Michael Leighton
 Michael Leighton 
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| Date of birth | May 19, 1981 |
| place of birth | Petrolia , Ontario , Canada |
| size | 191 cm |
| Weight | 84 kg |
| position | goalkeeper |
| number | # 49 |
| Catch hand | Left |
| Draft | |
| NHL Entry Draft |
1999 , 6th round, 165th position Chicago Blackhawks |
| Career stations | |
| 1998-2001 | Windsor Spitfires |
| 2001-2005 | Norfolk Admirals |
| 2005-2006 | Rochester Americans |
| 2006-2007 | Portland Pirates |
| 2007 | Philadelphia Flyers |
| 2007-2009 | Carolina Hurricanes |
| 2009-2010 | Philadelphia Flyers |
| 2010-2013 | Adirondack Phantoms |
| 2013-2014 | HK Donbass Donetsk |
| 2014-2016 | Rockford IceHogs |
| 2016-2017 |
Carolina Hurricanes Charlotte Checkers |
| 2017 | Syracuse crunch |
| 2017 | Chicago Wolves |
| 2017-2018 | Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins |
| 2018 | Ontario Reign |
| 2019 | Utica Comets |
Michael "Mike" Leighton (born May 19, 1981 in Petrolia , Ontario ) is a former Canadian ice hockey goalkeeper . In his professional career, which lasted from 2001 to 2019, he played a total of 126 games for the Chicago Blackhawks , Nashville Predators , Philadelphia Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes in the National Hockey League . Most of his career, which was characterized by frequent changes, he spent, however, in minor leagues , especially the American Hockey League .
Career
The 1.91 m tall goalie began his professional career with the Windsor Spitfires in the Canadian Junior League Ontario Hockey League , before he was selected ( drafted ) in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft as 165th in the sixth round of the Chicago Blackhawks .
For the 2001/02 season , the left catcher signed a contract with the Blackhawks, of which he was first used with the Norfolk Admirals , a farm team in the American Hockey League . On January 8, 2003, the Canadian finally made his NHL debut for the Chicago franchise . In the goalless draw against the Phoenix Coyotes , Leighton became the first goalkeeper in team history to score a shutout in their first career game. Nevertheless, the Canadian never spent a full season in the National Hockey League, as he shared the post of back-up goalie with Craig Anderson and thus had to play again and again with the Norfolk Admirals in the AHL.
In October 2005, Leighton was transferred to the Buffalo Sabers in exchange for Milan Bartovič , but he never completed an NHL game for the team, as he was used by the Sabers exclusively for the Rochester Americans in the AHL. In July 2006, the Canadians as was Waiver to the Anaheim Ducks passed, but again, Leighton could not permanently against the goalkeeper Ilja Brysgalow and Jean-Sébastien Giguère prevail, so he was still in the current season with the Nashville Predators moved. With the Philadelphia Flyers , the Canadian then played for a third franchise in the NHL this season. On February 10, 2007 he stood for the first time in three years as a starting goalkeeper in the National Hockey League on the ice. However, Leighton was soon put on the waiver list by the Flyers, so that the Montréal Canadiens signed him .
After he had not played for the Canadiens in the NHL, Michael Leighton was transferred to the 2007/08 season for a seven-round pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft to the Carolina Hurricanes , which he spent most of the time with the Albany River Rats, their farm team in the AHL. There he was awarded the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award as the best AHL goalkeeper .
On December 15, 2009 Michael Leighton was signed by the Flyers again to replace the injured substitute goalkeeper Ray Emery . On December 21, the first goalkeeper Brian Boucher was injured and Leighton temporarily became a regular goalkeeper.
When Brian Boucher injured himself again on May 10, 2010, Leighton came to his first playoff appearance in game five against the Boston Bruins . He brought the shutout started by Brian Boucher to an end, the Flyers won 4-0. Leighton and the Flyers also won the next two games and became the first NHL team since 1975 to reach the next round after falling 3-0 down in the playoffs.
In the first two games of the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals, Leighton worked the Flyers with two shutouts to take them 2-0 against the Montréal Canadiens. On May 22, 2010 he set a club record with his third shutout in the Conference Final and led the Flyers in five games (4: 1) since 1997 to the Stanley Cup final , which was won by the Chicago Blackhawks after six games . At the trade deadline on April 3, 2013, he was transferred to the Columbus Blue Jackets , but did not work for the Jackets until the end of the season.
