Born	February 7, 1980(1980-02-07), Pictou, NS, CAN
Height Weight	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 197 lb (89 kg; 14 st 1 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Catches	Left
NHL team (P) Cur. team F. teams	Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto Marlies (AHL) Detroit Red Wings Boston Bruins New York Islanders
NHL Draft	undrafted
Pro career	2001 – present

Joey MacDonald (born February 7, 1980 in Pictou, Nova Scotia) is a professional ice hockey goaltender playing for the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. He previously played professionally for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL and their NHL affiliate, the Detroit Red Wings, as well as the Boston Bruins and the New York Islanders.

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Junior hockey

MacDonald started out his goaltending career in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for the 1997–98 season playing for the Halifax Mooseheads. In 17 games he recorded only 3 wins, but continued to work on his style and play, impressing the coaching staff in the process. The Ontario Hockey League then came calling the following season and Joey began play for the Peterborough Petes as their starting goaltender. MacDonald thrived in his expanded role, finishing with a winning record and a lower goals against average. He remained the Pete's starting goaltender until the 2001–02 season when he joined the Toledo Storm after being noticed and signed up by the Detroit Red Wings scouting team.

[edit] Professional career

MacDonald struggled on the weak ECHL team and recorded only 12 wins in his 38 games. What MacDonald didn't know is that this would be his last full year with the Storm and his last with a record below .500. The Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL decided to call up MacDonald for their 2002–03 AHL season as backup to Marc Lamothe. MacDonald proved to be a capable in his new role, finishing with 14 wins and 6 losses in the 25 games he played. The 2003–04 AHL season saw MacDonald splitting time with Lamothe. The Griffins had seen enough and after Lamonthe left the following season, MacDonald was named starting goaltender. MacDonald played in 66 games for the Griffins, finishing with a record of 34–29–2 and a save percentage of .926. The 2005–06 AHL season saw an influx of goaltenders into the Red Wings farm system and MacDonald competed to stay near the top. He split time with Drew MacIntyre and new prospect Jimmy Howard. MacDonald finished the season 17–9–2 in 32 games played.

MacDonald was brought up to the NHL for the 2006–07 season when he was named as a backup goaltender to Dominik Hašek and Chris Osgood of the Detroit Red Wings. MacDonald made his NHL debut on October 19, 2006 against the San Jose Sharks. Detroit was down 3–0 when MacDonald came in for Osgood after he let in three power play goals in the first 15 minutes of period one. However, it would take five more games, in which he was the starting goaltender, before MacDonald would get his first NHL win with a 7–4 victory over the Calgary Flames on February 11, 2007.

On February 24, 2007, the Boston Bruins picked up MacDonald on waivers. He played his first game with the Bruins on March 4, 2007 resulting in a 4–1 win over the New Jersey Devils.

On July 8, 2007, MacDonald signed a 2-year deal as an unrestricted free agent with the New York Islanders.^[1] He was assigned to Bridgeport of the AHL.

In the 2008–09 season, Joey MacDonald became the Islanders regular backup goalie. This is due to the departure of the team's previous backup, Wade Dubielewicz, as an UFA and his subsequent signing in Russia. This also had to do with the second year of MacDonald's contract being a one-way deal. Many Islanders fans were apprehensive about this arrangement, feeling that MacDonald may not be ready to be DiPietro's backup on a regular basis- especially since they hoped their starting netminder was going to get more time to rest. That time to rest came earlier than expected as DiPietro started off the season recovering from an injury and then went out once again to another injury after two losses. MacDonald finished the season with a 14-26-6 record, to go along with a 3.37 goals against average. A high point of his season was a 3-0 victory against his his former team, the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. MacDonald made 42 saves while recording his first career shutout in the NHL.^[2]

On August 10, 2009, MacDonald was signed to a one year contract by the Toronto Maple Leafs.^[3]

On September 29, 2009 MacDonald was placed on waivers and was the starting goaltender for the Toronto Marlies of the AHL.

On October 8, 2009 MacDonald was called up to the Maple Leafs to backup Vesa Toskala.^[4] It was announced on October 13, 2009 that MacDonald would get his first start with the Maple Leafs the same day.^[5]

[edit] Awards and achievements

• 2002–03 Hap Holmes Memorial Award winner (with Marc Lamothe)
• Team record: Highest save percentage in a season .936 (Grand Rapids Griffins 2003–04)
• Team record: Most career goaltending wins 70 (Grand Rapids Griffins)
• Team record: Most career shutouts 14 (Grand Rapids Griffins)

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Regular season

[edit] Post season

[edit] References

1. ^ NHL.com [1]
2. ^ mlive.com[2]
3. ^ kuklaskorner.com [3]
4. ^ http://leafs247.com/?p=214
5. ^ http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/nhl/mapleleafs/article/709334--lousy-leafs-shake-things-up

[edit] External links

• Joey MacDonald's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database