Brett Leonhardt

Brett Leonhardt
Born September 21, 1982
Kitchener, ON, CAN
Height 6 ft 7 in (201 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Right
Playing career 2008–2008

Brett Leonhardt (born September 21, 1982) is a former ice hockey goaltender for the Kitchener Dutchmen of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL), the State University of New York at Oswego of the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC), and Neumann College of ECAC West. He's suited up twice to serve as a backup goaltender for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL) on December 12, 2008 and November 29, 2013. He served as Producer of the official Capitals' website from the fall of 2007 until February 2011 when he left for a video editing job with the NHL.[1] He returned to the Capitals in 2012 as their video coach.[2]

Washington Call-ups

On December 12, 2008, the Capitals were preparing to host the Ottawa Senators. During the morning skate, José Théodore suffered a hip flexor injury, forcing the Capitals to recall Semyon Varlamov from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Hershey Bears.[3] However, Varlamov was with the Bears in San Antonio, Texas and was unable to make it to Washington in time to start the game as the backup goaltender.[3] As a result, the Capitals were forced to dress three goaltenders, signing Leonhardt, the team's website producer, to an amateur tryout contract before the game to back up Brent Johnson until the arrival of Varlamov.[3] Because of his experience in NCAA Division III ice hockey with the State University of New York at Oswego and Neumann College, as well as the Kitchener Dutchmen of the GOJHL, Leonhardt had previously participated in on-ice practice sessions with the Capitals, filling in when an additional goaltender was needed.[4][5] Varlamov arrived 9:03 into the first period and replaced Leonhardt as Johnson's backup for the remainder of the game.[6] Had Leonhardt played in the game, he would have tied Ben Bishop as the tallest goalie in NHL history.[4] He did not receive any pay for his contract.[4] These bizarre circumstances were remarkably similar to those the Vancouver Canucks faced on December 9, 2003, when starting goaltender Dan Cloutier suffered a groin injury during the morning skate, forcing the Canucks to sign University of British Columbia goaltender Chris Levesque to an amateur tryout contract.[3]

On November 29, 2013, Capitals starting goalie Michal Neuvirth was injured during warmups before a game against the Montreal Canadiens and scratched from the lineup. Braden Holtby filled in as the starter and, with no time to call anyone up from the minors, Leonhardt served as emergency backup goalie. Leonhardt still performed his duties as video coach during the second intermission wearing full goalie gear.[7]

Career statistics

Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SA SO GAA SV%
2003–04[8] Oswego Lakers SUNYAC 3 1 0 0 128:41 3 52 0 1.40 .942
2004–05[9] Oswego Lakers SUNYAC 10 7 1 2 609:19 27 295 1 2.66 .908
2005–06[10] Neumann Knights ECAC West 4 2 1 0 200:00 10 98 0 3.00 .898
2006–07[11] Neumann Knights ECAC West 4 3 0 0 139:36 5 54 0 2.15 .907
College totals 21 13 2 0 1,077:36 45 499 1 2.51 .917

References

  1. ↑ Steinberg, Dan (1 February 2011). "Brett Leonhardt leaves the Caps". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
  2. ↑ Applebaum, Lindsay (August 2, 2012). "Capitals bring back Brett ‘Stretch’ Leonhardt as video coach". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 The Canadian Press (12 December 2008). "Website producer dresses as Caps' backup goalie". TSN. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 White, Joseph (12 December 2008). "Web site producer dresses as backup Caps goalie". Associated Press. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
  5. ↑ Hackel, Stu (13 December 2008). "The morning skate: big comebacks and the web producer goalie". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
  6. ↑ Carrera, Katie (13 December 2008). "Web producer suits up as backup goaltender". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
  7. ↑ Peters, Chris (29 November 2013). "Capitals video coach Brett Leonhardt fills in as emergency backup goalie". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  8. ↑ "Oswego Lakers (men) 2003–2004 team statistics". collegehockeystats.net. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
  9. ↑ "Oswego Lakers (men) 2004–2005 team statistics". collegehockeystats.net. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
  10. ↑ "Neumann Knights (men) 2005–2006 team statistics". collegehockeystats.net. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
  11. ↑ "Neumann Knights (men) 2006–2007 team statistics". collegehockeystats.net. Retrieved 13 December 2008.

External links