Martin Houle

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Position Goaltender
Catches Left
Height
Weight		 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
NHL Team Philadelphia Flyers
Nationality Flag of Canada Canada
Born February 12, 1985,
Saint-Hubert, QC, CA
NHL Draft 232nd overall, 2004
Philadelphia Flyers
Pro Career 2005 – present

Martin Houle (born February 12, 1985 in Saint-Hubert, Quebec) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He plays for the Philadelphia Flyers in the National Hockey League.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

Houle started his career by playing junior hockey for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the QMJHL from 2001 to 2005. For the first two seasons, he was a back to current Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Despite a rough start, he ended the 2003-04 season ranked second in the league with 34 wins and a 2.32 GAA. He was also named QMJHL Goalie of the Year and was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers 232nd overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Despite the low pick, the organization was really excited about drafting him. He proved their trust was correctly placed when he was named QMJHL Defensive Player of the Year and finished 7th in the QMJHL in wins (26) and 5th in GAA (2.51) the following year.

Following his senior season in the QMJHL, he attended Flyers training camp, but was reassigned to the Trenton Titans of the ECHL at the close of the Philadelphia Phantoms training camp. Houle had played seven straight games for the Titans after Scott Stirling was traded to the San Antonio Rampage. In those seven games, he managed to put together the sixth best goals against average in the ECHL.

The Phantoms liked what they saw in him and decided to switch him with Rejean Beauchemin, who was struggling early in the season. At the AHL level, Houle excelled. However, the test truly came when Jamie Storr was called up to be backup goalie for Antero Niittymäki while Robert Esche was on the injury list. With Storr in the NHL, Houle became the starting goalie and retained this for the rest of the season. In fact, when the Flyers announced the players they were keeping in town for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, many were surprised to see that they chose to call up Houle over Storr. After Storr signed elsewhere, Houle officialy became the third goalie for the Flyers. Currently, he is backing up Niittymäki while Esche recovers from surgery.

On December 13, 2006, Houle made his NHL debut when Niittymäki had to fix his equiptment. They were going to switch at the next stopage of play, but an icing call forced play back into the defensive zone and, due to the fact that the Flyers couldn't change players, Houle faced the top line of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and after making two saves, gave up a goal to Mark Recchi.

[edit] Awards

[edit] Records

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Regular season

   
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2001-02 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles QMJHL 1 1 0 0 38 0 0 0.00 1.000
2002-03 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles QMJHL 30 4 18 3 1450 98 0 4.06 .895
2003-04 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles QMJHL 51 34 15 1 2951 114 3 2.32 .921
2004-05 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles QMJHL 56 26 18 5 3108 130 6 2.51 .911
2005-06 Trenton Titans ECHL 7 4 3 -- 429 15 1 2.10 .935
2005-06 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 40 18 18 -- 2153 91 2 2.54 .914
QMJHL Totals 138 65 51 9 7547 342 9 2.72 .911
AHL Totals 40 18 18 -- 2153 91 2 2.54 .914

[edit] Playoffs

   
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2002-03 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles QMJHL 1 0 0 -- 11 0 0 0.00 1.000
2003-04 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles QMJHL 4 1 3 -- 251 13 0 3.10 .886
2004-05 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles QMJHL 4 1 3 -- 245 10 0 2.44 .905
QMJHL Totals 9 2 6 -- 507 23 0 2.72 .899

[edit] International play

[edit] References

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