The biggest night of Andreychuk's 23-season NHL career came almost at the end.

On June 7, 2004, the native of Hamilton, Ontario, became a Stanley Cup champion for the first time when the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Calgary Flames 2-1 in Game 7 of the Final. As Tampa Bay's captain, Andreychuk received the Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and let out with a yell as he hoisted it before taking a lap around the ice.

By that time, Andreychuk was no longer the high-scoring forward who had made life miserable for goalies since entering the NHL in 1982-83. However, he was still Tampa Bay's leader, and after scoring six goals in 42 games in 2005-06, he retired with 1,398 points (640 goals, 698 assists) in 1,639 NHL regular-season games, as well as 98 points (43 goals, 55 assists) in 162 playoff games.

Andreychuk's 274 power-play goals are the most in NHL history, and he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2017.

The Buffalo Sabres selected Andreychuk, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound forward, in the first round (No. 16) of the 1982 NHL Draft after he scored 57 goals in 67 games for Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League. He made the Sabres out of training camp and scored a goal in his NHL debut against the Quebec Nordiques on Oct. 6, 1982.

Though he spent part of the season with Oshawa, he had 37 points (14 goals, 23 assists) in 43 games as a rookie with the Sabres.

Andreychuk scored 38 goals in 1983-84 and had at least 25 in each of his 10 full seasons with the Sabres. He reached double figures in power-play goals in nine of those 10 seasons, including when he led the NHL with 28 goals with the man-advantage in 1991-92.

The following season, he scored 29 goals in 52 games for the Sabres before they traded him to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 2, 1993. Andreychuk then scored 25 goals in 31 games for Toronto to give him an NHL career-high 54, including 32 on the power play.

Andreychuk would go on to score 53 in 1993-94, finishing with 99 points for the second straight season and helping the Maple Leafs return to the Western Conference Final.

After two more seasons in Toronto, the Maple Leafs traded Andreychuk to the New Jersey Devils on March 13, 1996. He scored 27 goals for the Devils in 1996-97, but combined to score 29 over the next two seasons before signing with the Boston Bruins as a free agent on July 29, 1999.

The struggling Bruins then sent Andreychuk to the Colorado Avalanche as part of the trade for Ray Bourque on March 6, 2000, and after Colorado came up short in its quest for the Stanley Cup, Andreychuk signed with the Sabres on July 13, 2000.

Exactly one year later, he signed as a free agent with the Lightning.

Andreychuk had three 20-goal seasons for the Lightning in a more limited role on a team that was powered by center Vincent Lecavalier and forward Martin St. Louis. But he was named captain before the 2002-03 season, when he helped Tampa Bay return to the playoffs for the first time in seven season.

In 2003-04, the Lightning finished first in the Eastern Conference with 106 points before defeating the New York Islanders (five games), the Montreal Canadiens (four games), the Philadelphia Flyers (seven games), and the Flames (seven games) to win the Cup for the first time in their history.

Andreychuk scored his final two NHL goals against the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 26, 2005, and played his last NHL game on Jan. 7, 2006. He remained with the Lightning after retiring, first as a community representative and later as a vice president.

NOTES & TRANSACTIONS

• Played in NHL All-Star Game (1990, 1994)
• Traded to Toronto by Buffalo with Daren Puppa and Buffalo's 1st round pick (Kenny Jonsson) in 1993 NHL Draft for Grant Fuhr and Toronto's 5th round pick (Kevin Popp) in 1995 NHL Draft, February 2, 1993.
• Traded to New Jersey by Toronto for New Jersey's 2nd round pick (Marek Posmyk) in 1996 NHL Draft and New Jersey's 3rd round pick (later traded back to New Jersey -- New Jersey selected Andre Lakos) in 1999 NHL Draft, March 13, 1996.
• Signed as a free agent by Boston, July 29, 1999.
• Traded to Colorado by Boston with Raymond Bourque for Brian Rolston, Martin Grenier, Samuel Pahlsson and New Jersey's 1st round pick (previously acquired, Boston selected Martin Samuelsson) in 2000 NHL Draft, March 6, 2000.
• Signed as a free agent by Buffalo, July 13, 2000.
• Signed as a free agent by Tampa Bay, July 13, 2001.