Alexander Stalock ( ; born July 28, 1987) is an American professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

currently playing for the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). Stalock was originally drafted 112th overall in the

2005 NHL Entry Draft The 2005 NHL Entry Draft was the 43rd NHL Entry Draft. Originally scheduled to be held on June 25, the 2004–05 NHL lockout led to the draft being postponed to July 30. Special procedures were required to determine the order of picks, because ...

by the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

Playing career

Alex Stalock was born in

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

and played high school hockey for the

South St. Paul, Minnesota South St. Paul is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States, located immediately south and southeast of St. Paul. It is also east of West St. Paul. The population was 20,759 at the 2020 census. Historically, the town was notable as a m ...

Packers. He attended college at the

University of Minnesota Duluth The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and offers 16 bachelor's degrees in 88 majors, graduate programs in 25 different fields, and a two-year progr ...

, where he played college hockey for three years before starting his professional career. On February 1, 2011, he made his NHL debut in relief of Antti Niemi. Playing 29 minutes and 47 seconds, Stalock allowed no goals on nine shots to record his first NHL win in a 5–3 victory over the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

. Shortly after his debut he was reassigned to the Sharks minor league affiliate,

Worcester Sharks The Worcester Sharks were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2006 to 2015. Affiliated with the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks and located in Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachu ...

, in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL). In a game against the

Manchester Monarchs Manchester Monarchs may refer to: *Manchester Monarchs (AHL) (2001–2015) *Manchester Monarchs (ECHL) The Manchester Monarchs were a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL which began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Manchester, New ...

on February 4, he suffered a sliced nerve behind his knee after being stepped on by the skate of Manchester's

Dwight King Dwight King (born July 5, 1989) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Los Angeles Kings and the Montreal Canadiens. He was a member of the Kings' Stanley Cup championship t ...

, sidelining him for the remainder of the 2010–11 season. Afterwards, he had surgery to repair the nerve and went through many months of rehabilitation. Stalock was sidelined until January 21, 2012, when he started in goal for San Jose's

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

affiliate, the

Stockton Thunder The Stockton Thunder were a minor league professional ice hockey team that was based in Stockton, California, and a member of the ECHL. The Stockton Arena was their home ice, with a capacity of 9,737. The team was an affiliate team of the New Yor ...

. After six games in Stockton, Stalock was called up to Worcester. On July 10, 2013, the San Jose Sharks re-signed Stalock to a one-year contract. In September 2013, Stalock was selected as the San Jose Sharks backup goaltender for the 2013–14 season. Stalock made his first NHL start on October 27, saving 38 shots in a 5–2 victory against the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

. On January 16, 2014, Stalock recorded his first shutout in a 3–0 win over the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

. Against the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

on January 27, Stalock passed

Evgeni Nabokov Yevgeni Viktorovich Nabokov (russian: Евге́ний Ви́кторович Набо́ков; born July 25, 1975) is a Kazakhstani-Russian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders, and Ta ...

for the Sharks' longest streak without allowing a goal with 178:55, 7:37 longer than Nabokov's highest. Stalock made his first career playoff start against the

on April 28, 2014. In the 2015–16 season, on February 27, 2016, Stalock's tenure with the Sharks came to an end when he was traded, along with Ben Smith and a conditional 4th round pick in 2018 to the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

in exchange for

James Reimer James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

and

Jeremy Morin Jeremy Morin (born April 16, 1991) is an American former professional ice hockey left winger. Morin played major junior hockey for the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), the team he was drafted from in the second round, 45th ...

. Stalock was placed on waivers the following day by the Maple Leafs and upon clearing was assigned to the AHL with affiliate, the

Toronto Marlies The Toronto Marlies are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a member of the North Division of the Eastern Conference. The Marlies is owned by Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, a c ...

on February 29, 2016. Stalock left the Leafs organization as a free agent in the off-season and on July 1, 2016, signed a one-year, two-way contract with the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

. On February 2, 2017, the Wild signed Stalock to a two-year, $1.3 million extension. He earned his first shutout with the Wild, and in three seasons, against his former team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, on December 14, 2017. On January 29, 2019, the Wild signed Stalock, to a three-year, $2.355 million extension. Rehabilitating an injury leading into the pandemic delayed

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season, Stalock was placed on waivers by the Wild and later claimed by the Edmonton Oilers on March 1, 2021. He missed the entirety of the season through myocarditis, after complications from

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Returning to play in the season, Stalock was assigned to the Oilers AHL affiliate, the

Bakersfield Condors The Bakersfield Condors are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Bakersfield, California. The team is owned by and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers. The Condors play their home g ...

. He recorded 3 wins in 5 appearances before he was traded by the Oilers for future considerations in a return to his original club, the San Jose Sharks, on March 2, 2022. On July 13, 2022, Stalock signed as a free agent to a one-year, $750,000 contract with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Career statistics

Awards and honors

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stalock, Alex 1987 births Living people AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans American men's ice hockey goaltenders Bakersfield Condors players Cedar Rapids RoughRiders players Chicago Blackhawks players Iowa Wild players Ice hockey players from Saint Paul, Minnesota Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey players Minnesota Wild players Peoria Rivermen (AHL) players San Jose Barracuda players San Jose Sharks draft picks San Jose Sharks players Stockton Thunder players Toronto Marlies players Worcester Sharks players