Michael Garnett

Michael Garrett
Born	(1982-11-25) November 25, 1982 Saskatoon, SK, CAN
Height	6 ft 1.4 in (186 cm)
Weight	205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Catches	Left
KHL team Former teams	KHL Medvescak Zagreb Atlanta Thrashers MVD Balashikha Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk Dynamo Moscow Traktor Chelyabinsk HC Slovan Bratislava
National team	Canada
NHL draft	80th overall, 2001 Atlanta Thrashers
Playing career	2002–present

Michael Garnett (born November 25, 1982 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who currently plays for Medvescak Zagreb of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Garnett has previously played for the National Hockey League's Atlanta Thrashers, who drafted him in the 3rd round (80th overall) of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Garnett spent his junior career with the Red Deer Rebels and his hometown Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He was named to the WHL All-Rookie Team for the 2000–01 season and was drafted by the Thrashers in the summer of 2001.

Garnett made his professional debut in the 2002–03 season playing for the Greenville Grrrowl of the East Coast Hockey League. Over two seasons with the Grrrowl and the Gwinnett Gladiators he posted a 37-25 record before securing a full-time job with the Thrashers top minor league affiliate, the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League (AHL). In total, Garnett appeared in 116 games for the Wolves, posting a 56-40-5 record.

Garnett was called up to the Thrashers early in the 2005–06 season due to a groin injury sustained by Thrashers starting goaltender Kari Lehtonen. Garnett made his NHL debut on October 12, 2005, when he replaced Mike Dunham, who suffered a groin injury less than ten minutes into a game against the Montreal Canadiens. The Thrashers lost the game 2-0, though Garnett stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced and was named the game's second star. That season Garnett appeared in 24 games for Atlanta, including a franchise record 17 straight games from November 24 to December 28, 2005. When he was reassigned to Chicago in early January, he was in the midst of a ten game regulation undefeated streak (7-0-3), which included back-to-back shutouts on December 23 and 26 against the New Jersey Devils and Montreal Canadiens, respectively, through which he made 65 saves. Overall, Garnett posted a 10-7-4 record with the Thrashers.

Garnett's contract with the Thrashers expired after the 2006–07 season, which he spent entirely with the Chicago Wolves, splitting time with veteran Fred Brathwaite and posting a 23-15-1 record.

KHL

As an unrestricted free agent Garnett opted to sign a one-year contract with HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the Russian Super League. He had a successful Russian debut, with Nizhnekamsk losing a 5 game series to the defending champions, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, in the first round of the playoffs. That summer, Garnett described his experience and how the language barrier was helping his hockey career: "Well, it literally was a blur for me because I couldn't understand anything. I could really focus and get deep into hockey more than I think I have before."

Garnett, again a free agent, signed a two-year contract with MVD Balashikha of the newly formed Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). After struggling through the 2008–09 season, posting a 15-17-1 record, Garnett bounced back for a successful 2009–10 campaign. He posted a 24-15-4 record, a 2.06 goals against average, .917 save percentage, and 5 shutouts. He played in the 2010 KHL All-Star game in Minsk and MVD won the Tarasov division title and Western Conference championship. In the Gagarin Cup Finals, MVD lost a close 7 game series to the defending champions, AK Bars Kazan. Garnett was named to the KHL's First All-Star team.

Following the 2009–10, MVD Balashikha merged with Dynamo Moscow to form UHC Dynamo. Garnett signed a one-year contract with the club prior to the start of the 2010–11 season. Despite missing some time to injury, Garnett had a successful season with Dynamo as the team finished 1st in their division with Garnett posting a 17-13-2 record and a .916 save percentage. UHC was upset in the first round of the playoffs in a six game series against Dinamo Riga, marking a disappointing end to what had been a strong season.

On May 2, 2011, Garnett signed a two-year contract with Traktor Chelyabinsk. His 2011-2012 season started in spectacular fashion, as he was chosen as goaltender of the month in the KHL for both October and November. He also played for Team Fedorov in the 2012 KHL All-Star game in Riga on Jan. 21, 2012. Michael won the Continental Cup with his team and became a fan favorite. He repeated as KHL Allstar in the 2012-13 season. His four-year stint at Chelyabinsk became to a close at the end of the 2014-15 season.