Then Leighton was at HK Donbass Donetsk from the Continental Hockey League under contract and showed there convincing performances. On May 28, 2014, he signed a one-year contract with HK Sochi after HK Donbass withdrew from the KHL due to the crisis in eastern Ukraine. Due to illness, Leighton was unable to attend the training camp at HK Sochi, so that his contract was terminated by mutual agreement at the end of July 2014. On August 18, 2014, Leighton received a one-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks , which was valid for both the NHL and the AHL. After expiry, this was also extended by one year. Over the course of two years, the goalkeeper came with the exception of an NHL game for the Blackhawks exclusively for the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL to use. In September 2016, he joined the Carolina Hurricanes as a free agent for one year , as well as the Tampa Bay Lightning in July 2017 . The Canadian sold the Lightning together with Tye McGinn to the Arizona Coyotes in November 2017 and received Louis Domingue in return . A little later, the Coyotes loaned Leighton to the Chicago Wolves from the AHL.
However, Leighton only played five games for the Wolves before he was given up to the Pittsburgh Penguins in December 2017, including a four-round vote in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft . In return, the Coyotes received Josh Archibald , Sean Maguire and a six-round vote for the same draft. In Pittsburgh, Leighton ended the season, but received no further contract. After a trial contract with the Ontario Reign from the AHL did not lead to a permanent commitment, he joined the Utica Comets in January 2019 in the same way . From there he was finally signed by their NHL cooperation partner, the Vancouver Canucks , for the remainder of the 2018/19 season in February 2019 , but without being used in the NHL. He then announced the end of his active career in October 2019.
Achievements and Awards
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Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| season | team | league | Sp | S. | N | U | OTN | Min | GT | SO | GTS | Sv% | Sp | S. | N | Min | GT | SO | GTS | Sv% | ||
| 1998/99 | Windsor Spitfires | OHL | 28 | 4th | 17th | 2 | - | 1389 | 112 | 0 | 4.84 | 86.7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 80 | 10 | 0 | 7.50 | 88.4 | ||
| 1999/00 | Windsor Spitfires | OHL | 42 | 17th | 17th | 2 | - | 2272 | 118 | 1 | 3.12 | 88.9 | 12 | 5 | 6th | 616 | 32 | 0 | 3.12 | 91.5 | ||
| 2000/01 | Windsor Spitfires | OHL | 54 | 32 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 3035 | 138 | 2 | 2.73 | 91.0 | 9 | 4th | 5 | 519 | 27 | 1 | 3.12 | 90.6 | ||
| 2001/02 | Norfolk Admirals | AHL | 52 | 27 | 16 | 8th | - | 3114 | 111 | 6th | 2.14 | 92.0 | 4th | 1 | 2 | 238 | 8th | 0 | 2.01 | 92.7 | ||
| 2002/03 | Norfolk Admirals | AHL | 36 | 18th | 13 | 5 | - | 2184 | 91 | 4th | 2.50 | 91.2 | 4th | 3 | 1 | 240 | 7th | 1 | 1.75 | 93.1 | ||
| 2002/03 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 8th | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | 447 | 21st | 1 | 2.82 | 91.3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2003/04 | Norfolk Admirals | AHL | 18th | 10 | 7th | 1 | - | 1081 | 33 | 1 | 1.83 | 92.6 | 4th | 2 | 1 | 212 | 2 | 2 | 0.56 | 97.8 | ||
| 2003/04 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 34 | 6th | 18th | 8th | - | 1988 | 99 | 2 | 2.99 | 90.0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2004/05 | Norfolk Admirals | AHL | 41 | 20th | 16 | - | 3 | 2319 | 78 | 7th | 2.02 | 92.1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2005/06 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 40 | 15th | 22nd | - | 1 | 2316 | 124 | 2 | 3.21 | 88.7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2006/07 | Portland Pirates | AHL | 16 | 8th | 6th | - | 1 | 962 | 37 | 2 | 2.31 | 91.0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2006/07 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 20th | 2 | 0 | 6.00 | 80.0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2006/07 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL | 5 | 2 | 0 | - | 2 | 270 | 7th | 0 | 1.56 | 94.8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2006/07 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 4th | 2 | 2 | - | 0 | 195 | 12 | 0 | 3.69 | 88.2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2007/08 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 58 | 28 | 25th | - | 4th | 3451 | 121 | 7th | 2.10 | 93.1 | 7th | 3 | 4th | 510 | 10 | 2 | 1.18 | 98.1 | ||
