Sam St. Laurent

Sam St. Laurent (born February 16, 1959) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 34 games in the National Hockey League between 1986 and 1990 as well as on the Canadian national men's hockey team. St. Laurent was the last NHL goaltender to wear a mask made entirely out of fiberglass.

Playing career

Junior Career

St. Laurent was born in Arvida, Quebec. As a youth, he played in the 1972 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Arvida. He began his career playing for the Chicoutimi Saguenéens of the QMJHL from the 1975–76 season until the 1978–79 season, playing in 70 games during his final season in the juniors.

Professional career

Philadelphia Flyers On 10 October 1979, St. Laurent signed with the Philadelphia Flyers organization. From the 1979–80 seasons until the 1983–84 seasons, he spent his time assigned to the minors. St. Laurent played for both the Toledo Goaldiggers of the IHL and the Maine Mariners of the AHL, where he was part of the Calder Cup-winning team during the 1983–84 season.

New Jersey Devils

The Flyers traded St. Laurent to the New Jersey Devils on 27 September 1984 for future considerations (though he remained with the Mariners while assigned to the AHL.) St. Laurent's first NHL game was on 4 January 1986, where he replaced (and was subsequently replaced by) Glenn "Chico" Resch in a stunning 9–3 loss to the Washington Capitals. After a brief reassignment to the minors, St. Laurent was recalled and given his first NHL start on 27 March 1986, making 24 saves to earn a 1–0 shutout victory. He went on to post a 2–1 record with the Devils that season. On a minor league level, he won the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award for the AHL's best goaltender and shared the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award with Karl Friesen for having the lowest team GAA in the AHL.

Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings acquired St. Laurent from New Jersey for Steve Richmond on 18 August 1986. St. Laurent enjoyed a particular level of success with their minor league affiliate Adirondack Red Wings of the AHL, winning the Calder Cup with them during the 1988–89 season, as well as receiving the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy for the MVP during the Calder Cup playoffs that same year. From the 1986–87 season to the 1989–90 season, St. Laurent posted a cumulative 5–11–4 record with 3.42 GAA and a .887 save percentage in 30 regular season appearances with the Detroit Red Wings. He appeared in a playoff game on 14 April 1988, where he was injured after allowing one goal in what eventually became a 5–3 Red Wings victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs (Greg Stefan finished the game in St. Laurent's place.)

New York Rangers

With the emergence of Tim Cheveldae from the Red Wings' depth chart, St. Laurent was traded to the New York Rangers for cash on 26 June 1990. For the 1990–91 season, St. Laurent spent his time with the Binghamton Rangers of the AHL. He appeared in one game for the Binghamton Rangers during the 1991–92 season before leaving professional hockey.

International career

St. Laurent joined the Canadian men's national team to support Canada's ambition to win an Olympic medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics (as NHL players were not permitted to compete in Olympic games until 1995). After playing his entire career wearing a fibreglass mask, he finally donned a modern-style mask as a member of the Canadian Olympic team. St. Laurent became the veteran third-string goaltender behind Sean Burke (who was in the midst of a contract dispute) and Trevor Kidd, a then-drafted prospect for the Calgary Flames. The team succeeded an winning the silver medal, which was their first medal in ice hockey since 1968. St. Laurent retired as a professional hockey player following the Olympics.

Coaching career St. Laurent went on to become a goaltender coach/consultant for the Rangers organization from 1993–2004, helping the organization develop such goalies as Mike Richter, Henrik Lundqvist, and Dan Cloutier. Jason Labarbera, who began his career as a member of the Rangers organization, credits St. Laurent for his development in the Rangers organization despite the presence of highly regarded goaltender coach Benoit Allaire. He was also a consultant for the Sinupret Ice Tigers of the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga for the 2005–06 season.

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% 1975–76 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 17 4 8 2 889 81 0 5.47 .851 1 0 0 40 9 0 13.50 .667 1976–77 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 21 5 9 0 901 0 81 5.39 .851 4 2 1 200 19 0 5.70 .835 1977–78 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 60 12 35 9 3251 351 0 6.48 .834 — — — — — — — — 1978–79 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 70 23 31 9 3806 290 0 4.57 .871 1 0 1 47 8 0 10.21 .750 1979–80 Maine Mariners AHL 5 2 1 0 229 17 0 4.45 .879 — — — — — — — — 1979–80 Toledo Goaldiggers IHL 38 — — — 2143 138 2 3.86 — 4 0 4 239 24 0 6.03 — 1980–81 Maine Mariners AHL 7 3 3 0 363 28 0 4.63 .855 — — — — — — — — 1980–81 Toledo Goaldiggers IHL 30 — — — 1614 113 1 4.20 — — — — — — — — — 1981–82 Toledo Goaldiggers IHL 4 — — — 248 11 0 2.66 — — — — — — — — — 1981–82 Maine Mariners AHL 25 15 7 1 1396 76 0 3.27 — 4 1 3 240 18 0 4.50 — 1982–83 Toledo Goaldiggers IHL 13 — — — 785 52 0 3.97 — — — — — — — — — 1982–83 Maine Mariners AHL 30 12 12 4 1739 109 0 3.76 — 17 8 9 1012 54 0 3.20 — 1983–84 Maine Mariners AHL 38 14 18 4 2158 145 0 4.03 .866 12 9 2 708 32 1 2.71 — 1984–85 Maine Mariners AHL 55 26 22 7 3245 168 4 3.11 .886 10 5 5 45 0 4.12 — 1985–86 New Jersey Devils NHL 4 2 1 0 188 13 1 4.15 .883 — — — — — — — — 1985–86 Maine Mariners AHL 50 24 20 4 2862 161 1 3.38 .882 — — — — — — — — 1986–87 Detroit Red Wings NHL 6 1 2 2 342 16 0 2.81 .881 — — — — — — — — 1986–87 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 25 7 13 0 1397 98 1 4.21 .885 3 0 2 105 10 0 5.71 — 1987–88 Detroit Red Wings NHL 6 2 2 0 294 16 0 3.27 .892 1 0 0 11 1 0 5.82 .857 1987–88 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 32 12 14 4 1826 104 2 3.42 .884 1 0 1 59 6 0 6.10 — 1988–89 Detroit Red Wings NHL 4 0 1 1 141 9 0 3.83 .901 — — — — — — — — 1988–89 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 34 20 11 3 2054 113 0 3.30 .895 16 11 5 956 47 2 2.95 — 1989–90 Detroit Red Wings NHL 14 2 6 1 607 38 0 3.76 .883 — — — — — — — — 1989–90 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 13 10 2 1 785 40 0 3.06 .901 — — — — — — — — 1990–91 Binghamton Rangers AHL 45 19 16 4 2379 138 1 3.48 .894 3 1 2 160 11 0 4.13 — 1991–92 Binghamton Rangers AHL 1 0 0 0 20 2 0 6.00 .800 — — — — — — — — NHL totals 34 7 12 4 1572 92 1 3.51 .886 1 0 0 11 1 0 5.82 .857