Ray Emery

**Raymond Robert "Ray" Emery** (née Nichols, September 18, 1982-July 15, 2018) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender active in the National Hockey League from 2003 to 2015. He was nicknamed "Razor" and "Sugar Ray" by both teammates and fans.

## Ray Emery

Ray in 2013 during the Chicago Blackhawks' 2013 Stanley Cup parade

### Born

Raymond Robert NicholsSeptember 28, 1982
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

### Death

July 15, 2018 (age 35)Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

## Early Life

Ray was born Raymond Robert Nichols on September 28, 1982 in the city of Hamilton, Ontario. He was raised by a single mother until the age of 4 when his mother Sharlene married Paul Emery. Ray lived with his mother, stepfather and two brothers (Andrew and Nicholas) in a farmhouse outside the town of Cayuga, Ontario.

Ray was someone who excelled during his school years, even being offered a scholarship due to his academic performance. Ray was initially into various sports such as golf, baseball, and soccer before focusing on ice hockey.

## Career

### **Pre-NHL**

Ray initially played as an ice hockey defenceman for the Hamilton Huskies, a AA-junior hockey team, before switching to goaltender at the age of 9 as nobody on his team was willing to. He would remain with the Huskies until the age of 16 when he would try out for the Ontario Junior Hockey League.

Ray went through eight tryouts and had initially given up when the general manager of the Niagara & Junior C District Hockey League team Dunnville Terriers asked him to tryout for their team. Ron Batenberger had claimed he was impressed by Emery's natural ability while at a golf course together and asked him to come to the training camp of the Terriers after hearing he was also a goaltender. It took a lot of convincing as Ray knew the Terriers were the lowest-ranked team in the OJHL and would likely get pummelled by teams such as the Dundas Blues and the Grimsby Peach Kings, but accepted the offer after a month and a half. He would become the league's Rookie of the Year during the 1998-99 season and would catch the eyes of scouts for several Ontario Hockey League teams that same year although he had a Goals Against Average (GAA) of 6.36.

The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds would select Ray 102nd overall in the 5th round of the 1999 OHL Draft at the Brampton Sports & Entertainment Centre (now known as the CAA Centre) in Brampton, Ontario. Ray would spend the first part of the 1999-00 OHL season with the Greyhounds' farm team, the Welland Cougars, before making his OHL debut in December 1999 after being called up on Christmas Day. The Greyhounds would be very successful with Ray at the helm, making their way to the J. Ross Robertson Cup Finals. Ray would spend 2 more seasons with the Greyhounds before being drafted by the National Hockey League team Ottawa Senators 99th overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. Ray would begin to get a reputation as a troublemaker during the 2001-02 season with the Greyhounds due to fighting with opposing players, but would be named the OHL Goaltender of the Year with 32 wins and a GAA of 2.73.

From 2002 to 2005, Ray would spend time as the starting goaltender for the Binghamton Senators, Ottawa's American Hockey League team based out of Binghamton, New York. He would be placed on the AHL All-Rookie Team for the 2002-03 season and would be placed on the AHL All-Star Team for both the 2003-04 seasons before going full-time with Ottawa for the 2005-06 season.

### NHL

#### Ottawa Senators (2005-2008)

Although Ray officially made his debut with the Senators on January 8, 2003, Ray was not a mainstay in the Senators roster until the 2005-06 NHL season. He would set an NHL record for the start of his career, winning his first 9 games playing with the Senators and would go on to have a 23-11-4 record on 39 games that season as well as .902 save percentage and a 2.82 GAA. He would be named the NHL Rookie of the Month in March 2006 after winning 12 straight games to tie an NHL record for most games won in a single month. The Senators would reach the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with Emery as the starter in net.

