Rene Corbet

The name Rene Corbet first came to prominence in 1989-90 when he played midget hockey with the Richelieu Regents of the Quebec AAA and won the scoring championship with 116 points in 42 games. He then helped his team win the prestigious Air Canada Cup

As a 17-year-old major junior rookie, Rene Corbet scored 25 goals and 65 points with the QMJHL's Drummondville Voltigeurs and was subsequently selected in the second round, 24th overall by the Quebec Nordiques, in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft.

Corbet played another two seasons of junior hockey and in 1992-93 put together an impressive 143-point season, on 79 goals and 69 assists. He got his first chance at playing in the NHL the following season, playing nine games and scoring a goal and an assist. Corbet played another eight games for the Nords the next year before he followed the franchise in its move to Denver, Colorado where the team was re-named the Avalanche. In their first year in Denver, the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup, beating the Florida Panthers in four-straight games in the championship round.

In 1996-97, Corbet joined the NHL ranks full-time and helped the Avalanche win the Presidents' Trophy. In 76 games, he scored 27 points and posted a +14 rating. In the playoffs, he scored four points as the Avalanche reached the Western Conference finals where they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings. In 1997-98, Corbet scored 28 points in 68 games as the Avalanche won the Pacific Division title. In 1998-99, Corbet was traded with Wade Belak, Robyn Regehr, and a draft pick to the Calgary Flames for Theoren Fleury and Chris Dingman. In 73 games between the two teams, he scored a career-high 31 points. In 1999-2000, he was traded on March 14 with Tyler Moss to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Brad Werenka.

In 2000-01, Corbet scored 17 points in 43 games and helped the Penguins reach the Eastern Conference finals in the playoffs.