Former 1st overall pick arrested after incident at local bar

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Josh Tupper
August 4, 2023 (2:29 PM)

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Bryan Berard who was selected 1st overall in the 1995 NHL entry draft was recently arrested following an incident at a bar. According to police reports, Berard, 46, was picked up by police on July 30th in Newport, Rhode Island, where he resides.

Newport Daily News reported a video shows Berard and another man talking, hugging, before walking away from each other. The other man then pushes Berard in the back. Berard turns around and grabs the man by the shirt, and that's how the incident began. Police said the man did not know Berard and Berard had warned him to "settle down".

Berard has been charged with both disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He is set to appear in court August 9th.

Berard told reporters everything was just a misunderstanding and he didn't know it was an officer trying to arrest him.

Berard was drafted 1st overall by the Ottawa Senators in 1995. He never played for the Senators, and was traded to the New York Islanders in 1996 in the trade that brought Wade Redden to Ottawa.

Berard also had stints in Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, and the Islanders once again before spending one year in the KHL and then retiring.

Berard is best known for a terrible eye injury when he was hit by the stick of Marion Hossa during a game in Ottawa. It required seven surgeries and was considered career-ending. However he ended up returning just a couple years later.