Playing Career
He was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres 83rd overall in the fourth round in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. Barnaby was drafted from the QMJHL where he spent four seasons with the Beauport Harfangs, Verdun Collège Français and Victoriaville Tigres, leading the league in penalty minutes in consecutive seasons in '92 and '93. After completing his QMJHL career with the Tigres, Barnaby joined the Sabres for the end of 1992–93 season.
Barnaby was generally considered a pest and agitator and spent the next few seasons playing between the Sabres and AHL affiliate the Rochester Americans. Barnaby established a full time role with the Sabres in the 1995-96 recording a career-high in penalty minutes with 335. He was frequently involved in on-ice altercations and among other incidents he made headlines in 1996, when in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers after a few hits and Barnaby laying on the ice presumably injured, a brawl between the two teams started. With the brawl in full motion, Barnaby jumped to his skates to punish Garth Snow, goaltender of the Flyers, who was poking Barnaby with his stick while the referees weren't looking. In the 1996-97 Barnaby showed his scoring talents when he scored a career-high 19 goals and 43 points in 68 games.
After seven seasons with the Sabres organization during the 1998–99 season, Barnaby was traded by the Sabres to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Stu Barnes on March 11, 1999. One of his most celebrated fights came the following season in 2000 against with former Sabre teammate Rob Ray after dining with Ray the previous night.
Barnaby played in 129 games with the Penguins before he was traded on February 1, 2001, by Pittsburgh to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Wayne Primeau. After struggling to provide an impact to start the 2001–02 season for the Lightning, Barnaby was again traded to the New York Rangers for Zdeno Ciger on December 12, 2001. After going scoreless with the Tampa Bay in 29 games Barnaby responded with resurgence of form with the Rangers, scoring 21 points in only 48 games.
Matthew became a fan favourite in the Big Apple and played in 196 games before he was traded to the playoff bound Colorado Avalanche in the 2003–04 season, for David Liffiton and Chris McAllister on March 8, 2004.
On July 2, 2004, he signed a lucurative three-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. After the 2004 NHL Lockout, Barnaby played his first season with the Hawks in 2005–06. Suffering from the year of hiatus he was subsequently bought-out of his contract following the season.
Barnaby, again a free agent, signed a one-year deal with the Dallas Stars on July 5, 2006. In the 2006–07 season, Barnaby recorded his 300th, and final point, on December 23, 2006 against the Edmonton Oilers. He played only 39 games with the Stars before suffering a season ending concussion against the Phoenix Coyotes on January 9, 2007. Struggling with the effects of his concussion Barnaby announced his retirement from the NHL in July 2007.
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