Rob Laurie

Rob Laurie (born May 19, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender who played eleven years of minor league hockey mostly in the East Coast Hockey League. More than a decade after his "retirement", Laurie has been dressed three times as an emergency NHL backup goaltender; first in the 2012–13 season for the Anaheim Ducks, and then during the 2013–14 season for both the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Wild.

For other people named Robert Laurie, see Robert Laurie (disambiguation).

Rob Laurie
Born (1970-05-19) May 19, 1970
East Lansing, MI, USA
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for Adirondack Red Wings
Austin Ice Bats
Dayton Bombers
El Paso Buzzards
Flint Generals
Fort Worth Brahmas
Greensboro Monarchs
Huntington Blizzard
Johnstown Chiefs
Roanoke Valley Rebels
Tallahassee Tiger Sharks
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 1992–2002

Career

After a four-year career at Western Michigan University, Laurie joined the Roanoke Valley Rampage of the East Coast Hockey League in 1992. Laurie spent the majority of his career (1992–97) in the ECHL, with stops in Roanoke Valley, Dayton, Johnstown, Greensboro, Toledo, Tallahassee, and Huntington. Laurie finished his career splitting time between the WPHL, UHL, and Central Hockey League, all with teams based in Texas. After a season with the El Paso Buzzards in which Laurie compiled an 11-8-0 record in 22 games, Laurie retired at the completion of the 2001-02 CHL season.

National Hockey League

On April 5, 2013, with goaltenders Jonas Hiller out of the lineup due to an illness, the Anaheim Ducks recalled Igor Bobkov from their AHL affiliate in Norfolk. However, with Bobkov's flight running late and the Ducks still needing a backup goaltender, the Ducks signed 42 year old Laurie to a one-day professional tryout contract.[1] Laurie ended up dressing as the backup goalie for the first 3:53 and was eventually replaced by Bobkov as the team's backup goaltender.[2] During his brief appearance with the Ducks, Laurie wore jersey number 43.[3]

On January 5, 2014, Laurie was once again called to emergency goaltender duty. This time by the Vancouver Canucks in their road game against the Anaheim Ducks, serving as a backup to Eddie Lack.[4]

On March 31, 2014, following an injury to Darcy Kuemper during morning skate, Laurie was signed by the Minnesota Wild to a professional tryout contract[5] and dressed for their game against the Los Angeles Kings as backup to Ilya Bryzgalov.[6]

Laurie was paid US$500 for each of the three games for which he dressed.[7]

Inline hockey

Laurie was the starting goaltender for the Anaheim Bullfrogs on July 2, 1993 in the first professional sporting event played in the now-Honda Center. The Bullfrogs were a professional inline hockey team that played their home games in the former Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim from 1993 until 1997. During that season, Laurie led the Bullfrogs to the Roller Hockey International league championship and was later named playoff MVP.[8]

References
  1. "Ducks Recall Bobkov from Norfolk". Ducks.NHL.com. April 5, 2013.
  2. Peters, Chris (April 5, 2013). "Anaheim Ducks call on 42-year-old emergency goalie Friday". CBS Sports.
  3. "42-year-old goalie signs contract, dresses for Anaheim Ducks tonight". Sports Illustrated. April 5, 2013.
  4. Zupke, Chris (January 5, 2014). "Luongo injured; Canucks sign local goalie as backup". NHL.com. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  5. Russo, Michael (March 31, 2014). "Wild signs former minor-league goalie Rob Laurie to a pro tryout". Star Tribune.
  6. http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/253279371.html
  7. Perez, A.J. (December 6, 2016). "From day job to NHL player: Emergency goalies turn dreams into reality". USA Today. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  8. Pugmire, Lance (April 5, 2013). "Ducks place call on emergency goaltender". Los Angeles Times.


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