 season, Laliberté was called up by the Flyers and scored his first NHL goal and assist against goaltender Michael Leighton of the Carolina Hurricanes in his debut on October 31, 2009, in a 6–1 win. On November 21, 2010, Laliberté was traded with Patrick Maroon to the Anaheim Ducks in return for forward Rob Bordson and defenceman Danny Syvret. After 29 games with the Ducks AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, Laliberte joined his third NHL organization for the season when he was dealt by the Ducks, along with Stefan Chaput, to the Boston Bruins for Brian McGrattan and Sean Zimmerman on February 27, 2011. In July 2011, Laliberté signed a contract with German team Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, Germany's major hockey league. In 50 games with Grizzly Adams in 2011–12, Laliberte contributed with 20 goals before suffering defeat in the Quarterfinals to end his tenure with Wolfsburg. In January 2014, he joined Italian based club, HC Bolzano, to begin play in the Austrian Hockey League. In the midst of his second season with Slovak based club, HK Nitra, Laliberté signalled an immediate end to his professional career, citing a serious back injury on November 25, 2016.

Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2000–01 Collège Antoine–Girouard QMAAA 3 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 2001–02 Collège Antoine–Girouard QMAAA 41 21 21 42 14 15 8 9 17 6 2002–03 Montreal Rocket QMJHL 66 15 14 29 10 6 3 0 3 2 2003–04 P. E. I. Rocket QMJHL 70 21 22 43 51 11 1 3 4 6 2004–05 P. E. I. Rocket QMJHL 41 23 13 36 36 — — — — — 2005–06 P. E. I. Rocket QMJHL 34 12 11 23 41 6 3 1 4 6 2006–07 P. E. I. Rocket QMJHL 68 50 48 98 86 — — — — — 2007–08 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 27 3 6 9 13 — — — — — 2007–08 Wheeling Nailers ECHL 27 10 14 24 16 — — — — — 2008–09 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 78 28 20 48 43 4 0 1 1 4 2009–10 Adirondack Phantoms AHL 66 18 28 46 39 — — — — — 2009–10 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 11 2 1 3 6 1 0 0 0 2 2010–11 Adirondack Phantoms AHL 19 3 6 9 20 — — — — — 2010–11 Syracuse Crunch AHL 30 5 4 9 32 — — — — — 2010–11 Providence Bruins AHL 17 1 5 6 14 — — — — — 2011–12 Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg DEL 50 20 10 30 14 — — — — — 2012–13 Trenton Titans ECHL 5 1 1 2 2 — — — — — 2012–13 Adirondack Phantoms AHL 21 3 8 11 13 — — — — — 2013–14 Gwinnett Gladiators ECHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2013–14 HC Merano INL 9 9 6 15 12 — — — — — 2013–14 HC Merano ITA.2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 2013–14 HC Bolzano AUT 4 0 1 1 0 13 4 6 10 6 2014–15 Lørenskog IK NOR 26 13 8 21 39 — — — — — 2015–16 HK Nitra SVK 37 19 23 42 18 17 7 14 21 30 2016–17 HK Nitra SVK 17 6 10 16 18 — — — — — AHL totals 250 61 77 138 174 4 0 1 1 4 NHL totals 11 2 1 3 6 1 0 0 0 2