- Martin Biron
-
Martin Biron 
Biron, currently a member of the New York Rangers.Born August 15, 1977
Lac-Saint-Charles, QC, CANHeight 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Weight 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb) Position Goaltender Catches Left NHL team
Former teamsNew York Rangers
Buffalo Sabres
Philadelphia Flyers
New York IslandersNational team 
CanadaNHL Draft 16th overall, 1995
Buffalo SabresPlaying career 1996–present Martin Gaston Biron (born August 15, 1977) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has also played professionally for the Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and New York Islanders. His younger brother Mathieu plays for the Hamburg Freezers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).
Contents
Playing career
Buffalo Sabres
Biron started his hockey career on the Beauport Harfangs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). He was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, 16th overall. He got his first NHL start for the Buffalo Sabres in the 1995–96 season. After posting a 5.04 goals against average, with zero wins and two losses, he was sent back to the QMJHL to improve. After the 2000–01 season, he was a consistent goaltender for the Sabres as his play in the crease improved drastically.
Martin Biron in goal for Buffalo.
Biron, along with Rob Ray and Dominik Hašek, was one of the three Sabres against whom, in three consecutive years, the NHL made a specific rule. After NHL statisticians discovered a bug in their new stat-tracking software, the "Biron rule" restricted jersey numbers to whole numbers between 1 and 99 (later limited to numbers between 1 and 98 after the league-wide retirement of number 99 for Wayne Gretzky). Biron was the only NHL player affected as only he wore "00" at the time. (Goaltender John Davidson also wore 00 during his playing career, without rebuke, at various points in his playing career between 1973 and 1983.) Upon his return to the NHL three seasons later, Biron switched to number 43, a number he has worn ever since. Biron has always been a fan favorite in Buffalo.
Philadelphia Flyers
Martin Biron in goal for PhiladelphiaAfter losing the number one goaltending job to youngster Ryan Miller, Biron requested a trade from the Sabres on June 26, 2006, in an effort to receive more playing time. Finally, on February 27, 2007, the Sabres traded Biron to the Philadelphia Flyers for a second round draft pick.[1]
On March 27, 2007, Biron signed a two-year, $7 million contract extension with the Flyers to be the starting goalie in Philadelphia. After appearing in 62 games and recording 30 wins in the 2007–08 season, he led the Flyers to the Eastern Conference Finals, losing in five games to the Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins. He appeared in 55 games for the Flyers in the 2008-09 NHL Season, winning 29 and helping the Flyers to the 5th overall seed in the Eastern Conference.
New York Islanders
Biron with the IslandersOn July 1, 2009, Biron entered free agency. He was soon left in a difficult position after the Flyers signed goaltenders Ray Emery and Brian Boucher, while other teams quickly filled up their goaltending roster needs. Biron soon signed a one-year, $1.4 million contract with the New York Islanders on July 22, 2009,[2] joining goaltenders Dwayne Roloson and Rick DiPietro. In 29 appearances, Biron recorded 9 wins to go with 14 losses and 4 overtime losses, with a 3.27 goals against average and .896 save percentage. The Islanders did not qualify for the post-season.
New York Rangers
On July 1, 2010, Biron signed a two-year, $1.75 million deal with the New York Rangers, where he prepared to back up Swedish starter Henrik Lundqvist. Biron is one of four players in NHL history to skate for all three teams based in the state of New York. The others were Mike Donnelly and former teammates Jason Dawe and Pat LaFontaine, Biron will have played almost his entire career in the state of New York, except for a brief 2 1/2-year stint with the Philadelphia Flyers.