The 2006-07 season would start to see Ray becoming more antagonistic. Martin Gerber was assigned the starting goaltender at the beginning of the season but Ray would return as the starter in mid-November due to Gerber's performance. He would see his first suspension on February 10, 2007 after hitting Canadiens centre Maxim Lapierre in the face with his stick due to Lapierre skating into the goaltender's crease. He was suspended for 3 games, but the rough behaviour continued shortly after he was reinstated. On February 22, 2007, Ray was awarded a total of 22 penalty minutes (2 5-minute majors for fighting, a 2-minute for leaving his crease and a 10-minute penalty for misconduct) after leaving his crease to fight Buffalo Sabres goaltender Martin Biron and getting in a scuffle with Sabres left-winger Andrew Peters. The Senators would reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since their 1992 debut and Ray would go on to have a 33-16-6 record in 58 games as well a .918 save percentage and a 2.47 GAA.

Ray would be placed on free agency due to contract negotiations failing with the Senators, but would eventually agree to a 3-year, $9.5 million contract extension. Prior to the start of the 2007-08 season, Emery would suffer a wrist injury that restricted him to 40 minutes in preseason play as well as missing several games early in the season. The Senators announced they would not be holding on to Emery on April 18, 2008 and he would be placed on waivers on June 20, 2008. Ray would officially become a free agent on June 23 after clearing waivers.

#### Philadelphia Flyers (2009-10)

On June 10, 2009, the Philadelphia Flyers announced they had signed Ray to a 1-year, $1.5 million contract. Ray's time with the Flyers didn't last long as he was placed on the injury reserve on December 8, 2008 due to a torn abdomen muscle. While recovering from the muscle repair surgery, doctors found that Ray had avular necrosis in his hips which required additional surgery. He was scratched for the 2009-10 season starting in March and was back to being a free agent on July 1, 2010 after a 16-11-1 record in 29 games as well as a .905 save percentage and a 2.03 GAA.

#### Anaheim Ducks (2011)

The Anaheim Ducks announced they had signed Ray to a 1-year, 2-way contract on February 7, 2011. Ray began his time with the Ducks on the Syracuse Crunch, Anaheim's farm team, and posted a 4-1-0 record in 5 games with a .943 save percentage and a 1.98 GAA before being called up on February 23. Ray would make his debut on March 14, 2011 and would win his first 6 games before ending the 2010-11 season with a 7-2-0 record in 10 games as well as a .926 save percentage and a 2.28 GAA. Ray would also be nominated for the 2011 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy and would be a finalist with the trophy being awarded to Flyers forward Ian Lapièrre. Ray would not be re-signed by the Ducks.

#### Chicago Blackhawks (2011-2013)

On October 3, 2011, the Chicago Blackhawks announced that they had signed Ray to a 1-year contract for the 2011-12 season. Not much was notable about the 2011-12 season, but he would be re-nominated for the Masterton Trophy after achieving a 15-9-4 record in 34 games as well as a 2.81 GAA. He would sign a contract extension with the Blackhawks for the 2012-13 season, which would be seen as his best career season.

Ray achieved a 1.94 GAA on a 17-1-0 record with 21 games recorded for the season and would win the 2013 William M. Jennings Trophy for lowest combined GAA in the league along with his teammate, Corey Crawford. The Blackhawks would also win the Stanley Cup for the 2012-13 season, giving Ray his first and only Stanley Cup in his career.

#### Return to the Flyers (2013-15)

On July 5, 2013, the Philadelphia Flyers announced they had re-signed Ray to a 1-year contract worth $1.65 million. During the 2013-14 season, Ray posted his first losing record of his major-league career, going 9-12-2 over 28 games as well as receiving a .903 save percentage and a 2.96 GAA. Ray's season was punctuated with fighting, including an incident on November 1, 2013 where he started a fight with Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby for no reason other than to vent frustrations over the Flyers' performance in the game.

Ray would be receive a contract extension for 1 year worth $1 million even on July 1, 2014. Ray would leave the Flyers after a disappointing 2014-15 season, ending with a 10-11-7 record over 31 games as well as achieving a .894 save percentage and a 3.06 GAA. He would return to the Flyers for a brief period of the 2015-16 season, but would announce his retirement after the end of the season with 0 games played.

### Other Leagues

#### KHL (2008-09)

After being on free agency at the end of the 2007-08 NHL season, Ray signed with Atlant Moscow Oblast, a Russian hockey team under Russia's Kontinental Hockey League, on July 9, 2008. The contract was worth $2.5 million and it was stipulated that Ray would only be eligible for 65% of the season's games due to a rule restricting foreign-born goaltenders in order to allow Russian goaltenders to develop their skills. Ray would achieve a 24-8-0 record as well as a .926 save percentage and a 2.12 GAA over 36 games in the 2008-09 season before returning to the National Hockey League for the 2009-10 season.

