Michal Neuvirth

Michal Neuvirth

Neuvirth in March 2015 during his tenure with the New York Islanders
Born (1988-03-23) 23 March 1988
Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 202 lb (92 kg; 14 st 6 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Philadelphia Flyers
Washington Capitals
Buffalo Sabres
New York Islanders
National team  Czech Republic
NHL Draft 34th overall, 2006
Washington Capitals
Playing career 2008–present

Michal Neuvirth (/ˈnɔɪvɪrt/; born 23 March 1988) is a Czech professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, and Washington Capitals. He was selected 34th overall by the Washington Capitals in the second round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Junior

After being drafted into the NHL by the Capitals, Neuvirth began a two-year major junior career in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He began with the Plymouth Whalers in 2006–07 before being traded on 13 November 2007, to the Windsor Spitfires, along with defenceman Tom Kane and a fourth-round draft pick in 2009 in exchange for defenceman Michal Jordán, goaltender Matt Hackett, a 2008 second-round draft pick and a third-round pick in 2009. After spending less than half a season with the Spitfires, he was traded yet again on 8 January 2008, to the Oshawa Generals along with Ryan Baldwin for forward Justin Shugg, goaltender Jakub Kovář and second-round picks in 2008 and 2011.

Professional

Neuvirth with the Capitals in January 2012.

Neuvirth turned pro in 2008–09 with the South Carolina Stingrays, the Capitals' ECHL affiliate. During his short stint with the Stingrays, he was named to the 2009 ECHL All-Star Game for the American Conference.[1] He was called up to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL) during the season and, before long, received his first NHL call-up to the Capitals when starting goaltender Semyon Varlamov was sidelined due to injury. He made his NHL debut on 14 February 2009, against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Making 31 saves, including a breakaway glove save on Vincent Lecavalier, Neuvirth backstopped the Capitals to a 5–1 victory for his first NHL win.[2] He then played in his Capitals home debut on 26 February against the Atlanta Thrashers, recording another win with a 21-save effort. He finished the season appearing in five games total for the Capitals with a 2–1 record and 3.00 goals against average (GAA).

After being returned to the Bears, Neuvirth helped his team to the 2009 Calder Cup finals. He recorded a shutout in game three for the Bears to take a 2–1 series lead against the Manitoba Moose.[3] Neuvirth then went on with the Hershey Bears to win the 2009 Calder Cup, earning MVP honors after his game 6 win. Neuvirth went 16–6 in the playoffs and finished the post-season with a 1.92 GAA, topping Frédéric Cassivi's previous AHL playoff best of 2.10 GAA.[4]

After helping the Bears to the back-to-back Calder Cups in 2010, Neuvirth was named the starting goaltender of the Capitals' season opener on 8 October against Atlanta, in which he made 27 saves in a 4–2 loss. Neuvirth would go on to beat-out Semyon Varlamov for the starting position for the entire season. Despite a solid season as Washington's starter and an adequate playoff performance, Washington would demote Neuvirth to backup goaltender status to make way for Tomáš Vokoun, trading away incumbent backup Varlamov to the Colorado Avalanche in the process. Vokoun's run as Washington's starter only lasted one season, however, and he was injured before the playoffs began. Unfortunately for Neuvirth, he himself was also injured, allowing third goaltender Braden Holtby to start Game 1 of the first round series against the Boston Bruins. Even though Neuvirth managed to return to health in time for Game 3, Holtby went on to start for the duration of Washington's playoff run in 2012. In the off-season, Vokoun left to take the backup goaltender job with the Pittsburgh Penguins. New Capitals head coach Adam Oates then confirmed Holtby as the new starting goaltender of the Washington Capitals during training camp, but failed to rule out Neuvirth reclaiming the starters' role if he were to outplay Holtby.

On 5 March 2014, Neuvirth was traded by the Capitals, along with Rostislav Klesla, to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Jaroslav Halák and a third round pick.[5] Almost one year later, on 2 March 2015, Neuvirth was traded by the Sabres to the New York Islanders in exchange for Chad Johnson and a third-round draft pick.[6]

On 1 July 2015, Neuvirth signed a two-year contract as a free agent with the Philadelphia Flyers.[7]

Records

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%
2006–07 Plymouth Whalers OHL 41 26 8 4 2223 86 4 2.32 .932 18 14 3 1080 44 0 2.45 .932
2007–08 Plymouth Whalers OHL 10 5 4 1 600 26 0 2.60 .928 — — — — — — — —
2007–08 Windsor Spitfires OHL 8 6 1 1 482 17 0 2.12 .918 — — — — — — — —
2007–08 Oshawa Generals OHL 15 6 2 6 844 57 0 4.05 .898 9 7 2 507 21 0 2.48 .932
2008–09 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 13 6 7 0 762 29 2 2.28 .918 — — — — — — — —
2008–09 Hershey Bears AHL 17 9 5 2 1001 45 1 2.70 .913 22 16 6 1346 43 4 1.92 .932
2008–09 Washington Capitals NHL 5 2 1 0 220 11 0 3.00 .892 — — — — — — — —
2009–10 Hershey Bears AHL 22 15 6 0 1231 46 1 2.24 .919 18 14 4 1133 39 1 2.07 .920
2009–10 Washington Capitals NHL 17 9 4 0 872 40 0 2.75 .914 — — — — — — — —
2010–11 Washington Capitals NHL 48 27 12 4 2689 110 4 2.45 .914 9 4 5 590 23 1 2.34 .912
2011–12 Washington Capitals NHL 38 13 13 5 2020 95 3 2.82 .902 — — — — — — — —
2012–13 Sparta Prague CZE 24 11 13 0 1342 55 1 2.46 .926 — — — — — — — —
2012–13 Washington Capitals NHL 13 4 5 2 723 33 0 2.74 .910 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 Washington Capitals NHL 13 4 6 2 767 36 0 2.82 .914 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 Hershey Bears AHL 1 1 0 0 60 4 0 4.02 .892 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 Buffalo Sabres NHL 2 0 2 0 117 5 0 2.56 .949 — — — — — — — —
2014–15 Buffalo Sabres NHL 27 6 17 3 1544 77 0 2.99 .918 — — — — — — — —
2014–15 New York Islanders NHL 5 1 3 1 306 15 0 2.94 .881 1 0 0 11 0 0 0.00 1.000
2015–16 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 32 18 8 4 1826 69 3 2.27 .924 3 2 1 178 2 1 0.67 .981
NHL totals 200 84 71 21 11,085 491 10 2.66 .914 13 6 6 779 25 2 1.92 .933

Awards

References

  1. ↑ "Neuvirth named ECHL All-Star". 2 January 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
  2. ↑ The Canadian Press (14 February 2009). "Green sets NHL record in Capitals' win over Lightning". TSN. Archived from the original on 18 February 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  3. ↑ "Bears blank Moose in Calder final". Toronto Star. 7 June 2009. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Michal Neuvirth". "PennLive.com". Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  5. ↑ "Sabres trade Halak to Capitals". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "Islanders trade for Neuvirth, Kennedy: report". National Hockey League. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  7. ↑ "Flyers ink goaltender Michal Neuvirth to multi-year deal". Philadelphia Flyers. 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  8. ↑ "Capitals' Neuvirth named October Rookie of the Month" Retrieved 21 February 2011.
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