Mike Vernon (ice hockey player)

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CanadaCanada  Mike Vernon Ice hockey player
Mike Vernon
Date of birth February 24, 1963
place of birth Calgary , Alberta , Canada
size 175 cm
Weight 76 kg
position goalkeeper
number # 30
Catch hand Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft 1981 , 3rd lap, 56th position
Calgary Flames
Career stations
1980-1982 Calgary Wranglers
1982-1994 Calgary Flames
1994-1997 Detroit Red Wings
1997-1999 San Jose Sharks
1999-2000 Florida panthers
2000-2002 Calgary Flames

Michael Vernon (born February 24, 1963 in Calgary , Alberta ) is a former Canadian ice hockey goalkeeper who won the Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames and the Detroit Red Wings . In 1997 he was voted Most Valuable Player of the Playoffs and his shirt number 30 is the second no longer in the history of the Calgary Flames.

Career

Junior League

Mike Vernon began his career with the Calgary Canucks in the junior league AJHL , before he moved to the WHL , one of the three largest Canadian junior leagues , in 1980 to the Calgary Wranglers . After the first season he was selected by the Calgary Flames in the NHL Entry Draft 1981 in the third round at position 56. But he stayed in the WHL and in his second year received the awards as Most Valuable Player and Best Goalkeeper in the WHL . The Portland Winter Hawks were champions of the WHL in the season and thus the representative of the league in the fight for the Memorial Cup . For the tournament they took Vernon into their team, but could not win the cup.

The 1982/83 season he completed again with the Wranglers, but was again appointed to the roster of the Winter Hawks for the finals of the Memorial Cup. This time they won the title, and Vernon was named the best goalkeeper of the finals after being named WHL's best goalkeeper for the second time .

Difficult start with the professionals

In the 1983/84 season Vernon moved to the pros and was allowed to play 11 minutes in the NHL for the Calgary Flames, but embarrassed himself when he conceded four goals in the short time, although he only got six shots on goal. Another NHL appearance was therefore out of the question, and Vernon played the rest of the season with the Colorado Flames , the Calgary farm team in the Central Hockey League , where he won 30 of his 46 games. But the league was dissolved after the season and with it the team.

Vernon played the 1984/85 season with another farm team of the Calgary Flames in the American Hockey League . He didn't have a particularly good year with the Moncton Golden Flames . 1985/86 it went better and after he Moncton in the AHL and the Salt Lake Golden Eagles in the IHL could do well, he was recalled to the NHL team the Flames, where he the post of goalkeeper of Reggie Lemelin took . He was used 18 times in the regular season and showed very good performances, so that he pushed the goalkeeper Lemelin out of the gate before the playoffs. With Vernon as number one, they made it to the Stanley Cup final and only had to admit defeat to the Montréal Canadiens there.

First Stanley Cup

1986/87 and 1987/88 Vernon was able to lead the Calgary Flames back into the playoffs with very good performances, but they never came out of the second round. In 1988 Vernon took part in the NHL Allstar Game for the first time . Another four participations should follow in the course of his career. He had his best season to date in 1988/89 , when he won 37 of 52 games and only allowed six defeats. And things went better again in the playoffs and Vernon again led the Flames to the Stanley Cup final, where, like three years before, they met the Montréal Canadiens. This time the Calgary Flames prevailed and won the first Stanley Cup in their club history. Vernon played a big part in the team's success this time too.

Mike Vernon continued to perform well over the next few years, but the team could no longer build on the success of 1989. In addition, Vernon had got Trevor Kidd, a young competitor for the place of the goalkeeper. In the summer of 1994, Vernon was transferred from the Calgary Flames to the Detroit Red Wings .

