Marc Lamothe Marc Lamothe ( born February 27 , 1974 in New Liskeard , Ontario ) is a professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently a Free Agent . He last played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga for Hamburg Freezers during the 2010 – 11 season . Playing career . Montreal Canadiens . Lamothe began his Junior hockey career with the Kingston Frontenacs before being drafted by the National Hockey League ' s Montreal Canadiens , 92nd Overall , in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft . When he turned pro in the 1994 – 95 season , the Canadiens assigned Patrick Labrecque and Martin Brochu to their top minor league affiliate , the Fredericton Canadiens of the AHL , leaving Lamothe to spend the majority of his rookie season with the Wheeling Thunderbirds of the ECHL . Despite this , Lamothe did play in 9 contests for the Fredericton Canadiens that year . During the 1995 – 96 season , Montreal gave him a spot on their AHL team . However , he did not see much action aside from 23 appearances . By season ' s end , it was clear he was not going to factor into the Canadiens plans and was subsequently released to free agency . Chicago Blackhawks . The Chicago Blackhawks signed Lamothe to a contract on 21 August 1996 . Lamothe spent the next three seasons with Chicago ' s top minor league affiliate , the Indianapolis Ice of the IHL . With Indianapolis , Lamothe honed his game while waiting for his chance to be called up to the NHL . At the start of the 1999 – 2000 season , Lamothe left Indianapolis to play for the Cleveland Lumberjacks , though his rights were still maintained by Chicago . Early in the 1999 – 2000 campaign , Lamothe got the call from the Blackhawks who needed him to suit up as Jocelyn Thibault ' s back up as in injury fill in for Steve Passmore . Just four minutes into the game , Thibault went down with an injury and Lamothe made his NHL debut . The St . Louis Blues , however , were merciless , scoring seven times en route to an 8 – 3 victory . He was able turn things around after this tough first game a week later , when he stopped 22 of 25 shots against the Boston Bruins and posted his first NHL victory . Columbus Blue Jackets . After the season was over Lamothe signed a deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets on 1 September 2000 . Lamothe spent the entire year in the minors , playing for the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL . Edmonton Oilers . After a year with Columbus , Lamothe signed on with the Edmonton Oilers for the 2001 – 02 season . Despite having a strong showing in training camp , the Oilers elected to go with Jussi Markkanen to back up Tommy Salo , leaving Lamothe to play for the Hamilton Bulldogs for the AHL . Detroit Red Wings . The Detroit Red Wings signed Lamothe on 6 August 2002 to a one year contract . Upon his arrival with the organization , he was assigned to the club ' s AHL affiliate , the Grand Rapids Griffins , to act as a mentor for the developing goaltender Joey MacDonald . Lamothe had a strong season in the AHL that year , winning the Aldege " Baz " Bastien Memorial Award for being the AHL ' s best goaltender and sharing the Harry " Hap " Holmes Memorial Award with MacDonald for combining to have the lowest Goals against average in the AHL . His efforts did not go unnoticed by the Red Wings organization . On 1 July 2003 , the first day of NHL free agency , Lamothe was re - signed to another year - long contract with the Red Wings . He would again begin the season assigned to the Griffins with MacDonald . However , as the season progressed , Dominik Hašek left the team due to injury while Curtis Joseph would become injured as well , leaving the Red Wings to call up Lamothe to support Manny Legace . While he was never needed to relieve Legace , Lamothe would start against his former club , the Edmonton Oilers , on 23 February 2004 , skating to a 1 – 1 tie . The next morning , newspaper articles were printed in Canada documenting Lamothe ' s story , where he spent 10 years almost exclusively in the minors before starting in net for one of hockey ' s most popular and successful teams . Lamothe would get one more start before the season was over , making 26 saves for a 3 – 2 victory over the St . Louis Blues . European career . At the end of the season , economic woes befell the NHL and ultimately lead to the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout . Despite his success at the AHL level , Lamothe never caught on as a NHL goaltender before the lockout . However , Lamothe was generating interest from Russian Super League , which offered both a higher level of competition and a higher salary than the AHL could offer . On 14 June 2004 , Lamothe moved overseas and signed with the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl . He appeared in 54 contests for them that season . On 22 July 2005 , Lamothe signed with the Severstal Cherepovets . He would appear in 83 contests with them over 2 seasons , in addition to 8 playoff games during that same timeframe . With Severstal Lamothe won LenVO cup in August 2005 . On 16 July 2007 , Lamothe was signed by SKA Saint Petersburg and played with them for the remainder of that season . Lamothe left after the season was over and signed with Barys Astana for the 2008 – 09 season . Lamothe left Russia in the 2009 – 10 season , signing as a free agent to a one - year contract with Pelicans of the Finnish SM - liiga . Lamother played in 14 games with Pelicans before his season was abruptly ended in suffering a medial ligament tear in his knee . On April 7 , 2010 , Lamothe signed a one - year contract with the Hamburg Freezers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga for the 2010 – 11 season . With a lack of form , Lamothe was relegated to backup goaltender and seldom used after 15 games , he released by the Freezers and returned to North America on November 23 , 2010 .