yave1964 Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Move over Johnny Bower. There is a new sheriff in town. Michael Leighton tied Bower for the all time shutout record with a 6-0 victory for his Rockford Icehogs over the Chicago Wolves last week. It tied Bowers 63 year old record for most career AHL shutouts with 45. Bower, the Hall of Fame goalie who is still going strong at 91 years old began his career in the original six era, stuck in the minors because of lack of NHL jobs, he toiled for Cleveland setting the record and winning three Calder cups along the way before starting his HOFer career late in life with the Leafs in 1958-59. He went on to win 4 Stanley Cups with the Leafs. Leighton, age 34 has saw his career take a different path, he started with the Hawks, has played for the Predators and the Hurricanes but his claim to NHL fame came in 2009-10 when the goalie decimated flyers desperately turned to him, he went 16-5-2 down the stretch and helped the team make the Stanely Cup finals. He was on the ice when Patrick Kane scored his game winner in game 6. Since then his career was sidetracked to put it mildly. He appeared in 1 game for the Flyers in each of the following two years, has been mostly in the AHL excepting one year where he went to Europe to play in the KHL. "I want to be the best in whatever league I play in," Leighton said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. "I think this is the 80th year of the AHL: That's a long road of hockey. To be at the top in any category is definitely an honor." The 34-year-old Leighton, who was originally drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks 165th overall in 1999, hit the mark in his 428th AHL game while it took Bower 592 to set the bar. Overall he has a career record of 35-41-14 pretty much defining a mediocre ourneyman, to say the least. But he has found his niche in life as a damn good AHL goalie. with Rockford this year he is 23-5-5 with a 2.16 goals against. Congrats to 'Leaky' for tying, soon to break a record many thought could never be touched. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samifan Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Yave, I posted something about this the after it happened. I put it in the General Hockey section because I didn't think to put in the AHL section. Mine was more tongue and cheek sarcasm and not nearly as informative as yours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted February 6, 2016 Author Share Posted February 6, 2016 35 minutes ago, Samifan said: Yave, I posted something about this the after it happened. I put it in the General Hockey section because I didn't think to put in the AHL section. Mine was more tongue and cheek sarcasm and not nearly as informative as yours I am so sorry, I did not see it! Hope I didnt step on your toes with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samifan Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Not at all, no worries. I just wanted to let you know in case someone wanted to merge the threads. All kidding aside, it is a pretty remarkable feat to tie that record. That's a lot of bus rides....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Thanks to Sami for sticking the knife in we Flyer fans back...and thanks to Yave for twisting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samifan Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 6 minutes ago, flyercanuck said: Thanks to Sami for sticking the knife in we Flyer fans back...and thanks to Yave for twisting it. Now we just need someone to rub some salt in the wound. "Hey RJ when your done salting the popcorn......." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JagerMeister Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Impressive, Bower is considered to be one of the greatest American players ever. But this perfectly illustrates how any goalie can simply have those exceptional streaks and then subsequently go back to being rather insignificant. And its more prevalent today due to the weaker disparity between an elite goalie and your average goalie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mountain Man Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 On 2/7/2016 at 5:56 PM, JagerMeister said: Impressive, Bower is considered to be one of the greatest American players ever. But this perfectly illustrates how any goalie can simply have those exceptional streaks and then subsequently go back to being rather insignificant. And its more prevalent today due to the weaker disparity between an elite goalie and your average goalie. I am assuming you mean AHL player and not American player as he was born in Saskatchewan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FD19372 Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Another sign of the apocalypse. I thought you would follow that up with "Leighton has been shutout from playing in a record number of AHL games". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Michael Leighton Is Now the AHL All Time Shutout Record Holder After a 5-0 Win Vs. The Lake Erie Monsters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarsippius Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 I forgive Leighton for forgetting to pay attention in OT of the last game that really meant anything significant around here. I congratulate him on this meaningful achievement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Congrats. I suppose... It's a bit of a dubious honour. Nobody really gets into hockey hoping to become the all-time minor league leader in anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 13 hours ago, hf101 said: Michael Leighton Is Now the AHL All Time Shutout Record Holder After a 5-0 Win Vs. The Lake Erie Monsters. Trade him, his value week will never be higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 All joking aside, I am willing to bet the Dallas Stars may like him on their team for the playoff run. Yes......transparent shot at both Lehtonen AND Niemi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.