Robert L. Esche (born January 22, 1978) is an American former 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 ...

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 ...

who is the current president of the

Utica Comets The Utica Comets are a professional ice hockey team based in Utica, New York, with home games at the Adirondack Bank Center. They are members of the North Division in the Eastern Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL) and affiliated w ...

of 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 developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the lea ...

(AHL) and the

Utica City FC Utica City FC is a professional indoor soccer team based in Utica, New York that plays in the Eastern Conference of the Major Arena Soccer League. History The team formed in 2011 as the Syracuse Silver Knights with the intention of playing in t ...

of the

Major Arena Soccer League The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a North American professional indoor soccer league. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. MASL is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. MASL players ...

(MASL). He previously played eight seasons in the

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

(NHL) for 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 ...

and

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

Playing career

Esche started his career with the

, only to be traded to the

in a deal involving

Michal Handzuš Michal Handzuš (; born 11 March 1977) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey centre. Handzuš played for hometown club, HC ’05 Banská Bystrica of the Slovak Extraliga before joining the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1998. Handzuš ...

and

Brian Boucher Brian Boucher ( ; born January 2, 1977) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender who is a game and studio analyst on national ESPN and ABC games and also Philadelphia Flyers games on NBC Sports Philadelphia. He played 13 season ...

. In 2004, he claimed the starting goaltending spot for the Flyers, and led them to the Eastern Conference Finals, only to fall in seven games to the eventual

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

champion

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play ...

. While playing in Russia for

Ak Bars Kazan Hockey Club Ak Bars (russian: Ак Барс, tt-Cyrl, Ак Барс, en, Snow Leopard), also known as Ak Bars Kazan, is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Kazan. They are members of the Kharlamov Division of the Kontinental Hockey ...

, he posted a record of 22–5–2 with a 2.01

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 (dependin ...

(GAA) and a .912 save percentage, along with four shutouts. Esche skated with Dinamo Minsk during the

2010–11 KHL season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

. In 2008–09, he posted a record of 21–14 with a 1.87 GAA and .912 save percentage, as well as nine shutouts. On June 16, 2011, the

SCL Tigers SC Langnau Tigers are a professional ice hockey team from Langnau im Emmental, Switzerland. They play in the National League (NL). The team plays its home games in the 6,000-seat Ilfis Stadium, which is currently one of the smallest arenas in the ...

announced they had signed the 33-year-old Esche to a contract, where he played 40 games, going 15-25, with a 3.05 GAA and .898 save percentage.

International play

Esche has represented the United States in the 1997 and 1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and the IIHF World Championships in 2000, shutting out Russia in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

, an accomplishment he still lists as his greatest moment in hockey. He represented the US team in 2001 and also received the starting nod at the

2004 World Cup of Hockey The 2004 World Cup of Hockey was an international ice hockey tournament. It was the second installment of the National Hockey League (NHL)-sanctioned competition, eight years after the inaugural 1996 World Cup of Hockey. It was held from August 30 ...

. Esche was named to the 2006 US Men's Olympic Hockey Team in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

. He played one game in the Olympic tournament, losing 5–4 to Russia. Esche played for the 2008 Team USA Hockey team in the World Championships which took place in Canada. He had earned some starts after sitting out the first few games, including a 42 save performance in a controversial 3–2 loss against Finland. He also posted a 9–1 victory against Norway.

Personal

Esche has two children with his former wife Kelly. Esche is nicknamed "Chico" after former NHL goaltender

Chico Resch Glenn Allan "Chico" Resch (born July 10, 1948) is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey goaltender and television sportscaster. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1973 to 1987, and won a Stanley Cup with the New ...

because his sticks were labeled R. Esche.

Awards and accomplishments

* 1997–98: Second All-Star Team ( OHL) * 1998–99: All-Rookie Team ( AHL) * 2002–03:

William M. Jennings Trophy The William M. Jennings Trophy is an annual National Hockey League (NHL) award given to "the goaltender(s) having played a minimum of 25 games for the team with the fewest goals scored against it ... based on regular-season play." From 1946 until ...

''shared with

Roman Čechmánek Roman Čechmánek (; born March 2, 1971) is a Czech former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played professionally in the United States, Czech Republic, and Germany, including in the National Hockey League with the Philadelphia Flyers and Lo ...

, PHI and

Martin Brodeur Martin Pierre Brodeur (; born May 6, 1972) is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey goaltender and current team executive. He played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), 21 of them for the New Jersey Devils, with wh ...

, NJ'' ( NHL) *2002–03: Yanick Dupre Memorial (Philadelphia Flyers) * 2003–04: Pelle Lindbergh Memorial (Philadelphia Flyers) * 2008 World Championships: Best save percentage (.931) * 2008–09: Played in KHL All-Star Game

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

*
Robert Esche biography
a
hockeygoalies.org
- advanced statistics and game logs {{DEFAULTSORT:Esche, Robert 1978 births Ak Bars Kazan players American men's ice hockey goaltenders Detroit Whalers players American expatriate ice hockey players in Russia HC Dinamo Minsk players Houston Aeros (1994–2013) players Ice hockey players from New York (state) Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Living people Olympic ice hockey players of the United States Sportspeople from Utica, New York Philadelphia Flyers players Arizona Coyotes draft picks Phoenix Coyotes players Plymouth Whalers players SCL Tigers players SKA Saint Petersburg players Springfield Falcons players William M. Jennings Trophy winners People from Whitesboro, New York