As a youth, Bradley played in the 1978
Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a
minor ice hockey team from
Kitchener, Ontario. Brian Bradley's NHL debut came in the
1985–86 season with the
Calgary Flames, where he saw very limited action (only 5
regular season games and one
playoff game), although his first playoff game was during the
1986 Stanley Cup Finals against the
Montreal Canadiens. He would spend most of the season with the
Moncton Golden Flames (Calgary's minor league team), where he was linemates with future superstar
Brett Hull. In
1988, after arriving back from playing with
Canadian National Men's Hockey Team, where he spent most of the
1986–87 NHL season playing, Bradley was traded to the
Vancouver Canucks. During the
1989 playoffs, Bradley would tie rookie
Trevor Linden with a team-leading 7 points in seven games. His best regular season totals with the Canucks came in the
1989–90 season when he scored a team respectable 48 points and was awarded The Canucks' "Most Exciting Player Award" by Canuck fans. He started out the
1990–91 season playing strongly, only to be traded to the
Toronto Maple Leafs for mobile defenceman
Tom Kurvers. In
1992, the expansion
Tampa Bay Lightning acquired him in the
1992 NHL Expansion Draft, and he would become the team's first star. He would score the team's first preseason goal against the
Minnesota North Stars. He would set personal highs in
goals,
assists and
points before the All-Star Break. At the end of Tampa Bay's inaugural season, Bradley led the team with a career high 42 goals and 86 points. He played well enough throughout the season that he also made his
NHL All-Star debut. In 1995–96 he set a personal high of 56 assists. That same year the
Lightning debuted in the NHL playoffs. The next season (
1996–97) Brian Bradley would score the first goal in the history of the
Ice Palace arena. Unfortunately, he would be sidelined for most of the 1997-98 season due to a concussion. He would remain with the Lightning until retiring due to chronic injuries on September 23, 1999. ==Post-hockey life==