Nicola Riopel

Nicola Riopel (born February 20, 1989) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the American Hockey League (AHL).

Playing career Riopel began his major junior career with the Moncton Wildcats in 2005–06, appearing in 5 games. He shared starts with the older Jhase Sniderman in his rookie season in 2006–07 before taking the starting position in 2007–08. In his third season with the Wildcats, Riopel emerged with a record-setting and award-winning campaign. Along with his 43 wins, which helped Moncton to an Atlantic Division title, and .930 save percentage, he established a league record with a 2.01 goals against average, far surpassing Martin Houle of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles previous record of 2.32, set in 2003–04. Riopel was awarded the Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy for having the lowest GAA in the league and the Michel Brière Memorial Trophy as player of the year. He signed a contract with the ECHL's Greenville Road Warriors in the summer of 2011.

On August 9, 2012, Riopel signed a deal with the Dundee Stars of the EIHL in Scotland. Riopel played two further seasons abroad with Frederikshavn White Hawks in Denmark and in the French Ligue Magnus with the Dragons de Rouen.

On September 16, 2015, Riopel returned to North America in signing a one-year ECHL contract with the Rapid City Rush. He was winless in two games to start the 2015–16 season before he was released by the Rush. On November 6, 2015, he remained in the league after he was signed by the Norfolk Admirals. Riopel appeared in 32 games with the Admirals, and after a string of impressive performances was signed by the Syracuse Crunch to end the year on March 4, 2016.

Although failing to feature in a game with the Crunch, in the off-season on August 22, 2016, Riopel was signed to a one-year deal to remain in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch.

In the 2017–18 season, on January 20, 2018, Riopel appeared in his first AHL game in seven seasons. He replaced Connor Ingram at the start of third period against the Utica Comets. He faced 2 shots, turning aside both in a 4–2 loss to the Comets. On February 1, 2018, he was traded by the Crunch along with Ty Loney to the Bakersfield Condors in exchange for NHL contracted goaltender Eddie Pasquale. He was assigned to the Condors ECHL affiliate, the Wichita Thunder.

On July 29, 2018, Riopel announced his retirement after playing in nine professional seasons.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2006–07 Moncton Wildcats QMJHL 37 17 12 0 1914 107 1 3.35 .894 4 1 3 185 16 0 5.19 .842 2007–08 Moncton Wildcats QMJHL 47 15 29 10 2662 135 1 3.04 .910 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 Moncton Wildcats QMJHL 59 43 15 4 3487 117 5 2.01 .931 10 5 5 620 21 2 2.03 .936 2009–10 Adirondack Phantoms AHL 10 4 6 0 573 32 0 3.35 .893 — — — — — — — — 2009–10 Moncton Wildcats QMJHL 25 19 5 0 1455 50 3 2.06 .918 21 16 4 1291 46 3 2.14 .930 2010–11 Greenville Road Warriors ECHL 38 24 12 2 2301 107 2 2.79 .906 7 4 3 436 18 0 2.48 .910 2010–11 Adirondack Phantoms AHL 11 3 7 0 591 35 1 3.55 .874 — — — — — — — — 2011–12 Greenville Road Warriors ECHL 25 14 9 2 1453 74 0 3.06 .905 2 0 2 119 8 0 4.03 .900 2012–13 Dundee Stars EIHL 51 19 28 3 3012 174 0 3.47 .912 — — — — — — — — 2013–14 Frederikshavn White Hawks DEN 26 — — — — — — 2.92 .902 — — — — — — — — 2014–15 Dragons de Rouen FRA 17 — — — — — — 2.51 .903 3 — — — — — 2.11 .920 2015–16 Rapid City Rush ECHL 2 0 2 0 119 8 0 4.03 .843 — — — — — — — — 2015–16 Norfolk Admirals ECHL 32 13 15 1 1779 76 0 2.56 .924 — — — — — — — — 2016–17 Kalamazoo Wings ECHL 32 18 12 1 1841 96 1 3.13 .899 4 2 2 239 16 0 4.01 .849 2017–18 Adirondack Thunder ECHL 19 9 9 0 1044 57 1 3.28 .897 — — — — — — — — 2017–18 Syracuse Crunch AHL 1 0 0 0 19 0 0 0.00 1.000 — — — — — — — — 2017–18 Wichita Thunder ECHL 19 6 4 5 1026 50 0 2.92 .907 — — — — — — — — AHL totals 22 7 13 0 1183 67 1 3.40 .884 — — — — — — — —

Awards and honours Award YearQMJHL Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy 2009 Michel Brière Memorial Trophy 2009

Records QMJHL league record; lowest goals against average, single-season - 2.01 in 2008–09