Andrew Joseph Ernest Raycroft (born May 4, 1980) is a Canadian 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 hock ...

goaltender. Originally drafted by the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

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) 135th overall in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, he won the

Calder Memorial Trophy The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League (NHL)." It is named after Frank Calder, the first president of the NHL. Serving as ...

with the club in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

as rookie of the year. Raycroft has also played for 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 ...

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...

Hockey Milano Rossoblu Hockey Milano Rossoblu is an ice hockey team from Milan, Italy. It replaced Milano Vipers (league team 5 times Italian Champion) after that organization was disbanded in 2008. It is currently playing in Alps Hockey League, joining in 2018 after ...

and

IF Björklöven IF Björklöven (often simply referred to as Björklöven or Löven) is a Sweden, Swedish professional ice hockey Club (organization), club in Umeå, Västerbotten, in northern Sweden. The club is currently playing in the second-tier league HockeyA ...

. Since 2014, he has been a volunteer assistant coach for the University of Connecticut's men's hockey team. Raycroft is currently a studio analyst for the Boston Bruins broadcasts on NESN and a host on the hockey podcast ''Breaking The Ice''.

Playing career

Early years/Boston Bruins

Prior to entering the

junior hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

ranks, Raycroft grew up playing

minor hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from cla ...

with the Quinte Red Devils AAA system in the Eastern Ontario AAA League of the

Ontario Minor Hockey Association The Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) is a minor ice hockey governing body in Ontario. The OMHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation and Hockey Canada. History The OMHA was founded on November 30, 1940, after a merger of the Ontari ...

(OMHA). In 1997–98, he began a three-year career in the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

(OHL), playing for the

Kingston Frontenacs The Kingston Frontenacs are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The Frontenacs play home games at Leon's Centre, which opened in 2008. Team history predates the OHA, back to 1945, to a te ...

and

Sudbury Wolves The Sudbury Wolves are an Ontario Hockey League (OHL) ice hockey team based in Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Sudbury has had various hockey teams competing at the Junior ice hockey, junior and senior ice hockey levels of the game k ...

. He also played junior for the

Wellington Dukes The Wellington Dukes are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Wellington, Ontario, Canada. They are in the Eastern Division of the Ontario Junior Hockey League and used to be a part of the Metro Junior A Hockey League. Originally a Junior C team in ...

of the

Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League The Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada. It is under the supervision of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The league was listed as the 7th best d ...

(OPJAHL). Raycroft was drafted 135th overall by the

in the

1998 NHL Entry Draft The 1998 NHL Entry Draft was the 36th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 27 at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York. A total of 258 players were drafted. The last active players in the NHL from this draft class were Brian Gionta, Mi ...

. He made his NHL debut in 2000–01 with the Bruins, replacing

Byron Dafoe Byron Dafoe (born February 25, 1971) is a British-Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He was born in Worthing, England, United Kingdom and moved to Comox, British Columbia with his mother at the age of two months. Between 1992 and ...

in a 5–1 victory over the

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. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

. However, as a late-game replacement, he was not given the decision. Raycroft recorded his first NHL win two days later on October 9 in a 4–2 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 ...

. Raycroft played 11 games total for the Bruins in his first season, while playing the majority of his first three professional seasons with the team's minor league affiliate, the

Providence Bruins The Providence Bruins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the primary development team for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). They play at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rh ...

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 Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL). After the Bruins renewed his contract on July 31, 2003, Raycroft played his first full NHL season in 2003–04, compiling a 29–18–9 record with a 2.05

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 ...

(GAA), .926

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 ...

and three

shutout 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 ...

s. He helped lead the Bruins to a second-place finish in the regular season in the Eastern Conference ''en route'' to the 2004 Stanley Cup playoffs. Not having played enough games to qualify as a rookie in his previous three NHL seasons, Raycroft was awarded the

in 2004 as league rookie of the year. Due to the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

, Raycroft signed with

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is named ...

of the Swedish

Elitserien Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan. Elitserien leagues at present: * Elitserien (badmint ...

on November 6, 2004. However, he did not play any games for the team and signed with

Tappara Tampere Tappara (; Finnish for "Battle axe") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the Liiga. They play at '' Tampere Deck Arena'' in Tampere, Finland. The team has won 18 Finnish league championships (1959, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1979, ...

of the Finnish

SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

several months later on January 17, 2005. When NHL play resumed, he struggled with the Bruins in the 2005–06 season, managing only eight wins while being a healthy scratch for the majority of the season. He was demoted to the Bruins' third-string position to starter Tim Thomas and rookie backup

Hannu Toivonen Hannu Pekka Toivonen (; born 18 May 1984) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender. Current goaltending coach for the Toronto Marlies. He played with the Boston Bruins and the St. Louis Blues in the National Hockey League (NHL), th ...

Toronto Maple Leafs

The following off-season, on June 24, 2006, Raycroft was traded to the

in exchange for the rights to Finnish goaltending prospect

Tuukka Rask Tuukka Mikael Rask (born 10 March 1987) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender. Rask was drafted 21st overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs before being traded to the Boston Bruins in 2006, where he played ...

. It was later revealed the Bruins intended to release him, which would have made him available to Toronto without any compensation at all. He began playing for the Maple Leafs in the 2006–07 season and earned his first shutout and win as a Leaf in a 6-0 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 October 5, 2006. On April 3, 2007, Raycroft tied the Leafs' franchise record for most wins by a goaltender in the regular season (37), previously held by

Ed Belfour Edward John Belfour (born April 21, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Belfour was born in Carman, Manitoba and grew up playing hockey. He played junior hockey for the Winkler Flyers before going to the University of ...

in 2002–03 (Raycroft played more games than Belfour and earned three shootout wins, which did not exist prior to the 2005–06 season). Despite this record, he finished 49th in GAA and 56th in save percentage as the Leafs failed to qualify for the playoffs. Raycroft struggled at the start of the 2007–08 season and surrendered the starting position to

Vesa Toskala Vesa Tapani Toskala (born May 20, 1977) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender. After initially playing for his hometown team Ilves of the SM-liiga, Toskala played the majority of his professional career in the National Hockey Le ...

