Arturs Irbe

Artūrs Irbe (born February 2, 1967) is a Latvian professional goaltender, currently an unrestricted free agent who played for the San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks, and Carolina Hurricanes in the National Hockey League.
==Playing career==
Artūrs Irbe was drafted in the 10th round, 196th overall by the Minnesota North Stars in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft.
His first professional hockey team was Dinamo Riga of the Soviet Hockey League (from 1987 to 1991). After playing in only 2 games during the 1986–1987 season Irbe got a chance to become Dinamo Riga's number one goaltender during the 1987–1988 season when their starting goaltender and Olympic champion, Vitaliy Samoylov went down with a long term injury. In his only full professional season, Irbe was outstanding in helping Dinamo Riga make it to the finals of the Soviet Hockey League where they eventually lost to perennial Soviet champions CSKA Moscow. During this period he also played for the Soviet Union in the World Championships in 1989 and 1990. The Soviet team won those two championships and Irbe was honoured as the best goalkeeper of the 1990 tournament. He refused to play for the Soviet Union in 1991 because Latvia had proclaimed independence from the Soviet Union on May 4, 1990 and the Soviet government attempted to use military force in January 1991 to stop Latvia's independence. 
In the 1988–89 season Irbe travelled to North America with his then club Dinamo Riga to play in a series of exhibition games against NHL teams. The next season (1989–90) he was temporarily added to the CSKA Moscow team during an exhibition tour of North America.
His NHL career began in 1991. His first NHL team was the San Jose Sharks, he played with them from 1991–92 to 1995–96. With Irbe between the pipes, the newly established Sharks made their first playoff appearance in the 1993–94 season and upset the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings. That season Irbe played an NHL record 4412 minutes between the pipes for the Sharks. Irbe, affectionately known as Archie, was nicknamed "The Wall" and became a cult figure in San Jose, a status he enjoys there to this day. 
Following an injury (his hand being mauled by his pet dog in the offseason) and a poor 1995–96 season, Irbe was released by the Sharks. For the next two years, he was a backup goaltender for the Dallas Stars and the Vancouver Canucks until he became the starter for the Carolina Hurricanes in the 1998–99. Irbe was picked to be a member of the "World" NHL All-Star team in 1998–1999 season, where he became the first goalie to record an assist in an NHL All-Star game. The highest point of his career with the Hurricanes was 2001–02 when Irbe was instrumental in leading the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup finals where they fell to the Detroit Red Wings. In June 2004 he was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets, but never played with the club due to that year's NHL Lockout. After the lockout that cancelled the 2004–2005 season, Arturs played for HK Riga 2000 in Latvia and EC Red Bulls Salzburg in Austria. Recently, he signed with HK Dynamax Nitra playing in the Slovak Ice Hockey Extraliga, but he decided to leave after his unsatisfactory results.
He is notable on the ice for his helmet and padding - he has worn them almost continuously since his NHL debut for the Sharks - which are creased and scuffed with puck marks, stains, and tears. He has earned the nickname "Michelin Man" as a result.
In the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Irbe was Latvia's flag-bearer in the opening ceremonies.
He is divorced from his wife Ilze, and currently lives in Riga, Latvia. Irbe currently works as goalkeeper coach for Dinamo Riga.
==Awards & achievements==
*1985- European Junior Championships, best goalie 
*1988- Soviet League, rookie of the year
*1990- World Championships, best goalie
*1992- Played in IHL All-Star Game
*1992- Recipient of IHL's James Norris Memorial Trophy as best goaltender. (Shared with Wade Flaherty)
*1994- Played in NHL All-Star Game
*1999- Played in NHL All-Star Game
*2002- Starting goalie for Latvia in Salt Lake City Winter Olympics
*2002- Made it to NHL Stanley Cup Final. Defeated in five games.
*2004- Named to ECHL Eastern Conference All-Star team (did not play)
*2006- Starting goalie for Latvia in Torino Winter Olympics
*2006- Selected as flag bearer for Latvia in 2006 Winter Olympics.
Arturs Irbe is also a member of board of directors of the Kids First Fund, a non-profit organization based in the United States which raises money for projects assisting abused and abandoned children in Latvia (www.KidsFirstFund.org).
