Thomas Greiss

Thomas Greiss

Greiss with the Phoenix Coyotes in 2014
Born (1986-01-29) January 29, 1986
Füssen, West Germany
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 220 lb (100 kg; 15 st 10 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
NHL team
Former teams
New York Islanders
Kölner Haie
San Jose Sharks
Brynäs IF
Hannover Scorpions
Phoenix Coyotes
Pittsburgh Penguins
National team  Germany
NHL Draft 94th overall, 2004
San Jose Sharks
Playing career 2004present

Thomas Greiss (born January 29, 1986) is a German professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Selected 94th overall in the fourth round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the San Jose Sharks, he has also played for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Phoenix Coyotes in his NHL career.

Playing career

Greiss was selected 94th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the San Jose Sharks. In 2006, he earned a roster spot on the German team for the 2006 Winter Olympics; at just 20 years of age he was the youngest goaltender in the tournament. During the tournament, Greiss notably turned-in an impressive 35-save performance against Canada.[1]

Greiss played for San Jose during the Shark's pre-season games ahead of the 2007–08 season, though he was eventually assigned to the team's then-American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Worcester Sharks. On January 8, 2008, he was recalled to replace German compatriot Dimitri Pätzold as the backup goaltender to Evgeni Nabokov. Greiss started his first career NHL game on January 13, 2008, an eventual 4–3 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks.[2] For the 2009–10 season, he served as the back-up goaltender to starter Nabokov, also again being named to the German squad for participation in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Greiss with the Sharks in 2009

On October 12, 2010, just prior to the commencement of the 2010–11 season, Greiss was put on waivers by San Jose, eventually clearing and reporting to Worcester of the AHL. Greiss' demotion was in large part due to the off-season signings of Finnish goaltenders Antero Niittymäki and Antti Niemi.[3] Nine days later, after failing to see any gameplay as Worcester's third-string goaltender, he was reassigned to Brynäs IF in the Swedish Elitserien to provide him regular playing time.[4][5] In April 2011, Greiss was recalled from Brynäs to San Jose for the team's run in the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs.[6] He later re-signed with the Sharks on July 7.

For the Sharks' 2011–12 season opener, Greiss was the team's starter in a 6–3 win over the Phoenix Coyotes in San Jose. He went on to start the next two games — losses to the Anaheim Ducks and St. Louis Blues — before Antti Niemi returned from off-season surgery. Later in the season, Greiss recorded his first career NHL shutout on January 26, 2013, recording 24 saves in a 4–0 win over the Colorado Avalanche.[7]

Greiss became a free agent in July 2013 and subsequently signed a one-year contract with the Phoenix Coyotes. In his only season with Phoenix, he played in 25 games, posting a 2.25 goals against average (GAA) and .920 save percentage. At the end of the 2013–14 season, he was not re-signed by the Coyotes, whereupon he signed a one-year, $1 million contract as an unrestricted free agent with the Pittsburgh Penguins on July 1, 2014.[8] After the 2014-15 season in which he appeared in 20 games for the Penguins, Greiss once again switched teams as a free agent, signing with the New York Islanders on a two-year, $3 million contract.[9] In March 2016, Jaroslav Halák, the Islanders' starting goaltender, suffered a lower-body injury sidelining him six weeks, leaving Greiss as the team's new starting goaltender.[10]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2003–04 Kölner Haie DEL 1 0 0 0 20 4 0 12.00 .600
2004–05 Kölner Haie DEL 8 459 16 0 2.09 .936
2004–05 Eisbären Regensburg 2.GBun 1 60 2 0 2.00
2005–06 Kölner Haie DEL 27 1560 64 1 2.46 .926 9 6 3 533 27 1 3.03 .898
2006–07 Fresno Falcons ECHL 3 1 2 0 180 7 0 2.34 .929
2006–07 Worcester Sharks AHL 43 26 15 2 2555 111 0 2.61 .912 3 0 3 172 12 0 4.18 .865
2007–08 Worcester Sharks AHL 41 18 21 2 2424 125 0 3.09 .892
2007–08 San Jose Sharks NHL 3 0 1 1 129 7 0 3.26 .860
2008–09 Worcester Sharks AHL 57 34 20 2 3346 138 1 2.47 .910 12 6 6 742 30 2 2.43 .912
2009–10 San Jose Sharks NHL 16 7 4 1 782 35 0 2.68 .912 1 0 0 40 2 0 3.00 .929
2010–11 Brynäs IF SEL 32 1850 90 2 2.92 .901
2011–12 San Jose Sharks NHL 19 9 7 1 1043 40 0 2.30 .915
2012–13 Hannover Scorpions DEL 9 3 6 0 535 31 0 3.47 .905
2012–13 San Jose Sharks NHL 6 1 4 0 308 13 1 2.53 .915
2012–13 Worcester Sharks AHL 1 0 1 0 60 5 0 5.04 .815
2013–14 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 25 10 8 5 1312 50 2 2.29 .920
2014–15 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 20 9 6 3 1159 50 0 2.59 .908
2015–16 New York Islanders NHL 41 23 11 4 2288 90 1 2.36 .925 11 5 6 734 30 0 2.46 .923
NHL totals 130 59 41 15 7020 285 4 2.44 .917 12 5 6 774 32 0 2.48 .923
DEL totals 45 2574 115 1 2.58 .917 9 6 3 533 27 1 3.03 .898

International

Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA
2003 Germany WJC18-B 2 2 0 0 120 2 0 1.00
2004 Germany WJC18-B 3 2 0 0 140 8 0 3.43
2004 Germany WJC-B
2005 Germany WJC 3 0 2 0 104 13 0 7.50
2006 Germany WJC-B 4 4 0 0 240 2 2 0.50
2006 Germany OG 1 0 1 0 60 5 0 5.00
2006 Germany WC-B 2 1 0 0 61 2 0 1.97
2010 Germany OG 3 0 3 0 179 15 0 5.03
2016 Germany WC 4 3 1 0 240 10 0 2.50
Junior totals
Senior totals 10 4 5 0 540 32 0 3.56

References

  1. "Thomas Greiss- Hockey's Future profile". Hockeysfuture.com. March 20, 2007. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  2. "San Jose Sharks - News: Greiss Recalled, Patzold Assigned". San Jose Sharks. January 8, 2008. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  3. "Greiss To Worcester". nhl.com. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  4. "Sharks assign Greiss to Brynas (SEL)". San Jose Sharks. October 21, 2010.
  5. "NHL-målvakt klar för Brynäs" (in Swedish). gd.se. October 21, 2010.
  6. "Worcester Sharks Recent Transactions".
  7. "Sharks 4, Avalanche 0". San Jose Sharks. January 26, 2013.
  8. "Penguins Sign Goaltender Thomas Greiss". Pittsburgh Penguins. July 1, 2014. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
  9. "Greiss agrees to terms". New York Islanders. July 1, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  10. Johnston, Chris (March 9, 2016). "New York Islanders turn to Thomas Greiss as Halak goes down". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved March 11, 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.