It was a dreary, overcast February day in Pittsburgh and the Penguins were mired in one of the longest losing streaks in franchise history.

Veteran defenseman Drake Berehowsky was with his teammates stretching before a practice when the players heard the phone ring in coach Ed Olczyk's office. Immediately everyone had a certain glaze in their eyes that Berehowsky will never forget.

"Everyone is looking at each other, knowing something is happening," said Berehowsky. "And then you get taken aside and you have to leave right away."

Berehowsky was the odd man out. He had just been traded for the fifth time in 10 years and he was going to the team he started his NHL career with, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

On Dec. 28, 2001, the Phoenix Coyotes acquired Drake Berehowsky and Denis Pederson from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Todd Warriner, Trevor Letowski, Tyler Bouck and a third-round selection in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

"We knew something was going to happen and there was only six or seven of us older guys, so we knew something was going to happen. The biggest shock for me was coming to Toronto because I never dreamt I would come back here."

By the time Berehowsky walked back into the Penguins room, his teammates were dressed in their gear and were on the ice.

"I asked if I could say goodbye to the guys and I think they just wanted me not to be a distraction and they wanted me off the ice," he says. "And by the time I got home I had a bunch of phone calls from all of them wishing me well. It is a tough situation when you have a group you get to know and you have to leave right away."

But it's not as if Berehowsky had not been down this road before.

Berehowsky was chosen by Toronto with the 10th pick in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, but never lived up to the billing as the great hometown hope. He played 124 games for the Leafs through five seasons before being dealt to the Penguins in 1995.

He signed as a free agent with Edmonton in September, 1997 and was traded to Nashville on Oct. 1, 1998. The Predators kept him until March, 2001 when he was dealt to Vancouver, but the Canucks dealt him to Phoenix in December, '01.

The Nashville Predators traded Drake Berehowsky to the Vancouver Canucks for a second-round selection in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft on March 9, 2001.

Berehowsky missed the majority of the 2002-03 season with a knee injury suffered in training camp. He joined Pittsburgh this season as a free agent, but the Penguins' decision to restock the roster with youth made him expendable and he was sent to the Leafs for Ric Jackman.

Leafs coach Pat Quinn wants to have eight or nine defensemen on hand for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Berehowsky provides him with depth at that position.

Not everyone dealt in the days leading up to the NHL trade deadline are thrilled with the move. Either you're going to a team looking to add depth for the playoffs or you're going the other way, to a team looking much further down the road and not the upcoming playoffs

Needless to say, Berehowsky was thrilled with the most recent move in his well-traveled career. He went from a team that could finish last overall to one that has a chance at winning the Stanley Cup.

Berehowsky says he's never had the feeling of rejection when he's been dealt from one club to another.

"You could have a feeling that somebody does not want you, but I am not looking at anything negative. Pittsburgh is rebuilding for the future and I had an opportunity to come to a team where we have the ability to do something special," said Berehowsky. "You can look at it in a positive light ... and that is how I look at things.

The Edmonton Oilers traded Drake Berehowsky, Eric Fichaud and Greg de Vries to the Nashville Predators for Jim Dowd and Mikhail Shtalenkov on Oct. 1, 1998.

"But it is tough leaving a team you are comfortable with and the friends you have made there and a city you are familiar with, so it is tough to move. But, on the other hand, you get an opportunity to go to another city, a different team and meet a lot of new people and it is kind of exciting at the same time. There are pros and cons in both and, for myself, I have had no problem with it. Every organization I have gone to is great and they have helped me find an apartment and stuff like that."

Much has changed since Berehowsky last played for the Maple Leafs. The Leafs call the Air Canada Centre home and Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic property that's for sale. The only former teammate that's still with the club is Mats Sundin.

"Everything," Berehowsky replied when asked what was different about the club back then. "The team is doing a lot better, as well, so hopefully I'll be able help out in some way."

Berehowsky knows as well as anyone that trades are part and parcel of being an NHL player.

Like all players in the League, he listen to the rumors, especially in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline, and knows the whisper winds come with the territory of being an NHLer.

The big difference in being traded this time around as compared to the four other transactions is that Berehowsky's wife was pregnant when the deal went down and she had to remain in Pittsburgh because the baby was due around March 1.

Drake Berehowsky played just 67 games with the Oilers before being traded for the second of five times in his career.

"It is tough though, especially if you have a family. Most of my trades happened when I was single so it really did not affect me. I'd get my stuff and get a new apartment wherever I am. This time, it's different. It is tough. We have not seen that much of each other this year to begin with. She stayed in Toronto until I got settled in Pittsburgh and she moved in Dec. 1. I am sure if I needed a day here or there to go see her they would be great about it."

Berehowsky feels fortunate to be playing in the NHL and knows he could be traded again.

"That's one of the things you have to get used to in this business," he says. "Hey I am starting to go through teams twice."