Will James Reimer ever get to play hockey?
by Hawerchuk on Dec 20, 2010 9:00 AM EST
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PrintThere's a peculiar phenomenon among goaltenders: they get called up to the NHL, dress, warm up...And never get to play. Here are the league leaders in sitting on the bench since the start of the 2007-08 season:
| Goalie | Games Dressed | Team | Highest League |
| JAMES REIMER | 10 (finally got to play) |
TOR | AHL |
| MARK DEKANICH | 10 (finally got to play) |
NSH | AHL |
| BRYAN PITTON | 5 | EDM | AHL |
| DAN TURPLE | 3 | ATL | AHL |
| DANIEL LARSSON | 3 | DET | AHL, SEL |
| DAREN MACHESNEY | 3 | WSH | AHL |
| TYLER PLANTE | 3 | FLA | AHL |
| MICHAEL MOLE | 2 | NYI | AHL |
| AARON SOROCHAN | 1 | EDM | AHL |
| CARTER HUTTON | 1 | PHI | AHL |
| DAVID SHANTZ | 1 | FLA | AHL |
| JEAN-PHILIPPE LEVASSEUR | 1 | ANA | AHL |
| JEFF FRAZEE | 1 | NJD | AHL |
| JOE FALLON | 1 | CHI | AHL |
| JONATHAN BOUTIN | 1 | TBL | AHL |
| MATT DALTON | 1 | BOS | AHL |
| TIMO PIELMEIER | 1 | ANA | AHL |
| TORRIE JUNG | 1 | EDM | CHL |
What got me thinking about this was the much more peculiar phenomenon of amateur goaltenders being signed to contracts to fill in for missing backups:
| Goalie | Games Dressed | Team | Highest League |
| BRETT LEONHARDT | 1 | WSH | NCAA DIII |
| NATHAN DEOBALD | 1 | EDM | Alberta College/CWUAA |
| THOMAS FENTON | 1 | PHX | AHA |
Leonhardt was the backup for just nine minutes during his one-game contract. Washington was allowed to dress 21 players - 3 goalies - and the true backup (Varlamov) showed up during the game. Deobald and Fenton, however, were on their own. The notion of amateur goaltenders dressing in NHL games is truly ridiculous, but I don't know what an alternative solution is. If one of these quirks happens every year, it won't be long before we see an amateur goaltender playing in an NHL game when the starter goes down with an injury. The results could be very ugly...
Edit: my dad reminds me of the best emergency backup ever, Lefty Wilson, who served as athletic trainer and emergency goaltender for Detroit, Toronto and Boston in the 1950s. He allowed one goal in 81 minutes and one imagines he might have a job in a 30-team NHL.
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Of course, I’m still stunned we’ve never seen a situation where two regular goalies get injured in the same game. You just think it eventually has to happen, and then what? Which regular player will we see attempt to play goal?
Technically, Torrie Jung was considered an amateur goalie as well. And in that vein, we did see one play: Alexander Pechurskiy. He got the 3rd star in his game. Of course, much different to have your amateur goalie be the starting goalie of the Tri-City Americans of the WHL than that Thomas Fenton fellow, or the third string goalie for the UBC Thunderbirds.
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I assumed that Pechurski had played his one game in the KHL before he played in the NHL…I didn’t realize he was still an amateur…But he had also signed a pro contract with Pittsburgh when he was drafted.
Ah, I guess I misunderstood the callup at the time. Must have been an emergency callup situation, not an ATO.
But yeah, Jung should be in the ATO section, even though the NCAA doesn’t consider major junior to be amateur. Heck, maybe he was signed to a PTO (professional tryout), I suppose. Damn legalese.
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by Bruce Peter on Dec 20, 2010 12:57 PM EST up reply actions
Very timely!
Mark Dekanich actually hit the ice Saturday night against Los Angeles, coming off the bench after Anders Lindback spotted the Kings a 3-goal lead. It’s a shame because the Preds had no legs and got pounded 6-1, but here in Nashville we were glad to at least see Dex get some playing time, he’s been tearing up the AHL this year.
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And Reimer will probably play sometime in the next while, too, since Giguere is probably out for an extended period of time. Of course, that 10 games for Reimer could run up to like, 18 or something before that happens.
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by Bruce Peter on Dec 20, 2010 12:59 PM EST up reply actions
The results might be ugly, but probably pretty entertaining as well.
That “third string goalie for the UBC Thunderbirds” backed up Johan Hedberg for the Canucks back in 2003. Hedberg proceeded to break his wrist that during the game, ended up missing the next 16 with that injury, but he still stayed in net.
So we might not be seeing something like that for quite a while. I suspect it’s going to take a truly serious injury for an NHL coach to put an incompetent amateur contract backup in net.
I remember reading a report on that game where apparently Mike Keane turned to Chris Levesque (said UBC 3rd stringer) while Hedberg was lying on the ice and told him “don’t worry, you’re not going in.”
Here was an update a couple years back on what became of him.
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I so wish that Danny Wuerffel rhymed with “purple nurple” so I could run with this.
Does he call it Luongo underwear?
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by Bettman's Nightmare on Dec 20, 2010 12:08 PM EST up reply actions
There was a game in the mid-90s when Eddie Johnston was the coach of the Penguins. Both Ken Wregget and his backup (I think Barrasso was injured, so it may have been Wendell Young — shudder) were injured, and while the trainer was out on the ice checking on Wregget, Johnston was talking to the equipment manager about getting him a uniform.
Heck, he was only in his late 50s at the time.
Ask and ye shall receive in this holiday season. James Reimer goes in to relieve Jonas Gustavsson in a 1-5 shellacking. Please please please talk about Dan Turple next time.
Does he call it Luongo underwear?
Co-Manager at Behind the Net
by Bettman's Nightmare on Dec 20, 2010 9:07 PM EST reply actions
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