Martin Biron Martin Gaston Biron ( born August 15 , 1977 ) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently the second string goalie for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . He has also played professionally for the Buffalo Sabres , Philadelphia Flyers , and New York Islanders . His younger brother Mathieu plays for the Hamburg Freezers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga ( DEL ) . Playing career . Buffalo Sabres . Biron started his hockey career on the Beauport Harfangs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League ( QMJHL ) . He was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft , 16th overall . He got his first NHL start for the Buffalo Sabres in the 1995 – 96 season . After posting a 5 . 04 goals against average , with zero wins and two losses , he was sent back to the QMJHL to improve . After the 2000 – 01 season , he was a consistent goaltender for the Sabres as his play in the crease improved drastically . Biron , along with Rob Ray and Dominik Hašek , was one of the three Sabres against whom , in three consecutive years , the NHL made a specific rule . After NHL statisticians discovered a bug in their new stat - tracking software , the " Biron rule " restricted jersey numbers to whole numbers between 1 and 99 ( later limited to numbers between 1 and 98 after the league - wide retirement of number 99 for Wayne Gretzky ) . Biron was the only NHL player affected as only he wore " 00 " at the time . ( Goaltender John Davidson also wore 00 during his playing career , without rebuke , at various points in his playing career between 1973 and 1983 . ) Upon his return to the NHL three seasons later , Biron switched to number 43 , a number he has worn ever since . Biron has always been a fan favorite in Buffalo . Philadelphia Flyers . After losing the number one goaltending job to youngster Ryan Miller , Biron requested a trade from the Sabres on June 26 , 2006 , in an effort to receive more playing time . Finally , on February 27 , 2007 , the Sabres traded Biron to the Philadelphia Flyers for a second round draft pick . On March 27 , 2007 , Biron signed a two - year , $ 7 million contract extension with the Flyers to be the starting goalie in Philadelphia . After appearing in 62 games and recording 30 wins in the 2007 – 08 season , he led the Flyers to the Eastern Conference Finals , losing in five games to the Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins . He appeared in 55 games for the Flyers in the 2008 - 09 NHL Season , winning 29 and helping the Flyers to the 5th overall seed in the Eastern Conference . New York Islanders . On July 1 , 2009 , Biron entered free agency . He was soon left in a difficult position after the Flyers signed goaltenders Ray Emery and Brian Boucher , while other teams quickly filled up their goaltending roster needs . Biron soon signed a one - year , $ 1 . 4 million contract with the New York Islanders on July 22 , 2009 , joining goaltenders Dwayne Roloson and Rick DiPietro . In 29 appearances , Biron recorded 9 wins to go with 14 losses and 4 overtime losses , with a 3 . 27 goals against average and . 896 save percentage . The Islanders did not qualify for the post - season . New York Rangers . On July 1 , 2010 , Biron signed a two - year , $ 1 . 75 million deal with the New York Rangers , where he prepared to back up Swedish starter Henrik Lundqvist . Biron is one of four players in NHL history to skate for all three teams based in the state of New York . The others were Mike Donnelly and former teammates Jason Dawe and Pat LaFontaine , Biron will have played almost his entire career in the state of New York , except for a brief 2 1 / 2 - year stint with the Philadelphia Flyers . On February 28 , 2011 , Biron fractured his collarbone during practice , and was forced to miss the remainder of the 2010 – 2011 season . While Biron played the shortest number of games ( 17 ) since his second NHL season in 1998 - 99 , he posted career highs in save percentage ( . 923 ) and goals against average ( 2 . 13 ) .