From substitute goalkeeper to playoff hero

In Detroit he was number one in the 1994/95 season, which was shortened to 48 games due to the lockout , but there too he had a young aspiring goalkeeper in Chris Osgood . Vernon was undisputed in the playoffs and reached the Stanley Cup final with the Red Wings, which they lost 4-0. In the 1995/96 season Vernon found himself on the post of substitute goalkeeper. Although he was still allowed to play 32 games, he couldn't get past the outstanding Osgood, who won 39 of his 50 games. Together they received the William M. Jennings Trophy after the season , which is awarded to the goalkeepers whose team has conceded the fewest goals.

In 1996/97 the constellation in goal didn't look much different. Osgood had now stopped flying high and both goalkeepers were on par again, but the younger Osgood made more appearances than Vernon. But when the playoffs came up, coach Scotty Bowman chose the more experienced Vernon as number one. Bowman shouldn't be disappointed. Vernon played the best playoffs of his career with a goal against goals of less than two goals per game and a catch rate of 92.7 percent. In the end, the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup. It was Detroit's first triumph since 1955. Mike Vernon was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs for his outstanding performance in the finals .

San Jose, Florida & Minnesota

Despite everything, Vernon was transferred from the Red Wings to the San Jose Sharks just a few months later . The Sharks had had ailing goalkeepers in the past few years, so Mike Vernon was the one for them. He became the clear number one and with him the Sharks made it back to the playoffs. He played for the Sharks for two years and was then transferred to the Florida Panthers in late December 1999 . First goalkeeper Trevor Kidd, whom Vernon knew from his time in Calgary, had sustained a serious shoulder injury and they needed a new, experienced first goalkeeper.

In the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft , Vernon was selected by the Minnesota Wild.

Return & end of career

However, he never played for the Wild, but was transferred to his home team in Calgary on the same day. In his first year after returning to the Calgary Flames, he shared the post of regular goalkeeper with Fred Brathwaite , but could not perform particularly well. In 2001/02 he was only a substitute goalkeeper behind Roman Turek .

In September 2002, Mike Vernon announced the end of his career.

On February 6, 2007 , the Calgary Flames in honor of Mike Vernon hung a banner with the number 30 in a festive ceremony on the ceiling of the ice rink, whereby Vernon's number is officially blocked and will no longer be given to any player on the team.

Lanny McDonald , who won the Stanley Cup with Vernon in 1989 and whose number 9 was the only number banned in Calgary so far, said: “Vernie is the biggest reason we are all wearing Stanley Cup ring. (...) Calgary can be proud of their hometown boy. "(" Vernie "is the most important reason that we all wear Stanley Cup rings . (...) Calgary can be proud of him.)

Work in management

On July 17, 2008, Mike Vernon was hired by the Tampa Bay Lightning as Assistant to the Vice President of Hockey Operations and is to advise on his position in ice hockey-related matters and support the training of goalkeepers.

Others

Vernon is among the players involved in the 1997 Hockeytown brawl . This is a mass brawl between the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche . Vernon fought against goalkeeping legend Patrick Roy and came out "victorious" from the fight. While he was barely recovering from the fight, Roy was badly marked and had a laceration on his head.

Achievements and Awards

NHL statistics

Seasons Games Victories Defeats draw Minutes GT Shutouts Sv% GTS
Regular season 19th 781 385 273 92 44449 2206 27 .890 2.98
Playoffs 14th 138 77 56 - 8214 367 6th .896 2.68

( 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)

Records

NHL

Playoffs

  • 5th place goalkeeper with most games - 138 games
  • 5th place as a goalkeeper with the most played minutes - 8,214 minutes

Calgary Flames

Regular season

  • Most games by a goalkeeper - 526 games
  • Most played minutes played by a goalkeeper - 29,650 minutes
  • Most goalkeeper wins - 259 wins

Playoffs

  • Most games by a goalkeeper - 81 games
  • Most played minutes played by a goalkeeper - 4,773 minutes
  • Most goalkeeper wins - 43 wins

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Vernon, Mike
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vernon, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian ice hockey goalkeeper
DATE OF BIRTH February 24, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Calgary , Alberta, Canada