Jamie Benn

BIOGRAPHY

Jamie Benn was born July 18, 1989, in Victoria, Canada. He is a left wing in the National Hockey League.

Benn made the Dallas Stars' roster for the 2009–10 NHL season and scored his first NHL goal on October 11, 2009 against Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks. Benn tied the score 3–3 late in the game, but the Stars lost later in the shootout. At the end of his rookie season, he was sent down to the Stars' AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, for the 2010 Calder Cup playoffs. He scored 14 goals and had 26 points in 24 playoffs games as Texas fell to the Hershey Bears in the Calder Cup Finals. Benn later spoke of the experience, "I had a fun summer here...it was a big part of my hockey career and helped me develop my game. I definitely loved playing here." Following teammate Brad Richards absence due to a concussion, Benn took a leading role with the Stars in February 2011. During the All Star Game's SuperSkills Competition, Benn participated in the Accuracy Shooting contest and won his leg against Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Drouin then the finals against Philadelphia Flyers rookie Matt Read with times of 13.583 and 10.204 seconds respectively. With the 2012–13 NHL season delayed due to the labour lock-out, Benn signed a contract for the duration of the dispute with the Hamburg Freezers of the German DEL on October 2, 2012. Unable to initially agree to a contract with the Stars, Benn missed the first four games of the shortened NHL season before re-signing to a five-year, $26.25 million contract on January 24, 2013. Benn was named the sixth captain of the Dallas Stars on September 19, 2013. On April 11, 2015, Benn scored 4 points in the Stars' last regular-season game to finish with 87 points on the season and win the Art Ross Trophy. His final point, a secondary assist with 8.5 seconds left in the game, allowed him to overtake John Tavares for the award. On July 15, 2016, Benn agreed to an eight-year, $76 million contract extension with Dallas that runs through the 2024–25 NHL season at an average annual value of $9.5 million.