Stephen Valiquette

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


image_size = 200px
team=New York Rangers
former_teams=New York Islanders
Edmonton Oilers
league = NHL
position = Goaltender
catches = Left
height_ft = 6
height_in = 6
weight_lb = 217
nickname =
nationality = CAN
birth_date = birth date and age|1977|8|20
birth_place = Etobicoke, ON
draft = 190th overall
draft_year = 1996
draft_team = Los Angeles Kings
career_start = 2000

Stephen Valiquette (born August 20, 1977 in Etobicoke, Ontario) is a Canadian goaltender for the New York Rangers organization of the National Hockey League. He was drafted in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the Los Angeles Kings in the eighth round, 190th overall.

In 1998, he signed as a free agent with the New York Islanders and made his NHL debut on March 9, 2000 against the Phoenix Coyotes. He replaced Kevin Weekes after he had let in four goals. Valiquette played 20 minutes in that game, facing five shots, saving four. He appeared in six games in the 1999–2000 season and won two games.

In 2003, after a three-year NHL hiatus, Valiquette signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Edmonton Oilers. Three months after this signing, he was claimed on waivers by the Florida Panthers in the NHL waiver draft on October 3, 2003. Six days later he was claimed back by the Edmonton Oilers. He appeared in one game with Edmonton and played 14 minutes.

On March 3, 2004, Valiquette was traded by the Oilers, along with forward Dwight Helminen and a second-round selection in the 2004 draft to the New York Rangers for center Petr Nedved and goaltender Jussi Markkanen. For the 2004–05 season, Valiquette was re-signed by the Rangers and sent to their American Hockey League affiliate, Hartford Wolf Pack. He then signed with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in Russia on April 26, 2005.

In July 2006, the Rangers decided to re-sign Valiquette to be the back-up for Henrik Lundqvist following the depature of goalie Kevin Weekes to the New Jersey Devils. Since then, Valiquette has been the backup goaltender for the New York Rangers. On March 3, 2007, he won his first game in the NHL in almost three years.

When Valiquette made his playing debut in 2000, he was the tallest goaltender to ever play a game in the NHL. [cite web| url=http://www.hockeygoalies.org/news/oldnews.html | title=News Archives | accessdate=2008-02-09]

On January 31, 2008, against the Philadelphia Flyers, Valiquette got his first shutout of his NHL career. Ten days later, on February 9, he would repeat this feat in a 2–0 win, also against the Flyers. [cite news| url=http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap?gid=2008020915 | title=NY Rangers 2, Philadelphia 0 | publisher=Associated Press | last=Maaddi | first=Rob | date=2008-02-09 | accessdate=2008-02-09]

References

External links

*hockeydb|24150
* [http://rangers.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=PlayerDetail&playerId=8465161 Official profile] at [http://rangers.nhl.com rangers.nhl.com]