Joel J. Laing is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former

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 Rensselaer.

Career

After finishing up his junior career, Laing travelled to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and began attending

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...

in the fall of 1996. He debuted for the ice hockey team as a freshman and shared the starting job with fellow freshman Scott Prekaski. The Engineers finished with a winning record, but neither of their two netminders distinguished themselves as the go-to goalie. It was much the same in Laing's second season, with the sophomore spearing to be heading for a good, but not great, college career. Things began to change in his junior year, however, and Laing began to demonstrate an improvement in net. He started 26 of the team's 37 games and finished the year with 5

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 ...

, a new program record. Laing's senior season was his crowning achievement as he cut nearly a full point off of his

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 posted career highs in most categories. His .947

save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various goal-scoring sports that track saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse, it is a statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal ...

was one of the highest single-season totals for qualifying goalies in history and he bested his shotout record by blacking the opposition six times in 27 games. Laing was named as an All-American and was a finalist 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 ...

. His performance got the team all the way to the ECAC Championship game and a #13 finish in the national ranking. Unfortunately, they were left out of the 12-team NCAA Tournament. After graduating, Laing attended the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins training camp and was signed to a minor league contract. He was assigned the

Wheeling Nailers The Wheeling Nailers are a professional ECHL ice hockey team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. They are the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey Lea ...

and established himself as the team's top goaltender over the course of the season. He was called up to the AHL for 16 games and put up decent but unspectacular numbers. His second season appeared to be going even better, as his performance in the

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 ...

was improving, but he wasn't retained by the organization. Laing continued his playing career in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, suiting up for the Sheffield Steelers and compiling an outstanding season. He helped the team win the regular season championship, as well as the Challenge Cup, being named as not only the league's top goaltender, but the 2003 BISL Player of the Year. Laing retired from professional hockey in 2003 and began working as a senior assurance manager for

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...

. At the same time, he also enrolled at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

and earned a

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

in 2004. Laing remained with the company until 2012 when he joined the

Sleep Number Sleep Number is an American manufacturer that makes the Sleep Number and Comfortaire beds, as well as foundations and bedding accessories. The company is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In addition to its Minnesota headquarters, Sleep Number has ...

corporation, settling in the

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

area. He worked his way up to Senior Director of Finance (as of 2021). Laing couldn't stay away from hockey, however, and started coaching youth hockey in 2018. He's worked with several teams since, stick mostly with Squirt (10 and under) and Mite (8 and under) groups. Laing was inducted into the RPI Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laing, Joel 1975 births Living people AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan RPI Engineers men's ice hockey players Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players Wheeling Nailers players Sheffield Steelers players