#### Return to the AHL (2015)

On September 8, 2015, Ray would be invited to the training camp for NHL team Tampa Bay Lightning, but would be released on September 27 without making the cut. After not qualifying with Tampa, he would do tryouts with 2 AHL teams. He did a 3-game tryout stint with the Ontario Reign in October-November and another 3-game tryout with the Toronto Marlies in December, but would not appear for either team although Kyle Dubas, the general manger for the Marlies and the Toronto Maple Leafs, asked for Ray to join in a mentorship role.

#### DEL (2016)

On February 5, 2016, German hockey team Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga announced they would sign Ray for the remainder of the 2015-16 season. Ray would play 7 games during his time with Mannheim, obtaining a .900 save percentage and a 2.86 GAA.

## Personal Life

Ray gained a reputation for fighting and was considered a fan favourite in the NHL as it was extremely rare for a goaltender to participate in fights. He himself was a fan of boxing after being gifted a pair of boxing gloves as a teenager by a relative, with his helmet showcasing different famous boxers such as Mike Tyson, Joe Frazier, and Sugar Ray Leonard.

Ray's erratic behavior was continuously reported in the news during his tenure with Ottawa. On September 5, 2007, a road rage incident occurred between 25-year-old Emery and 63-year-old Jean V. Therien outside the Palladium Centre in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata. Therien had cut off Emery's vehicle while heading west on Highway 417 which caused Emery to swerve in and out of Therien's lane until Therien pulled over on an off-ramp for Palladium Drive. Thing escalated when Emery reportedly left his vehicle and told Therien "Get out of the car, you old [censored], I'm gonna kill you". Ottawa police didn't file any charges on Emery due to lack of evidence and Therien planned to sue Emery for emotional distress in 2009, but never filed. On May 4, 2007, Emery had crashed his car while on the way to the airport to catch a flight for Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals, causing him to miss the game. He was also known to show up late for practice on numerous occassions and would pick fights with random teammates.

Ray would eventually be caught in legal trouble in February 2008 after being pulled over for reckless driving with Ottawa police alleging Emery cut off a police cruiser and was extremely aggressive towards the officers involved. In January 2009, a video showing Ray chasing after a team trainer and punching him over being forced to wear a sponsored hat during his time in the KHL surfaced online. Emery had been pulled over by Ottawa police over 30 times for driving recklessly before his vehicle was impounded in March 2009 for driving 50+ km/h (31+ mph) over the speed limit with Ray being charged with stunt driving.

In June 2010, Emery began dating Canadian R&B artist Keshia Chanté and was even featured in the music video for her 2010 song "Test Drive", playing the part of Chanté's love interest. They would date for 6 years before Ray proposed in Nassau, Bahamas for Chanté's birthday on June 16, 2016. The couple would begin planning for marriage, but they would split in August 2017. During a September 2017 interview with TMZ, Chanté told the gossip news site that she was seeking a restraining order against Ray for several instances of domestic violence. On September 18, 2017, it was revealed that Emery had been arrested at the couple's home for assault with a weapon and uttering threats.

## Death

On the morning on July 15, 2018, Ray was boating with friends at the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club in Hamilton, Ontario. Ray had decided to go for a swim and jumped off his boat in order to swim in Lake Ontario. After some time had passed and Ray hadn't resurfaced, emergency services were called at 6 AM in order to locate him. The body of 35-year-old Emery was found 20 yards from where he'd left his boat at 2:50 PM. The death was ruled an accidental drowning caused by misadventure.

## Aftermath

Keshia Chanté would write a tribute to Ray the day after his passing, claiming that while they may have had differences, the couple loved each other until the very end. On October 15, 2018, the first day at home for Ottawa's 2018-19 season, a tribute was held before the game in honour of Ray with both Chanté and Ray's former teammate Jason Spezza performing the national anthems of both Canada and the USA.