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Mario Gosselin (ice hockey)

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Mario Gosselin
Born (1963-06-15) June 15, 1963 (age 61)
Thetford Mines, Quebec, Canada
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight 160 lb (73 kg; 11 st 6 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for Quebec Nordiques
Los Angeles Kings
Hartford Whalers
NHL draft 55th overall, 1982
Quebec Nordiques
Playing career 1983–1994

Mario Gosselin (born June 15, 1963 in Thetford Mines, Quebec) is a Canadian former hockey goaltender who played nine years in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Quebec Nordiques, the Los Angeles Kings and the Hartford Whalers.

Playing career

As a youth, Gosselin played in the 1975 and 1976 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from Thetford Mines.[1]

Gosselin played his junior hockey for the Shawinigan Cataractes of the QMJHL from 1980–1981 to 1982–1983. He was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques with 55th pick (third round) of the 1982 NHL Entry Draft.

He then represented Canada at the 1983 World Junior Championships as a spare goalie than continued to play for Canada joining the national team for the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics where he played seven games winning four of them and helping Canada finish fourth.

Quebec Nordiques

Following the Games, he joined the Nordiques making a memorable debut on February 26, 1984 by blanking the St. Louis Blues 5–0.

The following year he formed a tandem with veteran Dan Bouchard and took over the starting job for good by playoff time helping backstop the Nordiques past the Buffalo Sabres in the first round and their fierce rivals the Montreal Canadiens in the second round before falling to the Philadelphia Flyers in the Semi-Finals.

The 1985-86 season had highs and lows for Gosselin. He battled for ice time with newcomer Clint Malarchuk and veteran Richard Sevigny and played well enough to be selected to play in the 1986 All-Star Game, but also struggled enough to spend five games in the American Hockey League with the Fredericton Express. His season ended on a high note, however, when Gosselin excelled for the Nordiques in the post-season going 7-4 after taking over the crease from Malarchuk.

He spent the next season in a back-up role but returned to the starting job in 1987-88 after Malarchuk was traded to the Washington Capitals. Gosselin and the Nordiques had a forgettable season and the following year, with veteran Bob Mason signed and rookie Ron Tugnutt pushing for starts Gosselin saw his playing time cut and again had a brief stint in the AHL. After the season, the Nordiques didn't renew his contract on June 6, 1989 and he signed with the Los Angeles Kings.

Los Angeles Kings

Gosselin served as the back-up to Kelly Hrudey but was largely ineffective posting a 7-11-1 record with a 3.87 goals against average. He did manage to get in the history books during his time with the Kings, even if it was for dubious reasons. Mario Gosselin was the first goaltender in NHL history to lose a game without giving up a goal.[2] Gosselin filled in for Kelly Hrudey and the Kings would give up an empty net goal. The result was a 7-6 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

When the Kings acquired netminder Daniel Berthiaume the following off-season, Gosselin lost his job and spent the 1990-91 season as the starting goalie with the Kings International Hockey League affiliate in Phoenix.

Hartford Whalers

In 1991-92, he signed with the Hartford Whalers but failed to return to the NHL that year and ended up spending his second consecutive season at the minor league level playing for the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League. During training camp before the 1992-93 campaign, Gosselin suffered a serious back injury [3] that cost him four months. The injury was so serious, Gosselin feared his career might have been over. "At a certain point in December, they told me maybe I would never play again. All I wanted to do was play hockey again."[4] He worked his way back into the Springfield lineup but an injury to Whaler back-up Frank Pietrangelo brought him back to the NHL after nearly three years away. Shortly after, starter Sean Burke suffered back spasms and suddenly Gosselin was an NHL starter again. In 16 games with the Whalers that year he posted better numbers than incumbents Burke and Pietrangelo and impressed the Whaler brass enough to earn a new two year contract that March. [5] The following season, he played 2 games in Springfield and 7 in Hartford before suffering a knee injury on November 27th, 1993 in a game against the Florida Panthers that ultimately ended his season and career.

Personal life

After retirement, Gosselin worked as a radio analyst for the Roadrunners games and hockey coordinator at the YMCA before moving back to the province of Quebec in 1997. He now lives in Saint-Basile-le-grand with his wife, three sons (Francis, Yanick, Justin) and daughter Marylee. Gosselin owns a hockey school called "Ecole de Hockey Mario Gosselin" and works at various high schools as a goaltender coach for their Ice-Hockey programs.[citation needed]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1979–80 Montréal L'Est Cantonniers QMAAA 8 6 0 0 0 4.09 — — — — — — — —
1980–81 Shawinigan Cataractes QMJHL 21 4 10 0 908 76 0 5.02 .846 1 0 0 20 2 0 6.00 .818
1981–82 Shawinigan Cataractes QMJHL 60 33 25 2 3385 230 0 4.08 .885 14 7 7 787 58 0 4.42 .879
1982–83 Shawinigan Cataractes QMJHL 46 32 9 1 2561 133 3 3.12 .895 8 5 3 458 29 0 3.80 .863
1983–84 Canada Intl 36 2007 126 0 3.77 — — — — — — — —
1983–84 Quebec Nordiques NHL 3 2 0 0 148 3 1 1.22 .955 — — — — — — — —
1984–85 Quebec Nordiques NHL 35 19 11 3 1960 109 1 3.34 .877 17 9 8 1059 54 0 3.06 .886
1985–86 Quebec Nordiques NHL 31 14 14 1 1726 111 2 3.86 .861 1 0 1 40 5 0 7.50 .773
1985–86 Fredericton Express AHL 5 2 2 1 304 15 0 2.96 .894 — — — — — — — —
1986–87 Quebec Nordiques NHL 30 13 11 1 1625 86 0 3.18 .887 11 7 4 654 37 0 3.39 .887
1987–88 Quebec Nordiques NHL 54 20 28 4 3002 189 2 3.78 .867 — — — — — — — —
1988–89 Quebec Nordiques NHL 39 11 19 3 2064 146 0 4.24 .868 — — — — — — — —
1988–89 Halifax Citadels AHL 3 3 0 0 183 9 0 2.95 .878 — — — — — — — —
1989–90 Los Angeles Kings NHL 26 7 11 1 1226 79 0 3.87 .865 3 0 2 63 3 0 2.90 .870
1990–91 Phoenix Roadrunners IHL 46 24 15 4 2673 172 1 3.86 11 7 4 670 43 0 3.85
1991–92 Springfield Indians AHL 47 28 11 5 2606 142 0 3.27 .894 6 1 4 319 18 0 3.39
1992–93 Hartford Whalers NHL 16 5 9 1 867 57 0 3.94 .886 — — — — — — — —
1992–93 Springfield Indians AHL 23 8 7 7 1345 75 0 3.35 .884 — — — — — — — —
1993–94 Hartford Whalers NHL 7 0 4 0 239 21 0 5.27 .804 — — — — — — — —
1993–94 Springfield Indians AHL 2 2 0 0 120 5 0 2.50 .896 — — — — — — — —
NHL totals 241 91 107 14 12,857 801 6 3.74 .871 32 16 15 1816 99 0 3.27 .883

International

Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA
1983 Canada WJC DNP — — — — — — —
1984 Canada OG 7 4 3 0 380 14 0 2.21

References

  1. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
  2. ^ Hockey’s Book of Firsts, p.16, James Duplacey, JG Press, ISBN 978-1-57215-037-9
  3. ^ "Gosselin Makes A Stop With Whalers". www.courant.com. Hartford Courant.
  4. ^ "Hartford Courant". Courant.com.
  5. ^ Courant.com. Hartford Courant http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1993-03-25-0000104203-story.html. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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