Daren Puppa

Daren James Puppa (born March 23, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender in the NHL. During his career, he played for the Buffalo Sabres, Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. He won the Calder Cup with the Rochester Americans in 1987. He won the 1985 NCAA Championship with the RPI Engineers. He is the cousin of NHL hockey player Ralph Backstrom.

Career biography

Puppa was born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. Beginning the start of the 1982-83 season, he played for the Kirkland Blue Devils. After the season finished, he was drafted in the summer of 1983 by the Buffalo Sabres. Puppa started his professional career in 1985, splitting time between the Buffalo Sabres and the AHL's Rochester Americans. He made his debut at the age of 20 years, 223 days on November 1, 1985, and posted a 2-0 shutout win over the Edmonton Oilers. He was the starting goalie for the Amerks in the 1986-1987 season when the team won the Calder Cup. Following the trade of Buffalo's all-star goaltender Tom Barrasso to the Pittsburgh Penguins early in the 1988–89 season, Puppa battled Jacques Cloutier to establish himself as the Sabres' number one goalie, and the following season Puppa led the league with 31 wins in 56 games. In the 1992–93 season he was traded to the Maple Leafs, but played only eight games for them before being claimed by the Lightning via the Panthers in the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft. In 1995–96. Puppa's stellar goaltending was a major factor in the Lightning earning their first playoff berth in team history. The team took the heavily favoured Philadelphia Flyers to six games before losing in the first round. Puppa's solid goaltending in the 1995-96 season earned him his second Vezina nomination; he was second runner-up behind the ultimate winner, Jim Carey.

However, the next season Puppa developed chronic back trouble, and only played six games for the entire season. He only played 44 more games over the next four years, and he was forced to retire midway through the 1999–2000 season.

In addition to his 1996 nomination, Puppa also was the runner up to Patrick Roy for the 1989–1990 Vezina Trophy, awarded to the best NHL goaltender each year.

Puppa and his wife Meg have three children. The family resides in Tampa, Florida.

In 2019, Puppa returned to the ice in a game for the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Hockey Team while on a visit to Buffalo. Puppa, whose back problems and lingering effects from a 1989 shoulder injury still limit his mobility (he had not played hockey at any level since 2001 because of those injuries), led the Sabres alumni to a win.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1981–82 Kirkland Lake Legion 87s GNML — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1982–83 Kirkland Lake Legion 87s GNML — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1983–84 RPI Engineers ECAC 32 24 6 0 1816 89 0 2.94 — — — — — — — — — 1984–85 RPI Engineers ECAC 32 31 1 0 1830 78 0 2.56 — — — — — — — — — 1985–86 Rochester Americans AHL 20 8 11 0 1092 79 0 4.34 .873 — — — — — — — — 1985–86 Buffalo Sabres NHL 7 3 4 0 401 21 1 3.14 .886 — — — — — — — — 1986–87 Rochester Americans AHL 57 37 14 2 3129 146 1 2.80 .900 16 10 6 944 48 1 3.05 — 1986–87 Buffalo Sabres NHL 3 0 2 1 185 13 0 4.22 .835 — — — — — — — — 1987–88 Rochester Americans AHL 26 14 8 2 1415 65 2 2.76 .906 2 0 1 108 5 0 2.78 — 1987–88 Buffalo Sabres NHL 17 8 6 1 874 61 0 4.19 .870 3 1 1 140 11 0 4.70 .836 1988–89 Buffalo Sabres NHL 37 17 10 6 1908 107 1 3.36 .889 — — — — — — — — 1989–90 Buffalo Sabres NHL 56 31 16 6 3241 156 1 2.89 .903 6 2 4 370 15 0 2.43 .921 1990–91 Buffalo Sabres NHL 38 15 11 6 2092 118 2 3.38 .885 2 0 1 81 10 0 7.42 .783 1991–92 Rochester Americans AHL 2 0 2 0 119 9 0 4.54 .830 — — — — — — — — 1991–92 Buffalo Sabres NHL 33 11 14 4 1757 114 0 3.89 .878 — — — — — — — — 1992–93 Buffalo Sabres NHL 24 11 5 4 1306 78 0 3.58 .890 — — — — — — — — 1992–93 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 8 6 2 0 479 18 2 2.25 .922 1 0 0 20 1 0 3.00 .857 1993–94 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 63 22 33 6 1472 165 4 2.71 .899 — — — — — — — — 1994–95 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 36 14 19 2 2013 90 1 2.68 .905 — — — — — — — — 1995–96 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 57 29 16 9 3189 131 5 2.46 .918 4 1 3 173 14 0 4.85 .837 1996–97 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 1 1 0 0 62 3 0 2.90 .864 — — — — — — — — 1996–97 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 6 1 1 2 325 14 0 2.58 .907 — — — — — — — — 1997–98 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 26 5 14 6 1456 66 0 2.72 .900 — — — — — — — — 1998–99 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 13 5 6 1 691 33 2 2.87 .906 — — — — — — — — 1999–00 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 5 1 2 0 249 19 0 4.58 .853 — — — — — — — — NHL totals 429 179 161 54 23,819 1,204 19 3.03 .897 16 4 9 785 51 0 3.90 .871

Awards and honors Award Year AHCA East second-team All-American 1983–84 AHCA All Tournament Team 1984–85 AHL Calder Cup Champion 1986–87 AHL first All-Star team 1986–87 NHL All-Star 1989–90 NHL second All-Star team 1989–90