Brian Joseph Gionta (born January 18, 1979) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Gionta began his NHL career in 2001 with the New Jersey Devils and has served as captain of the Montreal Canadiens and the Buffalo Sabres. He also was the captain for the United States in the 2018 Winter Olympics, for which he stepped away from the NHL for most of its 2017–18 season (NHL refused to release its players to the Olympics for the first time since 1994). After the Olympics, he briefly played for the Boston Bruins, and retired following their elimination from the playoffs. Playing career As a youth, Gionta played in the 1993 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Rochester, New York. Boston College Gionta was drafted 82nd overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. The diminutive but fiery forward attended high school at the Aquinas Institute in Rochester, New York, where in 1993–94 he was selected as their Rookie of the Year. He then skated for Boston College from 1997 to 2001, winning a national championship as Eagles captain in the 2000–01 season. He was mentored by former NHL forward Marty Reasoner, also a Rochester native, and enjoyed his best statistical season in his freshman year on a line with Reasoner, posting 30 goals and 62 points in 40 games as the Eagles fell to the University of Michigan in the national championship game in Boston. Gionta followed up with a 60-point season his sophomore year as Boston College was eliminated by their Hockey East rival, the University of Maine, in the Frozen Four semi-finals. In his junior year, he posted a 33-goal, 56-point season as the Eagles fell to the University of North Dakota in that year's national championship game. In his senior season as captain, Gionta's point total dipped again to 54 points. Nevertheless, a roster stocked with future NHL talent produced a national championship as Boston College defeated North Dakota 3–2 in overtime in Albany, New York. During his senior season, he led the nation in goal-scoring with 33 goals, including a performance against the University of Maine in which he scored on each of his first five shots. New Jersey Devils Gionta, who joined the New Jersey Devils during the 2001–02 season, was a member of