Brad Thiessen

Canada Brad Thiessen


Date of birth	March 19, 1986
place of birth	Aldergrove , British Columbia , Canada
size	183 cm
Weight	81 kg

position	goalkeeper
Catch hand	Left

Career stations

2003-2005	Penticton Panthers
2005-2006	Prince George Spruce Kings
2006	Merritt Centennials
2006-2009	Northeastern University
2009–2012	Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins
2013-2014	HIFK Norfolk Admirals
2014-2015	Adirondack Flames
since 2015	Lake Erie / Cleveland Monsters

Brad Thiessen (born March 19, 1986 in Aldergrove , British Columbia ) is a Canadian ice hockey goalkeeper who has played for the Cleveland Monsters in the American Hockey League since September 2015 .

Career

Thiessen in the jersey of Northeastern University (2008)

Brad Thiessen was initially active during his junior years from 2003 to 2006 in the British Columbia Hockey League for the Penticton Panthers , Prince George Spruce Kings and Merritt Centennials . He then began studying at Northeastern University and played ice hockey for their team, the Northeastern Huskies , in Hockey East , a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association .

Already in his debut season in Hockey East, the Canadian had his breakthrough in the university league, when Thiessen parried over 92 percent of the shots on his case. He remained the undisputed goalkeeper of the Huskies in the following two seasons and completed a successful 2008/09 season, which the left catcher ended with several individual awards, including being the most valuable player in Hockey East. His 41 missions in the 2008/09 season were also the second most within the NCAA, only Alex Stalock with 42 missions for the University of Minnesota Duluth was more successful. He was also nominated as one of three finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award , won by defense attorney Matt Gilroy .

Thiessen after his first victory in the NHL , February 2012

Thiessen, who was never drafted , signed a contract as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League in April 2009 . From the 2009/10 season he formed a goalkeeping duo with John Curry in the farm team at the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins in the American Hockey League . In the same season, the Canadian also made twelve appearances for the Wheeling Nailers in the ECHL . Thiessen made the final breakthrough in the AHL in the 2010/11 season . After an excellent regular season with 35 wins and seven shutouts , both new franchise records for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, the goalkeeper impressed with a catch rate of 94 percent and a goalscoring average of 1.67 in twelve games of the playoffs. Nevertheless, the team failed in the second playoff round against the Charlotte Checkers . At the end of the season, the goalkeeper was honored with several individual awards for his achievements.

In January 2011 he was nominated for the AHL All-Star Classic , but missed the event due to an injury.

In July 2013 Thiessen decided to become involved in Europe and was signed by the HIFK Helsinki . After only eight games for the HIFK, he got out of his contract amicably and was committed a week later by the Norfolk Admirals from the AHL until the end of the season.

Thiessen has been under contract with the Calgary Flames since July 3, 2014 , with a two-way contract lasting one year. They initially gave it to their former farm team, the Adirondack Flames . After a year he moved to the Lake Erie Monsters , who were renamed Cleveland Monsters for the 2016/17 season .