| 2007/08 | Carolina Hurricanes | NHL | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | 0 | 158 | 7th | 0 | 2.66 | 89.7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2008/09 | Carolina Hurricanes | NHL | 19th | 6th | 7th | - | 2 | 1029 | 50 | 0 | 2.92 | 90.1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2009/10 | Carolina Hurricanes | NHL | 7th | 1 | 4th | - | 0 | 350 | 25th | 0 | 4.28 | 85.0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2009/10 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 27 | 16 | 5 | - | 2 | 1449 | 60 | 1 | 2.48 | 92.0 | 14th | 8th | 3 | 757 | 31 | 3 | 2.46 | 91.6 | ||
| 2010/11 | Adirondack Phantoms | AHL | 30th | 14th | 12 | - | 3 | 1783 | 66 | 5 | 2.22 | 92.6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2010/11 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | 0 | 60 | 4th | 0 | 4.00 | 88.9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 70 | 4th | 0 | 3.43 | 86.2 | ||
| 2011/12 | Adirondack Phantoms | AHL | 56 | 28 | 26th | - | 1 | 3237 | 139 | 2 | 2.58 | 91.8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2012/13 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | 0 | 59 | 5 | 0 | 5.08 | 80.8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2012/13 | Adirondack Phantoms | AHL | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | 0 | 119 | 4th | 0 | 2.02 | 93.3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2013/14 | HK Donbass Donetsk | KHL | 42 | 20th | 15th | - | 6th | 2448 | 71 | 6th | 1.74 | 93.3 | 8th | 3 | 4th | 467 | 20th | 0 | 2.57 | 90.8 | ||
| 2014/15 | Rockford IceHogs | AHL | 42 | 22nd | 13 | - | 4th | 2391 | 90 | 5 | 2.26 | 92.0 | 8th | 4th | 3 | 440 | 19th | 0 | 2.59 | 91.9 | ||
| 2015/16 | Rockford IceHogs | AHL | 46 | 28 | 8th | - | 8th | 2585 | 105 | 5 | 2.44 | 91.8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2015/16 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 40 | 1 | 0 | 1.52 | 94.1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2016/17 | Charlotte Checkers | AHL | 23 | 11 | 7th | - | 3 | 1326 | 48 | 3 | 2.17 | 92.1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 52 | 1 | 0 | 1.15 | 93.3 | ||
| 2016/17 | Carolina Hurricanes | NHL | 4th | 2 | 2 | - | 0 | 211 | 12 | 0 | 3.43 | 87.0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2017/18 | Syracuse crunch | AHL | 9 | 3 | 3 | - | 2 | 476 | 24 | 0 | 3.03 | 86.8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2017/18 | Chicago Wolves | AHL | 5 | 1 | 1 | - | 2 | 247 | 14th | 1 | 3.40 | 86.9 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2017/18 | Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins | AHL | 6th | 5 | 0 | - | 1 | 383 | 17th | 0 | 2.67 | 91.3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2018/19 | Ontario Reign | AHL | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | 0 | 162 | 12 | 0 | 4.46 | 85.9 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2018/19 | Utica Comets | AHL | 19th | 8th | 9 | - | 1 | 1065 | 48 | 0 | 2.70 | 90.1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| OHL total | 124 | 53 | 45 | 9 | 2 | 6696 | 368 | 3 | 3.30 | 89.8 | 24 | 9 | 12 | 1215 | 69 | 1 | 3.41 | 90.9 | ||||
| AHL total | 507 | 250 | 186 | 14th | 35 | 29470 | 1169 | 50 | 2.38 | 91.6 | 28 | 13 | 12 | 1692 | 47 | 5 | 1.67 | 94.4 | ||||
| NHL overall | 110 | 37 | 43 | 10 | 4th | 6004 | 298 | 4th | 2.98 | 90.0 | 16 | 8th | 4th | 827 | 35 | 3 | 2.54 | 91.3 | ||||
( Legend for the goalkeeper statistics: GP or Sp = total games; W or S = wins; L or N = defeats; T or U or OT = draws or overtime or shootout defeats; min. = Minutes; SOG or SaT = shots on goal; GA or GT = goals conceded; SO = shutouts ; GAA or GTS = goals conceded ; Sv% or SVS% = catch quota ; EN = empty net goal ; 1 play-downs / relegation ; italics : statistics not complete)
Web links
- Michael Leighton in the database of the National Hockey League (English)
- Michael Leighton at eliteprospects.com (English)
- Michael Leighton at hockeygoalies.org
Individual evidence
- ↑ Сочинский клуб КХЛ пополнился двумя канадскими хоккеистами ( Russian ) RSport.com. May 27, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
- ↑ Ex-NHLer Leighton's KHL contract voided due to illness . July 28, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
- ^ Blackhawks agree to terms with governing Michael Leighton . August 18, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
- ↑ Lightning acquire goaltender Louis Domingue from Arizona. nhl.com, November 14, 2017, accessed November 14, 2017 .
- ↑ Pens Acquire Goaltender Michael Leighton and 2019 Fourth-Round Draft Pick. nhl.com, December 19, 2017, accessed December 20, 2017 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Leighton, Michael |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Leighton, Mike (nickname) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian ice hockey player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 19, 1981 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Petrolia , Ontario , Canada |