Curtis McElhinney

Robert Curtis McElhinney (born May 23, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He previously played in the NHL with the Calgary Flames, Anaheim Ducks, Ottawa Senators, Phoenix Coyotes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning. McElhinney was drafted in the sixth-round of the 2002 NHL entry draft by the Flames, and won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021.

Playing career Early years McElhinney played four years of university hockey for Colorado College, compiling a 62–15–8 record in that time en route to winning two Western Collegiate Hockey Association First All-Star Team selections in 2003 and 2005, as well as NCAA Second and First All-American Team selections in 2003 and 2005, respectively. He was selected 176th overall by the Calgary Flames in the 2002 NHL entry draft.

He made his professional debut in 2005–06 with the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights of the American Hockey League (AHL). He tied for the AHL lead in shutouts in 2006–07 while setting an Omaha team record with 44 wins. He played in the 2007 AHL All-Star game, and was named to the AHL Second All-Star Team. McElhinney with the Calgary Flames during the 2009–10 season. He was drafted by the Flames in 2002. The Flames signed McElhinney to a two-year contract prior to the 2009–10 season. He was traded to the Anaheim Ducks on March 3, 2010 in exchange for goalie Vesa Toskala.

On February 24, 2011 McElhinney was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Dan Ellis. On February 28, he was claimed off waivers by the Ottawa Senators.

McElhinney signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Phoenix Coyotes on July 4, 2011.

On February 22, 2012 McElhinney was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets (along with second round pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft (via Ottawa) and a conditional fifth round selection in the 2013 Draft) for Antoine Vermette. He spent the season with Columbus' AHL affiliate Springfield Falcons and had a fine season, posting nine shutouts to lead the league and set a franchise record for both single season and career shutouts, and was again named to the AHL Second All-Star Team.

He was placed on waivers by the Columbus Blue Jackets January 8, 2017, after allowing four straight goals in a 5–4 loss to the New York Rangers on January 7, 2017. He posted a 2–1–2 record and a .924 save percentage in seven games with the team in the 2016–2017 season. One day after being waived, McElhinney was claimed by the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were in need of a backup goaltender following a disappointing season by Jhonas Enroth.

Down the stretch, McElhinney went 6–7 with one shutout, a 2.85 GAA and a .914 save percentage. As starter Frederik Andersen went down with an injury, McElhinney received quite a few extra starts. Most importantly in the second last game of the season for the Leafs with a playoff spot on the line. In this game, McElhinney made arguably the biggest save of his career in the dying seconds on Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby who seemingly had a wide-open net for a one-timer goal. McElhinney slid across the crease to make a pad save and preserved the lead that eventually held up to earn the Leafs a playoff berth.

Later career and retirement Prior to the 2018–19 season, on October 1, 2018, the Maple Leafs placed McElhinney on waivers after Garret Sparks won the backup goaltending job in the pre-season. His two-year tenure with the Maple Leafs ended as he was claimed by the Carolina Hurricanes the following day, in order to add depth after an injury to Scott Darling. McElhinney would go on to split most of the 2018–19 season in goal with Petr Mrázek.

On May 1, 2019, McElhinney started for the Carolina Hurricanes in game three of the Stanley Cup playoffs versus the New York Islanders in round two making him the oldest goaltender to make his first career playoff start at 35 years and 343 days of age. On May 3, 2019, in game four, he helped to secure the franchise's first ever 4–0 sweep in the best-of-seven series.

On July 1, 2019, McElhinney signed a two-year contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He won the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021, spending his final two seasons with the team as the backup to Andrei Vasilevskiy.

On September 25, 2021, McElhinney announced his retirement via Instagram.

On October 9th, 2023 he became the Toronto Maple Leafs Director of Goaltending Development and Scouting.

He has written a book about goaltending mindset called "The Crease Mindset" and has a goaltender mentorship program called Peak Performance Goaltending.

International play Following the Leafs first round defeat by the Boston Bruins in the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, McElhinney was named to Team Canada to compete at the 2018 IIHF World Championship.

Personal life McElhinney and his wife Ashleigh have one son and one daughter. McElhinney has a younger sister, Alana, who played goaltender for the Division I Bemidji State University's women's hockey team, and a brother Spencer who was a forward in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL).

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2001–02 Colorado College WCHA 9 6 0 1 — 441 15 1 2.04 .918 — — — — — — — — 2002–03 Colorado College WCHA 37 25 6 5 — 2147 85 4 2.37 .906 — — — — — — — — 2003–04 Colorado College WCHA 19 10 6 1 — 1015 41 2 2.42 .906 — — — — — — — — 2004–05 Colorado College WCHA 25 21 3 1 — 1490 52 2 2.09 .927 — — — — — — — — 2005–06 Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights AHL 33 9 14 — 2 1619 68 3 2.52 .912 — — — — — — — — 2006–07 Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights AHL 57 35 17 — 1 3181 113 7 2.13 .917 5 2 3 311 11 0 2.12 .914 2007–08 Calgary Flames NHL 5 0 2 — 0 149 5 0 2.00 .902 — — — — — — — — 2007–08 Quad City Flames AHL 41 20 18 — 2 2320 88 3 2.28 .911 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 Calgary Flames NHL 14 1 7 — 0 518 31 0 3.59 .889 1 0 0 34 1 0 1.76 .900 2009–10 Calgary Flames NHL 10 3 4 — 0 502 27 0 3.22 .885 — — — — — — — — 2009–10 Anaheim Ducks NHL 10 5 1 — 2 521 24 0 2.76 .917 — — — — — — — — 2010–11 Anaheim Ducks NHL 21 6 9 — 1 996 57 2 3.43 .890 — — — — — — — — 2010–11 Ottawa Senators NHL 7 3 4 — 0 399 17 0 2.56 .917 — — — — — — — — 2011–12 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 2 1 0 — 0 72 2 0 1.67 .944 — — — — — — — — 2011–12 Portland Pirates AHL 25 10 13 — 0 1379 70 0 3.04 .907 — — — — — — — — 2012–13 Springfield Falcons AHL 49 29 16 — 3 1349 113 9 2.32 .923 8 3 5 483 25 0 3.10 .895 2013–14 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 28 10 11 — 1 1423 64 2 2.70 .909 — — — — — — — — 2014–15 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 32 12 14 — 2 1710 82 0 2.88 .914 — — — — — — — — 2015–16 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 18 2 7 — 3 836 46 0 3.31 .890 — — — — — — — — 2016–17 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 7 2 1 — 2 376 15 0 2.39 .924 — — — — — — — — 2016–17 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 14 6 7 — 0 759 36 1 2.85 .914 — — — — — — — — 2017–18 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 18 11 5 — 1 980 35 3 2.14 .934 1 0 1 48 4 0 5.07 .826 2018–19 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 33 20 11 — 2 1978 85 2 2.58 .912 5 3 2 268 9 0 2.01 .930 2019–20 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 18 8 7 — 3 1081 52 1 2.89 .906 — — — — — — — — 2020–21 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 12 4 6 — 2 720 37 1 3.09 .875 — — — — — — — — NHL totals 249 94 95 — 20 13,019 615 12 2.83 .907 7 3 3 350 14 0 2.30 .921

International Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2018 Canada WC 5 3 2 0 245 6 1 2.02 .936 Senior totals 5 3 2 0 245 6 1 2.02 .936

Awards and honours Award YearCollege WCHA First All-Star Team 2002–032004–05 AHL Second All-Star Team 2006–07