Dan Blackburn Daniel Blackburn ( born May 20 , 1983 in Montreal , Quebec is a retired Canadian professional goaltender . He played 63 regular - season games for the New York Rangers , going 20 – 32 – 11 with 1 shutout . Minor league career . Born in Quebec , Blackburn moved to Canmore , Alberta as a teen and moved on to major junior hockey with the Western Hockey League ' s Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook , British Columbia . In 2001 , he was named the Canadian Hockey League ' s Goaltender of the Year . Blackburn was drafted by the New York Rangers in the first round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft , 10th overall . NHL career . For most of 2001 – 02 , Blackburn served as backup to Mike Richter , a longtime Ranger goalie . He played 31 games for the Blueshirts , an amazing total for a teenaged net minder . He was selected as the 2002 goaltender for the NHL All - Rookie Team , due to his strong performance with the Rangers . He posted a 3 . 28 goals - against average and . 898 save percentage . In a November 7 game , Richter went down with a concussion , and all goaltending responsibilities fell onto Blackburn ' s shoulders . He notched his first and only career shutout — a 1 – 0 overtime win over the Calgary Flames — in the first game of the season Richter missed . Blackburn dismissed concerns that the heavy workload would be too much for him by pointing out that he had endured a heavier workload in juniors . However , after 17 consecutive starts , Blackburn eventually burned out , playing less effectively and tiring . It was becoming clear that Richter ' s difficulties with post - concussion syndrome were unlikely to abate , and that more help was needed . " We had to make a deal , " Glen Sather claimed . " I did not want to see Danny lose his confidence and struggle , or for our team to struggle . " Sather traded for Nashville Predator Mike Dunham , an experienced number - one goaltender , in order to let Blackburn develop at a consistent rate . Blackburn finished the 2002 – 2003 season with a 3 . 17 GAA and a slightly disappointing . 890 save percentage . Injuries and retirement . A shoulder injury forced him into retirement in 2005 . He retired after missing the entire 2003 – 04 NHL season due to a nerve injury sustained just before training camp to his left shoulder . He had nerve exploration surgery on March 31 , 2004 , then made an attempt to return to hockey , sporting a pair of blockers rather than the conventional blocker / catcher combination , as his injury rendered him incapable of rotating his glove hand . On February 1 , 2005 , he joined the ECHL Victoria Salmon Kings going 3 – 9 – 0 , with a 3 . 54 GAA in 12 games . On September 15 , during the Rangers training camp , he suffered a strained MCL . Subsequently , Blackburn announced his retirement on September 25 . Had Blackburn continued to attempt a comeback , he would have forfeited an insurance payout of approximately 6 million dollars . After retiring , Dan enrolled at Arizona State University . Afterwards he became manager of business development for Goaltender Development Institute . He currently resides in Dallas , Texas and Waltham , Massachusetts . When asked if he ever envisioned a return to hockey , he was quoted as saying , " Never , I doubt I will ever put goalie pads on again . I don ' t have interest in playing net . " He also stated , " It ' s not bittersweet , you know what ? I don ' t really miss it anymore - it ' s been such a long time . It was a chapter of my life and I ' m on to the next . . . I don ' t have any regrets at all about what transpired or the way things happened for me . I really enjoy what I do now in the business world . . . From my point of view , I was really fortunate , even though I was only there for a couple of years . It really set up the rest of my life for all the things that I want to do , from there on out . "