Norm Maracle Norm Maracle ( born October 2 , 1974 ) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings and Atlanta Thrashers . Currently , he is playing with the German team Starbulls Rosenheim in Germany ' s 2nd tier 2nd Bundesliga . Junior career . Maracle joined the WHL ' s Saskatoon Blades during the 1991 – 92 season and remained with them until the 1993 – 94 season . Maracle ' s level of play during the 1993 – 94 season would earn him the Del Wilson Trophy for best goaltender in the WHL . Prior to the 1993 – 94 seasons , the Detroit Red Wings drafted Maracle in the 5th Round , 126th overall , in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft . Professional career in North America . Detroit . For the start of the 1994 – 95 season , Maracle was signed by the Red Wings and reassigned to their AHL affiliate the Adirondack Red Wings , sharing goaltending duties with Kevin Hodson . For the 1995 – 96 and 1996 – 97 seasons , Maracle would remain in the AHL , posting prolific winning records and a high save percentage each season , but did not get called up to the NHL due to the Red Wings ' overwhelming goaltending depth , being the fourth goaltender behind Mike Vernon , Chris Osgood and Hodson . While Maracle would spend the 1997 – 98 season as the starting goaltender in Adirondack , he would eventually get the call up from the Red Wings and post a 2 – 0 – 1 record in four NHL appearances . He did not see any playoff action that season , where the Red Wings would go on to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship . He was included on the team picture , and awarded a Stanley Cup Ring . However , his name does not appear on the Stanley Cup , because he did not play enough games . Maracle challenged Hodson for the backup spot for the 1998 – 99 season . Maracle put up solid numbers during the season and as a result , became Detroit ' s backup goaltender to Osgood . Maracle appeared in 16 regular season contests , posting a 6 – 5 – 2 record and a 91 . 8 % save percentage . Hodson , however , was sent to the Tampa Bay Lightning prior to the trade deadline so the Red Wings could acquire Bill Ranford as Detroit ' s third goaltender . Due to Ranford ' s strong showing towards the end of the regular season , the Red Wings kept Maracle on roster , but designated him as the third goaltender . After the Red Wings defeated the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the opening round of the playoffs , they went on to face the Colorado Avalanche in the Conference Semifinals . Osgood was injured prior to the first game , placing Ranford as the starting goaltender and having Maracle serve as his backup . Maracle played in two games against Colorado , relieving Ranford in both instances . By the time Osgood returned from being injured , the Red Wings could not solve the Avalanche and were eliminated in the playoffs . Not having lived up to expectations , Ranford was not re - signed at the end of the season . Maracle also fell under scrutiny because not only did he not perform as expected in the playoffs , but his conditioning was coming into question . Due to this , Maracle was unprotected in the Expansion Draft , resulting in the Atlanta Thrashers claiming Maracle 2nd overall in the 1999 NHL Expansion Draft on 25 June 1999 . Maracle earned the nickname " Miracle " because despite being a borderline starting goaltender , Maracle would once in a while would have superb games ( including three 50 + save performances ) , bailing his team out , i . e . only with a miracle in net could Detroit win . Atlanta . With the 1999 – 2000 season in the NHL being the first for the Thrashers , there was some instability in the lineup . Maracle still managed to start in more games for the Thrashers than any of the other four goaltenders whom he played alongside with ( being Damian Rhodes , Scott Fankhouser , Scott Langkow and Rick Tabaracci ) . However , with a shaky defense playing in front of him , Maracle finished the season with a 4 – 19 – 2 record and would have a save percentage under 90 % . The team did not make the playoffs . When Maracle reported for the 2000 – 01 training camp , his conditioning had become so poor that he was reassigned to the Orlando Solar Bears of the International Hockey League , Atlanta ' s minor league affiliate . In spite of this , Maracle worked hard to post an impressive 33 – 13 – 3 record at a minor level . His 33 wins and eight shutouts that season with Orlando were team records . As well , he helped backstop the Solar Bears to their first and only Turner Cup victory in the International Hockey League in the league ' s final year of operation . His strong minor league performance earned him 13 appearances for the Thrashers during that season . Though his record for the Thrashers was 2 – 8 – 3 , his save percentage slightly improved . Maracle would only appear in one NHL game for the 2001 – 02 season , being a 3 – 0 loss to the Washington Capitals on 10 November 2001 . This would be his last NHL game to date . Maracle would spend the rest of the season with the Thrashers ' new minor league affiliate , the Chicago Wolves of the AHL . Maracle was the starting goaltender with Pasi Nurminen backing him up . For the 2002 – 03 Season , Maracle remained in the minors while Nurminen ascended the depth charts to become Atlanta ' s starting goaltender , with Milan Hnilicka , Byron Dafoe and Frédéric Cassivi supporting him . While Hnilicka and Cassivi would be assigned and recalled from their minor league affiliate , Maracle did not receive that same privilege . Having run out of options to leave the minors in the North American system , Maracle signed with Magnitogorsk Metallurg of the RHSL on 8 June 2003 . Professional career in Europe . Maracle , better conditioned and in a new system , would appear in 46 contests for Magnitogorsk Metallurg for the 2003 – 04 season . Though he signed a contract with the Nurnburg Ice Tigers of the Deutsche Liga at the start of the 2004 – 05 season , he never appeared in a contest for them . Maracle ended up signing with the 2004 RHSL Champion Avangard Omsk on 5 November 2004 . Maracle would go on to compete with Avangard for the European Cup Championship , which Avangard ended up winning . Maracle established himself as the starting goaltender for Avangard for the 2005 – 06 season as well . In the 2006 – 07 season , though Maracle served Avangard as their starting goaltender for their previous seasons , he supported Alexandre Fomichev as the team ' s backup goaltender . The team placed third overall in the league and went to the semi - finals of the Russian Super League Championships before losing to the eventual champions , Metallurg Magnitogorsk . For the 2007 – 08 season , Maracle signed with the Iserlohn Roosters in Germany ' s Deutsche Eishockey Liga . Maracle has become a favorite amongst Roosters fans , especially for his on ice antics including break dancing . Maracle joined HDD Olimpija Ljubljana who played in the Austrian League in the 2009 – 10 season and played then from January between April 2010 for the Kölner Haie . Since July 2010 , he is playing with the German team Starbulls Rosenheim in Germany ' s 2nd tier Bundesliga .