Norm Maracle

Norm Maracle
Maracle playing for HDD Olimpija Ljubljana
Born	2 October 1974 (1974-10-02) (age 37) Belleville, ON, CAN
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position	Goaltender
EBEL team Former teams	HDD Olimpija Ljubljana Avangard Omsk Atlanta Thrashers Detroit Red Wings Iserlohn Roosters
NHL Draft	126th overall, 1993 Detroit Red Wings
Playing career	1994–present

Norm Maracle (born October 2, 1974) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings and Atlanta Thrashers. Currently, he is playing with the German team Starbulls Rosenheim in Germany's 2nd tier Bundesliga.

Junior career

Maracle joined the WHL's Saskatoon Blades during the 1991–92 season and remained with them until the 1993–94 season. Maracle's level of play during the 1993–94 season would earn him the Del Wilson Trophy for best goaltender in the WHL. Prior to the 1993–94 seasons, the Detroit Red Wings drafted Maracle in the 5th Round, 126th overall, in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.

Professional career in North America

Detroit

For the start of the 1994–95 season, Maracle was signed by the Red Wings and reassigned to their AHL affiliate the Adirondack Red Wings, sharing goaltending duties with Kevin Hodson. For the 1995–96 and 1996–97 seasons, Maracle would remain in the AHL, posting prolific winning records and a high save percentage each season, but did not get called up to the NHL due to the Red Wings' overwhelming goaltending depth, being the fourth goaltender behind Mike Vernon, Chris Osgood and Hodson.

While Maracle would spend the 1997–98 season as the starting goaltender in Adirondack, he would eventually get the call up from the Red Wings and post a 2–0–1 record in four NHL appearances. He did not see any playoff action that season, where the Red Wings would go on to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship. He was included on the team picture, and awarded a Stanley Cup Ring. However, his name does not appear on the Stanley Cup, because he did not play enough games.

Maracle challenged Hodson for the backup spot for the 1998–99 season. Maracle put up solid numbers during the season and as a result, became Detroit's backup goaltender to Osgood. Maracle appeared in 16 regular season contests, posting a 6–5–2 record and a 91.8% save percentage. Hodson, however, was sent to the Tampa Bay Lightning prior to the trade deadline so the Red Wings could acquire Bill Ranford as Detroit's third goaltender. Due to Ranford's strong showing towards the end of the regular season, the Red Wings kept Maracle on roster, but designated him as the third goaltender. After the Red Wings defeated the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the opening round of the playoffs, they went on to face the Colorado Avalanche in the Conference Semifinals. Osgood was injured prior to the first game, placing Ranford as the starting goaltender and having Maracle serve as his backup. Maracle played in two games against Colorado, relieving Ranford in both instances. By the time Osgood returned from being injured, the Red Wings could not solve the Avalanche and were eliminated in the playoffs. Not having lived up to expectations, Ranford was not re-signed at the end of the season. Maracle also fell under scrutiny because not only did he not perform as expected in the playoffs, but his conditioning was coming into question. Due to this, Maracle was unprotected in the Expansion Draft, resulting in the Atlanta Thrashers claiming Maracle 2nd overall in the 1999 NHL Expansion Draft on 25 June 1999.

Maracle earned the nickname "Miracle" because despite being a borderline starting goaltender, Maracle would once in a while would have superb games (including three 50+ save performances), bailing his team out, i.e. only with a miracle in net could Detroit win.

Atlanta

With the 1999–2000 season in the NHL being the first for the Thrashers, there was some instability in the lineup. Maracle still managed to start in more games for the Thrashers than any of the other four goaltenders whom he played alongside with (being Damian Rhodes, Scott Fankhouser, Scott Langkow and Rick Tabaracci). However, with a shaky defense playing in front of him, Maracle finished the season with a 4–19–2 record and would have a save percentage under 90%. The team did not make the playoffs.

