Tim Cheveldae

Timothy M. Cheveldae (born February 15, 1968) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. During his ten-year National Hockey League career, he played with the Detroit Red Wings, Winnipeg Jets, and Boston Bruins.

Playing career Cheveldae began his junior ice hockey playing career in the 1985–86 WHL season with the Saskatoon Blades. Cheveldae was selected in the 4th round (64th overall) by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1986 NHL entry draft. Cheveldae remained with the Blades until the end of the 1987–88 season before leaving for the professional ranks.

For the 1988–89 season, Cheveldae went to the Red Wings' minor league affiliate, the Adirondack Red Wings, in the American Hockey League. His level of play earned him a call up to the NHL, where he served two games in net for the Red Wings, and made him the fourth goaltender on the Red Wings roster behind Greg Stefan, Glen Hanlon, and Sam St. Laurent.

While Detroit's goaltending lineup would remain the same for the 1990–91 season, Cheveldae ascended the depth chart, going from goaltending in the AHL to being in Detroit's goaltending tandem with Hanlon. Stefan suffered career-ending injuries, while St. Laurent never ascended beyond the role of a third goaltender at the NHL level despite his minor league success.

From the 1990–91 season to the 1992–93 season, Cheveldae was Detroit's starting goaltender. With Detroit not settling on a consistent backup, Cheveldae was Detroit's goaltending workhorse for those seasons, playing no fewer than 65 games in each of those seasons and playing an astounding 72 games during the 1991–92 season, earning him the right to play in the 1992 NHL All-Star Game. While Cheveldae had success during the regular season, the team would never go deep into the playoffs during those seasons, leaving Cheveldae to be the scapegoat for Detroit's inability to succeed in the playoffs.

In the 1993–94 season, Chris Osgood emerged from the minors to become Detroit's new starting goaltender. Despite having a successful season, Cheveldae was traded to the Winnipeg Jets as part of a package deal that brought Bob Essensa and Sergei Bautin to Detroit on March 8, 1994. Cheveldae missed the playoffs with the Jets.

While in Winnipeg, Cheveldae never achieved the level of success he had with the Red Wings. While he served the Jets as their starting goaltender during the abbreviated season in 1994–95 and the beginning of the 1995–96 season, the Jets eventually opted to go with Nikolai Khabibulin as their starter. Cheveldae was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers on February 27, 1996, for Dominic Roussel, and he was assigned to the minor league affiliate Hershey Bears.

On August 21, 1996, Cheveldae signed a one-year contract with the Boston Bruins. That season, he played in two games while spending most of his time on loan to the Fort Wayne Komets of the International Hockey League. He was not re-signed at the end of the season. Cheveldae played his final season of professional hockey during the 1997–98 season, skating for the Las Vegas Thunder of the IHL.

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% 1984–85 Melville Millionaires SJHL 23 — — — 1167 98 0 5.04 — — — — — — — — — 1985–86 Saskatoon Blades WHL 36 21 10 3 2030 165 0 4.88 — 8 6 2 460 29 0 3.63 — 1986–87 Saskatoon Blades WHL 33 20 11 0 1909 133 2 4.18 — 5 4 1 308 20 0 3.90 — 1987–88 Saskatoon Blades WHL 66 44 19 3 3798 235 1 3.71 — 6 4 2 364 27 0 4.45 — 1988–89 Detroit Red Wings NHL 2 0 2 0 122 9 0 4.43 .878 — — — — — — — — 1988–89 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 30 20 8 0 1694 98 1 3.47 .888 2 1 0 99 9 0 5.45 — 1989–90 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 31 17 8 6 1848 116 0 3.37 .880 — — — — — — — — 1989–90 Detroit Red Wings NHL 28 10 9 8 1600 101 0 3.79 .882 — — — — — — — — 1990–91 Detroit Red Wings NHL 65 30 26 5 3615 214 2 3.55 .875 7 3 4 398 22 0 3.32 .894 1991–92 Detroit Red Wings NHL 72 38 23 9 4236 226 2 3.20 .886 11 3 7 597 25 2 2.51 .910 1992–93 Detroit Red Wings NHL 67 34 24 7 3880 210 4 3.25 .889 7 3 4 423 24 0 3.40 .880 1993–94 Detroit Red Wings NHL 30 16 9 1 1572 91 1 3.47 .875 — — — — — — — — 1993–94 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 2 1 0 1 125 7 0 3.36 .901 — — — — — — — — 1993–94 Winnipeg Jets NHL 14 5 8 1 788 52 1 3.96 .893 — — — — — — — — 1994–95 Winnipeg Jets NHL 30 8 16 3 1571 97 0 3.70 .881 — — — — — — — — 1995–96 Winnipeg Jets NHL 30 8 18 3 1694 111 0 3.93 .883 — — — — — — — — 1995–96 Hershey Bears AHL 8 4 3 0 457 31 0 4.07 .877 4 2 2 250 14 0 3.36 .904 1996–97 Fort Wayne Komets IHL 21 6 9 4 1137 75 0 3.96 .878 — — — — — — — — 1996–97 Boston Bruins NHL 2 0 1 0 93 5 0 3.23 .848 — — — — — — — — 1997–98 Las Vegas Thunder IHL 38 9 17 5 1942 128 0 3.95 .878 — — — — — — — — NHL totals 340 149 136 37 19,171 1116 10 3.49 .883 25 9 15 1418 71 2 3.00 .896

Awards WHL East First All-Star Team – 1988

Retirement Following his playing career, Cheveldae returned to the Saskatoon Blades as an assistant coach for two seasons. Cheveldae was also on the roster for the First Annual Detroit Red Wings Alumni Showdown on February 19, 2005, in Detroit. The Red Wings alumni team lost to the Maple Leafs alumni team 10–9 in a shootout. According to The Hockey News, Cheveldae currently works as a firefighter at the Dundurn military base in Saskatchewan.

In that time he has won 4 consecutive Firehall Annual Pickleball Championships. Additionally he has won the Pickleball Saskatchewan Provincial Tournament - 2025 Doubles 56+ Mixed 4.0 DUPR Gold Medal with partner Marilyn Barrington.