Monday, 21 October 2013

Fun Facts - Hockey Goaltenders

What I learned today:  On Saturday evening, Goalie Mike Smith of the Phoenix Coyotes became the 11th goaltender in NHL history to score a goal.  He scored on an open net with one second remaining against the Detroit Red Wings.  Curious to know how common this is I looked it up:
  • The first goal by an NHL goalie was on Nov 28 1979 by Bill Smith of the New York Islanders against the Colorado Rockies. The puck deflected off the chest protector of the Islanders' Smith into the corner. Colorado rookie Rob Ramage picked up the puck and accidentally made a blind pass from the corner boards in the opposing zone to the blue line. Nobody was there to receive the pass, and so the puck sailed all the way down the length of the ice and into the Colorado net. Smith had been the last Islander to touch the puck, and was credited with a goal.



  • The first goalie to intentionally score a goal was Ron Hextall on December 8, 1987 against the Boston Bruins.  Ron Hextall also was the first goalie to repeat the feat and did it to two seasons later against the Washington Capitals.



  • Martin Brodeur holds the record with 3 open net goals.  His first was April 17, 1997 against the Montreal Canadians and his last was on March 21, 2013 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Only Goalie Credited with 3 Goals
Martin Brodeur - Goalie NHL Scoring Record Holder
  • Total of 14 open net goals have been accredited to a goaltender.  7 have been intentionally shot by the goaltender and 7 have been caused by the goaltender last handling the puck and by opposing team error.  
  • 10 of the 14 goals occurred in the last two minutes of play for the extra attacker.  The other 4 were caused by player error during a delayed penalty.
  • No goalie has ever scored a goal on an open net during the playoffs.
  • No goalie has ever scored a goal on another goalie. 
Will a goaltender ever just skate down the ice and sharp shoot one in against an opposing goaltender?  Since a goaltender is not allowed to cross the red line during play, this will likely never happen.    

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