On February 28, 2011, Biron fractured his collarbone during practice, and was forced to miss the remainder of the 2010–2011 season. While Biron played the shortest number of games (17) since his second NHL season in 1998-99, he posted career highs in save percentage (.923) and goals against average (2.13).[3][dated info]
Awards
- QMJHL All-Rookie Team (1995)
- Canadian Major Junior First All-Star Team (1995)
- Canadian Major Junior Goaltender of the Year (1995)
- AHL First All-Star Team (1999)
- Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award (fewest goals against - AHL) (1999) (shared with Tom Draper)
- Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award (Outstanding Goaltender - AHL) (1999)
Career statistics
Regular season
Season Team League GP W L T OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1994–95 Beauport Harfangs QMJHL 56 29 16 9 — 3193 132 3 2.48 — 1995–96 Beauport Harfangs QMJHL 55 29 17 7 — 3207 150 1 2.84 .897 1995–96 Buffalo Sabres NHL 3 0 2 0 — 119 10 0 5.04 .844 1996–97 Beauport Harfangs QMJHL 18 6 10 1 — 935 62 1 3.98 .895 1996–97 Hull Olympiques QMJHL 16 11 4 1 — 972 43 2 2.65 .915 1997–98 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 2 0 1 1 — 86 3 0 2.09 .929 1997–98 Rochester Americans AHL 41 14 18 6 — 2312 113 5 2.93 .907 1998–99 Buffalo Sabres NHL 6 1 2 1 — 281 10 0 2.14 .917 1998–99 Rochester Americans AHL 52 36 13 3 — 3129 108 6 2.07 .930 1999–00 Rochester Americans AHL 6 6 0 0 — 344 12 1 2.09 .924 1999–00 Buffalo Sabres NHL 41 19 18 2 — 2229 90 5 2.42 .909 2000–01 Rochester Americans AHL 4 3 1 0 — 239 4 1 1.00 .955 2000–01 Buffalo Sabres NHL 18 7 7 1 — 918 39 2 2.55 .909 2001–02 Buffalo Sabres NHL 72 31 28 10 — 4085 151 4 2.22 .915 2002–03 Buffalo Sabres NHL 54 17 28 6 — 3170 135 4 2.56 .908 2003–04 Buffalo Sabres NHL 52 26 18 5 — 2921 125 2 2.52 .913 2005–06 Buffalo Sabres NHL 35 21 8 — 3 1934 93 1 2.88 .905 2006–07 Buffalo Sabres NHL 19 12 4 — 1 1066 54 0 3.04 .899 2006–07 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 16 6 8 — 2 935 47 0 3.02 .908 2007–08 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 62 30 20 — 9 3539 153 5 2.59 .918 2008–09 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 55 29 19 — 5 3176 146 2 2.75 .915 2009–10 New York Islanders NHL 29 9 14 — 4 1634 89 1 3.27 .896 2009–10 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 2 1 1 — 0 124 7 0 3.39 .903 2010–11 New York Rangers NHL 17 8 6 — 0 928 33 0 2.13 .923 NHL totals 479 216 182 25 24 26986 1175 26 2.61 .911 Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1994–95 Beauport Harfangs QMJHL 16 8 7 900 37 4 2.47 — 1995–96 Beauport Harfangs QMJHL 19 12 7 1134 64 0 3.39 — 1996–97 Hull Olympiques QMJHL 6 3 1 325 19 0 3.51 — 1997–98 Rochester Americans AHL 4 1 3 239 16 0 4.01 .885 1998–99 Rochester Americans AHL 20 12 8 1167 42 1 2.16 .934 2007–08 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 17 9 8 1048 52 1 2.97 .904 2008–09 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 6 2 4 375 16 1 2.56 .919 NHL totals 23 11 10 1423 68 2 2.87 .908 International
Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1997 Canada WJC 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 .000 2003 Canada WC Selected, but did not play Senior int'l totals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 .000 See also
- Notable families in the NHL
References
- ^ "Sabres deal Biron to Flyers, get Conklin". Canadian Press. 2007-02-27. http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=197883&hubname=nhl=. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
- ^ "Isles sign goalie Martin Biron to a one-year deal". National Hockey League. 2009-07-22. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=451178. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ Klein, Jeff Z. (February 28, 2011). "At Deadline, Rangers Are Unable to Fill Sudden Need". NY Times online. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/sports/hockey/01trades.html. Retrieved March 1, 2011.
- Meltzer, Bill "Flyers' Biron Getting Settled On, Off Ice" at NHL.com. Retrieved 03-21-07.
External links
- Martin Biron's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
- Martin Biron at Hockey-Reference.com
- Martin Biron's biography at Legends of Hockey
- Martin Biron's NHL player profile
- Profile at Hockey Goalies
Preceded by
Jay McKeeBuffalo Sabres first round draft pick
1995Succeeded by
Erik RasmussenCategories:- 1977 births
- Beauport Harfangs alumni
- Bridgeport Sound Tigers players
- Buffalo Sabres draft picks
- Buffalo Sabres players
- Canadian ice hockey goaltenders
- French Quebecers
- Hull Olympiques alumni
- Ice hockey people from Quebec
- Living people
- Memorial Cup winners
- National Hockey League first round draft picks
- New York Islanders players
- New York Rangers players
- People from Quebec City
- Philadelphia Flyers players
- Rochester Americans players
- South Carolina Stingrays players
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