Matt Climie

Matthew Scott Climie (born February 11, 1983) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He is currently an unrestricted free agent who most recently played with the CBR Brave of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). Climie has played in the National Hockey League with the Dallas Stars and Phoenix Coyotes.

Climie played junior hockey for three different teams finishing with the Truro Bearcats in the Maritime Junior Hockey League (MJAHL). In his final season with Truro he was named an MJAHL All-Star, the season's Most Valuable Player (MVP), and shared the league's "Best Goaltending Duo" award. Following his junior career he joined the Bemidji State Beavers men's ice hockey team. In his first year with the team he helped the Beavers win the College Hockey America (CHA) tournament and was named tournament MVP. By the end of his collegiate career he set school records for shutouts as a freshman, single-season shutouts, career shutouts, and wins at the Division I level. He was also named to multiple All-CHA teams. After completing his career at Bemidji State he signed with the Stars as a free agent. After two seasons in the Stars' organization he signed with the Coyotes. He spent one year with Coyotes organization before signing with the Vancouver Canucks.

Playing career Amateur Climie began his junior hockey career as a backup goaltender to his brother, Chris, for the Kimberley Dynamiters in the America West Hockey League. During the playoffs the team went bankrupt and ceased operation. As a result, Climie joined the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. After one season he was traded for $500 to the Truro Bearcats in the Maritime Junior Hockey League (MJAHL). Following the trade Climie had to drive almost 3,000 miles to join his new team. He played the final two seasons of his junior eligibility with Truro. In his final season with the Bearcats he finished with a 30–10–5 record and led the MJAHL with a 2.61 goals against average (GAA). He was named an MJAHL All-Star, the season's Most Valuable Player (MVP), and won the league's "Best Goaltending Duo" award with teammate Daniel Turner.

Undrafted after his junior career, a 20-year-old Climie signed a letter of intent with Bemidji State University (BSU). He was projected to be the Beavers' third-string goaltender, despite being named one of the top ten goaltending prospects to join an NCAA Division I university. In his first game Climie recorded a shutout against the Bentley College Falcons. In the College Hockey America (CHA) tournament Climie recorded back-to-back shutouts, defeating Air Force 6–0 and Alabama–Huntsville 3–0 in the tournament's championship game. By not allowing a goal in the tournament BSU became the first team of the existing Division I conferences to win the league tournament without allowing a goal. For his performance in the two victories Climie was named tournament MVP. Winning the CHA tournament earned BSU automatic qualification into the NCAA tournament. The Beavers matched up against defending national champion the University of Denver in the first round. Climie made 45 saves in the BSU 4–3 overtime loss. He finished the year posting a 12–5–1 record with a 1.80 GAA and 4 shutouts. His GAA was the lowest at BSU in 40 years and second lowest in the history of the CHA, while his four shutouts set a BSU freshman record. At the end of the year he was named to the CHA All-Rookie Team.

Entering his sophomore season Climie was named the CHA the preseason player of the year and Honorable Mention Preseason All-U.S. College Hockey Online. Despite the accolades Climie continued to split time with Sedevie. He faulted slightly during the year finishing with an 8–7–2 record with a 2.70 GAA and one shutout. With Clime in net the Beavers won their second straight CHA tournament and advanced to the NCAA tournament, where they were again eliminated in the first round. At the beginning of his junior season Climie continued to struggle allowing 11 goals in his first three games. He rebounded for his slow start and without a regular backup goaltender Climie played in all but four of the Beavers' games. In the 2007 CHA tournament Climie allowed 6 goals to Robert Morris University losing 7–5 in the first round. In the game Climie made 19 saves while Bemidji State allowed 4 power play goals in eight opportunities. Going into his senior year there was some question if Climie would remain the team's starting goaltender. He remained the starter for the year and posted a 14–8–3 record with a 2.16 GAA with 5 shutouts. The shutout total set a BSU single season record and he was named to the All-CHA second team. BSU lost in the following game, the tournament's championship, 3–2 to Niagara with Climie making 12 save in the contest. Clime finished his four-year career at BSU with a school record for career shutouts with 12, his 45 victories set a school record for Division I wins. He ranks second in BSU history with a career .909 save percentage, third in goaltender minutes played with 5,427, and sixth in saves at 2,201. Making him just the fifth goaltender to win his NHL debut with the Stars on April 4, 2009. Climie started three consecutive games going 2–1–0 posting a 2.92 goals-against average and an .894 save percentage. He was reassigned to the Steelheads six days after his debut. After Idaho was eliminated from the playoffs Climie joined the AHL's Houston Aeros, where he was part of goaltending rotation with three other net minders. The Aeros reached the Western Conference Finals before being eliminated with Climie playing in 5 games going 1–1. He played the majority of the season with the newly established Texas Stars, but was called up and played in one game for Dallas. With Climie in net the Stars advanced to the Calder Cup Finals. In game 3 the Stars took a 3–1 lead before giving up 5 straight goals to Hersey losing 6–3. The Bears won the next two games giving them the 3–2 series lead and a chance to win the Calder Cup in game 6. With Texas facing elimination Climie was benched in favor of Krahn who returned from his injury. Texas lost the game 4–0 as Hershey won its eleventh Championship.

