Joseph Blackburn is an American former ice hockey

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 ...

who was an All-American for

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

Career

Blackburn's college career began in the fall of 1997. As a freshman he served as the backup goaltender for

, playing behind Chad Alban. He saw limited time behind Alban, who finished the year as the runner-up for the

Hobey Baker Award The Hobey Baker Award is an annual award given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men's ice hockey player. It has been awarded 41 times. It is named for Hall of Famer Hobey Baker, who played college hockey at Princeton University ...

, but performed well in his few appearances. After Alban graduated, Blackburn won the starting job and posted even better number than Alban. He took some time off around

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

to play with the US national team at the World Junior Championships. He played alright in relief, with both games he was credited with, but couldn't help the team finish better than 8th. Back in

East Lansing East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...

, his stellar year saw him earn All-American honors while he backstopped MSU to a regular season CCHA championship and a #3 ranking. He helped the Spartans win their first tournament game, breaking a streak of six consecutive losses, and reach the Frozen Four. Despite Blackburn seemingly having a lock on the Spartans' net, one of the top goaltending prospects in the country,

Ryan Miller Ryan Dean Miller (born July 17, 1980) is an American former ice hockey goaltender who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) mostly for the Buffalo Sabres. Miller was drafted 138th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1999 NHL E ...

, had already committed to Michigan State (as had many Miller family members before him). Blackburn ended up sharing the goal with Miller during his junior season. While Blackburn's numbers declined, they were still good. Miller, however, put up one of the best goaltending performances by a freshman, leading the nation in

goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on s ...

and putting up 8

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

in just 26 games. There was little surprise when Blackburn was relegated to spot duty during his senior season while Miller went on to become just the second goaltender to take home the Hobey Baker Award. Blackburn's playing career ended when he graduated, however, he remained with the game as a volunteer assistant for the Spartans. While working in that capacity, he enrolled in the School of Labor and Industrial Relations and earned an MS in 2003. After his six years at Michigan State, Blackburn embarked on a career in

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include m ...

, working for both

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

and

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...

. Currently he's the

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

of human resources for the Community Health Center in

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...

(as of 2021).

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackburn, Joe 1979 births Living people AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans American men's ice hockey goaltenders Ice hockey people from Michigan People from Livonia, Michigan Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey players