Junior In
junior hockey, Roberts was drafted into the
Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The victory advanced the 67's to the
1984 Memorial Cup tournament where Ottawa reached the final. They again faced Kitchener, who were the tournament hosts, and won the national championship with a 7–2 victory. Following the season, the
Calgary Flames selected Roberts with their first round selection, 12th overall, at the
1984 NHL entry draft. Returned by the Flames to Ottawa for his third junior season in
1984–85, Roberts served as the team's
captain. after which the Flames assigned Roberts to their
American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the
Moncton Golden Flames. In his first professional stint, Roberts scored four goals and added two assists in seven games. In the OHL, he split the season between the last place 67's and, following a trade, the
Guelph Platers. Roberts finished with 84 points combined between the two teams, and helped the Platers record a record in the playoffs and lead Guelph past the
Belleville Bulls to win the OHL championship. He scored four goals in four games at the
1986 Memorial Cup, and the Platers defeated the
Hull Olympiques, 6–2 in the final. Roberts ended his junior career as a two-time Memorial Cup champion. He played a physical style and frequently engaged opponents in
fights, but credited Nieuwendyk with helping him establish his place as a
power forward and offensive threat with the team. Roberts and the Flames went on to defeat the
Montreal Canadiens in the
1989 Stanley Cup Final to earn the franchise's first
Stanley Cup championship. Developing into an offensive leader, Roberts scored more goals (39) in
1989–90 than he had points (38) the previous season. He scored his first career
hat trick in a 6–2 win over the
Edmonton Oilers on March 30, 1990. After regressing to 22 goals and 53 points in
1990–91, Roberts set career highs in
1991–92 with 53 goals and 90 points. Both totals led the Flames and 53 goals remains the second highest single-season total in Flames history, behind
Lanny McDonald's 66 goals in
1982–83. He played in his first
NHL All-Star Game in
1992, and became one of the first two players in NHL history to score
50 goals and record 200 penalty minutes in the same season (along with
Kevin Stevens of the
Pittsburgh Penguins). He missed the final two weeks due to damage to nerves in his neck, an injury he had experienced previously in his career. The injury worsened in the
lockout-shortened
1994–95 season as he appeared in only eight games. The injury was considered career threatening and required two surgeries, in March and October 1995, to repair. After missing the first half of the
1995–96 season, Roberts made his return on January 10, 1996, against the
Hartford Whalers. The fans greeted him with a standing ovation and he responded by scoring a goal and throwing several
bodychecks in the game. The problems with his neck failed to abate however, and on June 17, 1996, Roberts elected to retire from the NHL at the age of 30.
Carolina and Toronto Several months after retiring, Roberts was put in touch with Dr. Michael Leahy, a chiropractor from Colorado, whose "active release technique" of physiotherapy led to an immediate improvement in his mobility. Determined to try and resume his career, Roberts then spent most of the next year with a physical therapist learning a new training regimen. After sitting out the entire
1996–97 season, Roberts announced his return to the NHL. He remained a member of the Flames, but the team agreed to trade him to an
Eastern team to reduce strain due to travel. The Flames dealt Roberts, along with goaltender
Trevor Kidd, to the
Carolina Hurricanes on August 25, 1997, in exchange for
Andrew Cassels and
Jean-Sébastien Giguère. In his return season of
1997–98, Roberts recorded 49 points in 61 games. He dropped to 42 points in
1998–99, but finished fifth in team scoring to help Carolina win a
Southeast Division championship. He scored his first playoff goal in five years in Carolina's first round series against the
Boston Bruins, He chose his hometown Maple Leafs because he felt they had a better opportunity to win the Stanley Cup than Carolina did. He recorded 53 points in
2000–01 and his 29 goals led the team. A 48-point season followed in
2001–02 and he assumed leadership of the Maple Leafs during the
2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs after team captain
Mats Sundin suffered an injury. Roberts led Toronto past their first round opponent, the
New York Islanders, in an occasionally violent seven game series. As a result, he missed the first four and a half months of the
2002–03 season; he appeared in only 14 games for Toronto. The Maple Leafs signed him to a one-year contract extension shortly after he returned from the injury. Roberts reached a career milestone midway through the
2003–04 season, as he played his
1,000th NHL game on January 13, 2004, a 4–1 victory over the Calgary Flames. He finished the season with 48 points in 72 games and played in his
third All-Star Game.
Florida, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay |alt=Upper body of a man with short, brown hair applauds. He is wearing a black hockey sweater with white and yellow trim with a stylized penguin logo. While the NHL was shut down due to a
labour dispute in
2004–05, the
National Lacrosse League (NLL)'s
Calgary Roughnecks selected Roberts in the sixth round of the 2004 NLL Draft, partially as a public relations stunt. When NHL play resumed in
2005–06, Roberts and Nieuwendyk each signed a two-year deal with the
Florida Panthers. The pair, who were teammates in Toronto as well as Calgary, hoped to end their careers together in Florida. It did not happen, as chronic back pain forced Nieuwendyk's retirement in December 2006. Roberts did not last much longer in Florida as, following a 40-point season in 2005–06, the Panthers sought to trade him to the
Pittsburgh Penguins late in the
2006–07 season. Several members of the Penguins, including
Mario Lemieux and general manager
Ray Shero, sought to convince Roberts to agree to the deal as he was initially unsure about leaving Florida but ultimately agreed to the trade. The deal was completed at the February 27, 2007, trade deadline as Pittsburgh sent prospect
Noah Welch to Florida in exchange for Roberts. He was brought in to add a leadership presence to a young Penguins team. He finished the regular season with 13 points in 19 games in Pittsburgh and helped the Penguins reach the playoffs for the first time in six years. Injuries again hampered Roberts in
2007–08. He missed time early in the season due to a viral infection, then broke his left fibula in a game against the
Buffalo Sabres. He was praised for skating off the ice without assistance despite the injury, but missed over two months of action while his leg healed. Appearing in only 38 games during the regular season, Roberts returned from the injury in time to score two goals and lead Pittsburgh to a victory in the first game of its opening round playoff series against the
Ottawa Senators. At 41 years, 322 days old, he became the oldest player in NHL history to score more than one goal in a post-season game. He added two assists in ten additional playoff games for the Penguins. Pittsburgh opted not to re-sign Roberts to a new contract following the season and traded both him and
Ryan Malone – who was also a pending free agent – to the
Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a third round draft pick on June 28, 2008. The deal gave Tampa Bay a brief window in which they had exclusive rights to negotiate a contract. He agreed to a one-year contract with the Lightning. Another injury, to his elbow, caused Roberts to miss 33 games of the
2008–09 season. He played only 30 games and recorded seven points. The Lightning placed him on
waivers as the 2009 trade deadline approached, but no team claimed him. Nine days after playing his final NHL game, an 8–6 win in Calgary where he recorded an assist, Roberts announced his retirement on March 10, 2009. ==Fitness and training==