==Career statistics==
REGULAR SEASON
Year Team 
 GP Min W L T GA GAA Shots Sv% ShO Pim S/60 PERS 3STARS
83-84 Riga JJHKL 
84-85 Dynamo Riga USSRJr
 Soviet Union EURO JUNIOR 5 300 5 1.00 0
85-86 Dynamo Riga USSRJr
86-87 Dynamo Riga USSRJr
 Dynamo Riga USSR 2 27 1 2.22 0
87-88 Dynamo Riga USSR 34 1870 84 2.70 0
88-89 Dynamo Riga USSR 40 2460 116 2.85 0
 Dynamo Riga SUPER SERIES 7 425 23 3.25
89-90 Dynamo Riga USSR 48 2880 116 2.42 0
 CSKA Moscow SUPER SERIES 4 240 10 2.50
 Soviet Union WORLD 6 315 4 0 1 5 0.95 1
90-91 Dynamo Riga USSR 46 2713 133 2.94 0
91-92 Kansas City Blades IHL 32 1955 24 7 1 80 2.46 0
 San Jose Sharks NHL 13 645 2 6 3 48 4.47 365 .868 0 
92-93 Kansas City Blades IHL 6 364 3 3 0 20 3.30 0
 San Jose Sharks NHL 36 2074 7 26 0 142 4.11 1250 .886 1 
93-94 San Jose Sharks NHL 74 4412 30 28 16 209 2.84 2064 .899 3 
94-95 San Jose Sharks NHL 38 2043 14 19 3 111 3.26 1056 .895 4 
95-96 San Jose Sharks NHL 22 1111 4 12 4 85 4.59 607 .860 0 
 Kansas City Blades IHL 4 226 1 2 1 16 4.25 0
 Latvia WORLD-B 4 240 3 0 1 7 1.75 0
96-97 Dallas Stars NHL 35 1964 17 12 3 88 2.69 825 .893 3 
 Latvia WORLD 5 300 4 0 1 10 2.00 1
97-98 Vancouver Canucks NHL 41 1999 14 11 6 91 2.73 982 .907 2 
 Latvia WORLD 6 358 3 2 1 17 2.85 1
98-99 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 62 3643 27 20 12 135 2.22 1753 .923 6 
 Latvia WORLD 4 238 12 3.02 86 .860 0
99-00 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 75 4345 34 28 9 175 2.42 1858 .906 5 
 Latvia WORLD 5 420 3 1 1 17 2.43 180 .907 
00-01 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 77 4406 37 29 9 180 2.45 1947 .908 6 
 Latvia WORLD 6 360 13 2.17 159 .924 
01-02 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 51 2974 20 19 11 126 2.54 1282 .902 3 
 Latvia OLYMPICS 1 60 0 1 0 4 4.00 29 .862 0 
02-03 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 34 1884 7 24 2 100 3.18 816 .877 0 
 Lowell Lock Monsters AHL 7 426 3 3 1 21 2.95 229 .908 0 
04-05 Dinamo Riga 29 1448 19 6 4 74 2.55 637 .902 4
03-04 Johnstown Chiefs ECHL 14 847 10 3 1 30 2.13 411 .927 1 
 Carolina Hurricanes 10 564 5 2 1 23 2.45 228 .899 0 
05-06 Latvia WORLD 6 283 2 2 1 7 1.48 124 .944 2 
06-07 Hk Dynamax Oil Nitra (SVK) 6 249 1 2 0 22 5.31 96 .814 0
THIRTEEN (13) NHL SEASONS 568 32066 218 236 79 1513 2.83 15033 0.899 33
==International play==
Played for Latvia in:
*1991 World Ice Hockey Championships
*2002 Winter Olympics (Did not advance from preliminaries)
*2006 Winter Olympics (Did not advance from preliminaries)
==External links==
*
*Hockey Goalies Profile
*Kids First Fund home page
*
Category:Born in 1967
Category:Carolina Hurricanes players
Category:Dallas Stars players
Category:2006 Olympian
Category:Latvian hockey players
Category:Dinamo Riga players
Category:NHL All-Stars
Category:San Jose Sharks players
Category:Vancouver Canucks players
Category:Johnstown Chiefs player
Category:Kansas City Blades player