. The Leafs then placed him on waivers on June 24, 2008, and bought out the remainder of his contract on June 27.

Colorado Avalanche

Several days after being bought out by the Maple Leafs, on July 1, he signed a one-year deal with the

. Despite being brought in to back-up

Peter Budaj Peter Budaj ( ; born 18 September 1982) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey goaltender. He had previously played in the National Hockey League for the Colorado Avalanche, which drafted him, Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, and Tam ...

, Raycroft started the 2008–09 season strong, becoming only the second Avalanche goaltender to begin a season with a 9–1 record. In 31 games with the Avalanche, Raycroft posted a 12-16-0 record with a 3.14 GAA.

Vancouver Canucks

On July 6, 2009, Raycroft signed a one-year contract with the

. He earned the backup position behind

Roberto Luongo Roberto Luongo (, , ; born April 4, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Florida Panthers and the Vancouver Canucks. Luongo is a two ...

after competing with prospect

Cory Schneider Cory Franklin Schneider (born March 18, 1986) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Bridgeport Islanders in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). H ...

during training camp. He recorded his first win with the Canucks in his first start on October 29 in a 2–1 shootout win 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 ...

after Luongo was sidelined with a fractured rib. Raycroft faced his former Avalanche teammates several days later on November 1 and recorded his first shutout as a Canuck in a 3–0 win. Raycroft won his 100th NHL career game on February 12, 2010, in a 4–3 win over the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

Dallas Stars

On July 1, 2010, Raycroft signed a two-year contract as a free agent with the

. He compiled an 8–5 record with a 2.83 GAA in his first season in Dallas, backing-up Stars starter

Kari Lehtonen Kari Lehtonen (born November 16, 1983) is a Finland, Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Atlanta Thrashers and Dallas Stars. He was selected second overall in the 200 ...

. On December 29, 2011, Raycroft was assigned to the

Texas Stars The Texas Stars are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Cedar Park, Texas, near Austin, with home games at the H-E-B Center. They are owned by the National Hockey League's (NHL) Dallas Stars and are the t ...

, the Dallas Stars' AHL affiliate.

Richard Bachman Richard Bachman is a pen name (as well as fictional character) of American horror fiction author Stephen King. King portrays Bachman in the third season of the FX television series '' Sons of Anarchy''. Origin At the beginning of King's car ...

replaced Raycroft as backup to the Stars starter Lehtonen. He played in the minors for the remainder of his contract.

Europe

On July 3, 2012, with little NHL interest and an impending

lockout Lockout may refer to: * Lockout (industry), a type of work stoppage **Dublin Lockout, a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers 1913 - 1914 * Lockout (sports), lockout in sports leagues **MLB lockout, lock ...

on the horizon, Raycroft left his North American career to begin a new venture in Europe by signing to a one-year deal with Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club, Milano Rossoblu. The Italian team has been in proposed talks to join the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

(KHL). On July 15, 2013, it was announced Raycroft would join

for the 2013–14 season. On April 9, 2014, Raycroft announced his retirement from professional hockey. He has since joined the

Connecticut Huskies men's ice hockey The UConn Huskies men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the University of Connecticut. The Huskies are a member of Hockey East. The Huskies currently pla ...

as a volunteer assistant coach.
/ref>

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards

Ontario Hockey League, OHL *Named to the First All-Star Team in 1999–2000. *Named the

OHL Goaltender of the Year The Jim Rutherford Trophy is given to the best goaltender in the Ontario Hockey League, as voted by coaches and general managers. The winner is also nominated for the CHL Goaltender of the Year award. From 1988 until 2019, the award was named the ...

in 1999–2000. *Won the

Red Tilson Trophy The Red Tilson Trophy is awarded annually by the Ontario Hockey League to the most outstanding player (MVP) as voted by OHL writers and broadcasters. It was donated by ''The Globe and Mail,'' and first awarded in the 1944–45 OHA season by the O ...

in 1999–2000. CHL *Named to the First All-Star Team in 1999–2000. *Named

CHL Goaltender of the Year The CHL Goaltender of the Year Award is given out annually to the top goaltender in the Canadian Hockey League. It is chosen from the winners of the league awards; the OHL Goaltender of the Year, the Del Wilson Trophy ( WHL), and the Jacques Pl ...

in 1999–2000.

NHL 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 ...

*Played in the

NHL YoungStars Game The NHL YoungStars Game was an annual match held as part of the National Hockey League All-Star Game weekend activities, which ran from the 2002 All-Star Game to the 2009 game, featuring notable young NHL players and leading prospects. Replacin ...

in 2003–04. *Won the

in 2003–04. *Named to the

NHL All-Rookie Team The NHL All-Rookie Team is chosen by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association from the best rookies in the National Hockey League at each position for the season just concluded based on their performance in that year. The team was first named a ...

in 2003–04.

References

External links

*
Andrew Raycroft on HockeyGoalies.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raycroft, Andrew 1980 births Boston Bruins draft picks Boston Bruins players Calder Trophy winners Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Colorado Avalanche players Dallas Stars players Ice hockey people from Ontario IF Björklöven players Kingston Frontenacs players Living people Providence Bruins players Sportspeople from Belleville, Ontario Sudbury Wolves players Tappara players Texas Stars players Toronto Maple Leafs players Vancouver Canucks players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Italy Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden