Leafs bring in Emery for a look
Injuries to Reimer, Sparks force team to look outside organization to plug holes
Ray Emery was once a William Jennings Trophy winner who combined with his crease mate Corey Crawford to give up the fewest goals in a season.
That wasn’t that long ago. Emery accomplished the feat in 2013, but he slid off the NHL radar until now.
As a result of injuries that have left the Maple Leafs and Marlies thin in the goaltending ranks, Emery surfaced again Friday on a professional tryout (PTO) contract with the Marlies. At the moment, the signing amounts to a depth move, an experienced goalie to help the Leafs through a rough spell where their top two goalies — James Reimer and Garret Sparks — are sidelined for at least a week or more.
But for Emery, a 33-year-old Hamilton native who was drafted 99th overall by Ottawa in 2001, the PTO represents a chance — a long one at that — but a chance to rekindle the magic that made him one of the best in the NHL.
Emery’s signing capped a topsyturvy day in Leafland, where coach Mike Babcock — after announcing that injuries to Sparks and centre Nick Spaling were longer term — revealed that Antoine Bibeau would be recalled from the Marlies to back up Jonathan Bernier against the Kings Saturday night.
That left the first-place Marlies with Ryan Massa and Rob Madore as their goalie tandem, and both would be with Orlando of the ECHL had it not been for the rash of injuries in Toronto.
Emery, now beyond his award-winning years, was out of options, having been released from a PTO with Tampa in September, then a PTO with the American Hockey League’s Ontario Reign Dec. 4.
As part of a goalie tandem with the Reign that included Peter Budaj, Emery appeared in three games, al- lowing 10 goals-against in posting a 3.30 GAA and an .878 save percentage.
But with a career 2.70 GAA in 287 NHL games, Emery was in the Rolodex of Marlies GM Kyle Dubas, especially with the state of his club’s current goalie depth.
For now, though, Emery is on an AHL PTO; the Leafs have opened the door yet again for Bernier to claim the top goalie spot with Bibeau pressed in as his backup.
That’s a promising landscape for Bernier, and it comes against a backdrop of concerning injury news for Sparks, Spaling and Reimer.
“(Sparks and Spaling are) out at least until after Christmas, for sure. We’ll see them over the next little while and figure it out,” Babcock said, adding that the Leafs must be very cautious with Reimer, who has been working all week in solo sessions with goalie coach Steve Briere, even though reports are improving. With Reimer and Sparks both down, the Leafs were left with an emergency situation during Thursday’s game. Bernier filled in for Sparks, but for the remaining 50plus minutes of the game, Toronto did not have a backup goalie on their bench.
The club has called on universitylevel goalies Brett Willows (University of Toronto, October 2013), and Troy Passingham (Ryerson University, for practice, April 2014), but neither were seen on the bench Thursday night, which meant the likely solution would have been Briere.