Following his playoff performance Clime was seeking a one-way contract. Climie began the season with the Coyotes AHL affiliate the San Antonio Rampage. After 20 games Climie was called up to the Coyotes to backup goaltender Jason LaBarbera, while starter Ilya Bryzgalov was out with the flu. During the December 20 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins LaBarbera gave up five goals in the first two periods and was pulled. Climie entered the game and played 32 minutes making 15 saves on 16 shots. It was the only game he played for Phoenix. Finishing the year in San Antonio he set a career high in games played with 56. Though it was called an odd destination considering the goaltending depth of the Canucks, speculation of possible trade of one of Vancouver's established goaltenders would open a potential NHL opportunity. Climie was assigned to the Canucks affiliate the Chicago Wolves. He was called up once to the Canucks to serve as the backup to Cory Schneider following an injury to Roberto Luongo, but did not appear in the game. Though he signed a one-year two-way deal with the Canucks he also signed a one-way deal with the Wolves for the 2012–13 season.

After spending the 2017–18 season, appearing in the Slovak Extraliga with HKm Zvolen and making a solitary appearance with HCB South Tyrol in the Austrian Hockey League. Climie as a free agent opted to continue in the EBEL, securing a one-year deal with Austrian club, HC TWK Innsbruck on April 21, 2018.

On April 14, 2019, the CBR Brave of the Australian Ice Hockey League announced that Climie would be the team's starting goaltender for the 2019 AIHL season.

Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2000–01 Kimberley Dynamiters AWHL 26 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 2002–03 Truro Bearcats MJHL 33 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 2003–04 Truro Bearcats MJHL 45 30 10 0 2,731 119 0 2.61 .926 — — — — — — — — 2004–05 Bemidji State University CHA 21 12 5 1 1,167 35 4 1.80 .916 — — — — — — — — 2005–06 Bemidji State University CHA 18 8 7 2 1,065 48 1 2.70 .913 — — — — — — — — 2006–07 Bemidji State University CHA 29 11 10 5 1,666 83 2 3.03 .897 — — — — — — — — 2007–08 Bemidji State University CHA 27 14 8 3 1,529 55 5 2.16 .913 — — — — — — — — 2007–08 Iowa Stars AHL 6 1 4 1 346 78 0 4.05 .872 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 Idaho Steelheads ECHL 42 27 12 1 2,404 92 4 2.30 .915 4 0 3 199 8 0 2.41 .924 2008–09 Dallas Stars NHL 3 2 1 0 185 9 0 2.92 .894 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 Houston Aeros AHL — — — — — — — — — 5 1 1 191 6 0 1.88 .945 2009–10 Texas Stars AHL 43 21 17 3 2,539 104 3 2.46 .919 15 7 6 885 40 0 2.71 .916 2009–10 Dallas Stars NHL 1 0 1 0 60 5 0 5.00 .868 — — — — — — — — 2010–11 San Antonio Rampage AHL 55 26 22 3 3,040 134 3 2.64 .913 — — — — — — — — 2010–11 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 1 0 0 0 32 1 0 1.88 .938 — — — — — — — — 2011–12 Chicago Wolves AHL 32 20 11 0 1,810 76 1 2.52 .920 1 0 1 34 4 0 7.15 .833 2012–13 Chicago Wolves AHL 53 24 25 3 3,094 125 6 2.42 .921 — — — — — — — — 2013–14 Chicago Wolves AHL 23 11 10 2 1,417 67 0 2.84 .900 1 0 0 27 2 0 4.52 .867 2014–15 Chicago Wolves AHL 37 15 14 3 2,021 83 2 2.46 .908 — — — — — — — — 2015–16 Straubing Tigers DEL 42 21 20 0 2,413 111 2 2.76 .913 7 3 4 417 18 0 2.59 .930 2016–17 Straubing Tigers DEL 31 13 16 0 1,737 90 3 3.11 .908 2 0 2 162 5 0 1.85 .952 2017–18 HKm Zvolen Slovak 11 — — — 671 29 0 2.59 .909 — — — — — — — — 2017–18 HC Bolzano EBEL 1 1 0 0 60 2 0 2.00 .923 — — — — — — — — 2018–19 HC TWK Innsbruck EBEL 3 0 3 0 156 16 0 6.15 .768 — — — — — — — — 2018–19 Sheffield Steelers EIHL 11 5 6 0 622 34 0 3.28 .896 — — — — — — — — 2018–19 HDD Jesenice AlpsHL 7 — — — 423 13 0 1.84 .920 11 — — — — — 1.31 .956 2019 CBR Brave AIHL 21 20 0 1 1003 43 1 2.14 .914 1 0 1 50 6 0 6.00 .850 NHL totals 5 2 2 0 277 15 0 3.24 .892 — — — — — — — —

Awards and honours Award Year MJAHL Young/Knickle Trophy (GAA) 2003–04 MJAHL Top goaltender 2003–04 MJAHL League MVP 2003–04 CJHL RBC Player of the Year 2003–04 All-CHA Rookie Team 2004–05 All-CHA Most Valuable Player in Tournament 2005 All-CHA First Team 2006–07 All-CHA Second Team 2007–08