He then spent the 2015-16 campaign with HC Slovan Bratislava. On October 27, 2016, he was signed by another KHL club, Medvescak Zagreb of Croatia.

Career Statistics

Regular season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T/OTL	MIN	GA	GAA	SV%	SO
1999–2000	Red Deer Rebels	WHL		1	0	0	0	14	0	0.00	1.000	0
2000–01	Red Deer Rebels	WHL		21	14	5	1	1133	39	2.07	.905	3
2000–01	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		28	7	17	2	1501	83	3.32	.901	1
2001–02	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		67	27	34	4	3738	205	3.29	.897	2
2002–03	Greenville Grrrowl	ECHL		38	16	15	3	2092	119	3.41	.895	0
2002–03	Chicago Wolves	AHL		2	0	1	0	33	2	3.64	.875	0
2003–04	Gwinnett Gladiators	ECHL		33	21	10	2	1936	69	2.14	.926	4
2003–04	Chicago Wolves	AHL		13	7	3	2	731	32	2.63	.914	0
2004–05	Chicago Wolves	AHL		24	11	9	0	1321	63	2.86	.911	1
2005–06	Chicago Wolves	AHL		35	15	12	4	1892	106	3.36	.881	1
2005–06	Atlanta Thrashers	NHL		24	10	7	4	1271	73	3.44	.885	2
2006–07	Chicago Wolves	AHL		42	23	15	1	2380	120	3.03	.899	2
2007–08	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk	RSL		50	—	—	—	2676	110	2.47	—	3
2008–09	MVD Balashikha	KHL		38	14	21	1	2200	100	2.73	.889	3
2009–10	MVD Balashikha	KHL		44	24	15	4	2562	88	2.06	.917	5
2010–11	Dynamo Moscow	KHL		34	17	13	2	1927	72	2.24	.916	2
2011–12	Traktor Chelyabinsk	KHL		45	29	10	6	2674	88	1.97	.922	3
2012–13	Traktor Chelyabinsk	KHL		36	17	11	6	2128	78	2.20	.923	3
2013–14	Traktor Chelyabinsk	KHL		50	18	21	11	2991	126	2.53	.915	3
2014–15	Traktor Chelyabinsk	KHL		36	15	16	4	2157	79	2.20	.926	1
KHL totals				283	134	107	34	16644	631	2.27	.916	20
NHL totals				24	10	7	4	1271	73	3.45	.885	2
AHL totals				116	56	40	5	6357	323	3.05	.898	4
ECHL totals				71	37	25	5	4028	188	2.80	.909	4
WHL totals				117	48	56	7	3232	327	3.07	.899	6

Playoffs

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	MIN	GA	GAA	SV%	SO
1999–2000	Red Deer Rebels	WHL		1	0	1	65	2	1.85	—	0
2001–02	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		7	3	4	450	15	2.00	.939	0
2002–03	Greenville Grrrowl	ECHL		3	1	2	178	13	4.38	.885	0
2003–04	Gwinnett Gladiators	ECHL		12	7	5	770	34	2.65	.918	0
2004–05	Chicago Wolves	AHL		2	2	0	119	3	1.51	.957	0
2006–07	Chicago Wolves	AHL		11	8	3	675	28	2.49	.910	1
2007–08	HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk	RSL		5	2	3	236	16	4.10	—	0
2009–10	MVD Balashikha	KHL		22	14	8	1352	52	2.31	.903	1
2010–11	Dynamo Moscow	KHL		6	2	3	360	14	2.33	.894	0
2011–12	Traktor Chelyabinsk	KHL		16	8	7	988	29	1.76	.935	1
2012–13	Traktor Chelyabinsk	KHL		25	14	10	1546	48	1.86	.933	5
2014–15	Traktor Chelyabinsk	KHL		4	1	3	211	13	3.69	.879	0
KHL totals				73	39	31	4459	156	2.10	.920	7
AHL totals				13	10	3	794	31	2.34	.919	1
ECHL totals				15	8	7	948	47	2.97	.911	0
WHL totals				8	3	5	515	17	1.98	—	0

External links

• Michael Garnett on Facebook
• Michael Garnett career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
• Michael Garnett player profile at NHL.com