Sam St. Laurent

Sam St. Laurent
Born (1959-02-16) February 16, 1959
Arvida, QC, CAN
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for NHL
New Jersey Devils
Detroit Red Wings
IHL
Toledo Goaldiggers
AHL
Maine Mariners
Adirondack Red Wings
Binghamton Rangers
National team  Canada
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 1985–1992
Olympic medal record
Men's ice hockey
1992 Albertville Team

Sam St. Laurent (born February 16, 1959 in Arvida, Quebec) is a retired Canadian ice hockey goaltender that has played in the National Hockey League as well as on the Canadian national men's hockey team. St. Laurent serves the distinction of being the last NHL goaltender to wear a goalies mask made entirely out of fiberglass.

Playing career

St. Laurent 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.

On 10 October 1979, St. Laurent signed with the Philadelphia Flyers organization. From the 1979–80 seasons until the 1983–84 seasons, he would spend his time assigned to the minors. St. Laurent would play 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.

The Flyers traded St. Laurent to the New Jersey Devils on 27 September 1984 for future considerations. For the 1984–85 season, he remained with the Mariners of the AHL.

The 1985–86 season would be one of accomplishments for St. Laurent. His first taste of NHL action 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 called back up and started his first NHL game 27 March 1986, making 24 saves to earn a 1–0 shutout victory. He would go on to post a 2–1 record with the Devils that season. On a minor league level, he would go on to win the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award for the AHL's best goaltender and would share the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award with Karl Friesen for having the lowest team GAA in the AHL.

The Detroit Red Wings would go on to acquire 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 would post 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 would appear 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 would finish the game in St. Laurent's place.)

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 would spend his time with the Binghamton Rangers of the AHL. During the 1991–92 season, his last as a professional, he appeared in one game for the Binghamton Rangers, and was the third-string goaltender for the silver medal winning Canadian National Team at the 1992 Winter Olympics, during which time he switched from his mask made entirely of fiberglass to a modern-era goaltender's mask .

He retired from his playing career after participating in 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.

St. Laurent now offers his services privately via his website.

Career statistics

Regular season

   
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1975–76 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 17 889 81 0 5.47
1976–77 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 21 901 0 81 5.39
1977–78 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 60 3251 351 0 6.48
1978–79 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 70 3806 290 0 4.57
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
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
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
1983–84 Maine Mariners AHL 38 14 18 4 2158 145 0 4.03 .866
1984–85 Maine Mariners AHL 55 26 22 7 3245 168 4 3.11 .886
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
1987–88 Detroit Red Wings NHL 6 2 2 0 294 16 0 3.27 .892
1987–88 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 32 12 14 4 1826 104 2 3.42 .884
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
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
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

Post season

   
Season Team League GP W L MIN GA SO GAA
1975–76 Chicoutimi Sagueneens QMJHL 1 40 9 0 13.50
1976–77 Chicoutimi Sagueneens QMJHL 4 200 19 0 5.70
1978–79 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 1 47 8 0 10.21
1979–80 Toledo Goaldiggers IHL 4 0 4 239 24 0 6.03
1981–82 Maine Mariners AHL 4 1 3 240 18 0 4.50
1982–83 Maine Mariners AHL 17 8 9 1012 54 0 3.20
1983–84 Maine Mariners AHL 12 9 2 708 32 1 2.71
1984–85 Maine Mariners AHL 10 5 5 656 45 0 4.12
1986–87 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 3 0 2 105 10 0 5.71
1987–88 Detroit Red Wings NHL 1 0 0 10 1 0 6.00
1987–88 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 1 0 1 59 6 0 6.10
1988–89 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 16 11 5 956 47 2 2.95
1990–91 Binghamton Rangers AHL 3 1 2 160 11 0 4.13
NHL totals 1 0 0 10 1 0 6.00
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