When Maracle reported for the 2000–01 training camp, his conditioning had become so poor that he was reassigned to the Orlando Solar Bears of the International Hockey League, Atlanta's minor league affiliate. In spite of this, Maracle worked hard to post an impressive 33–13–3 record at a minor level. His 33 wins and eight shutouts that season with Orlando were team records. As well, he helped backstop the Solar Bears to their first and only Turner Cup victory in the International Hockey League in the league's final year of operation. His strong minor league performance earned him 13 appearances for the Thrashers during that season. Though his record for the Thrashers was 2–8–3, his save percentage slightly improved.

Maracle would only appear in one NHL game for the 2001–02 season, being a 3–0 loss to the Washington Capitals on 10 November 2001. This would be his last NHL game to date. Maracle would spend the rest of the season with the Thrashers' new minor league affiliate, the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. Maracle was the starting goaltender with Pasi Nurminen backing him up.

For the 2002–03 Season, Maracle remained in the minors while Nurminen ascended the depth charts to become Atlanta's starting goaltender, with Milan Hnilicka, Byron Dafoe and Frédéric Cassivi supporting him. While Hnilicka and Cassivi would be assigned and recalled from their minor league affiliate, Maracle did not receive that same privilege. Having run out of options to leave the minors in the North American system, Maracle signed with Magnitogorsk Metallurg of the RHSL on 8 June 2003.

Professional career in Europe

Maracle, better conditioned and in a new system, would appear in 46 contests for Magnitogorsk Metallurg for the 2003–04 season.

Though he signed a contract with the Nurnburg Ice Tigers of the Deutsche Liga at the start of the 2004–05 season, he never appeared in a contest for them. Maracle ended up signing with the 2004 RHSL Champion Avangard Omsk on 5 November 2004. Maracle would go on to compete with Avangard for the European Cup Championship, which Avangard ended up winning.

Maracle established himself as the starting goaltender for Avangard for the 2005–06 season as well.

In the 2006–07 season, though Maracle served Avangard as their starting goaltender for their previous seasons, he supported Alexandre Fomichev as the team's backup goaltender. The team placed third overall in the league and went to the semi-finals of the Russian Super League Championships before losing to the eventual champions, Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

For the 2007–08 season, Maracle signed with the Iserlohn Roosters in Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Maracle has become a favorite amongst Roosters fans, especially for his on ice antics including break dancing.^[1]

Maracle joined HDD Olimpija Ljubljana who played in the Austrian League in the 2009–10 season and played then from January between April 2010 for the Kölner Haie.^[2]

Since July 2010, he is playing with the German team Starbulls Rosenheim in Germany's 2nd tier Bundesliga.

Career statistics

Regular season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1990–91	Calgary North Stars	AMHL		29				1740	99	0	3.43
1991–92	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		29	13	6	3	1529	87	1	3.41
1992–93	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		53	27	18	3	2939	160	1	3.27
1993–94	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		56	41	13	1	3219	148	2	2.76
1994–95	Adirondack Red Wings	AHL		39	12	15	2	1997	119	0	3.57	.896
1995–96	Adirondack Red Wings	AHL		54	24	18	6	2949	135	2	2.75	.905
1996–97	Adirondack Red Wings	AHL		68	34	22	9	3843	173	5	2.70	.916
1997–98	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		4	2	0	1	178	6	0	2.02	.905
1997–98	Adirondack Red Wings	AHL		66	27	29	8	3709	190	1	3.07	.912
1998–99	Adirondack Red Wings	AHL		6	3	3	0	359	18	0	3.01	.908
1998–99	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		16	6	5	2	821	31	0	2.27	.918
1999–2000	Atlanta Thrashers	NHL		32	4	19	2	1618	94	1	3.49	.890
2000–01	Orlando Solar Bears	IHL		51	33	13	3	2963	100	8	2.02	.925
2000–01	Atlanta Thrashers	NHL		13	2	8	3	753	43	0	3.43	.894
2001–02	Chicago Wolves	AHL		51	21	25	4	2919	141	3	2.90	.906
2001–02	Atlanta Thrashers	NHL		1	0	1	0	60	3	0	3.00	.850
2002–03	Chicago Wolves	AHL		49	22	18	6	2794	134	2	2.88	.906
2003–04	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	Russia		46				2457	82	8	2.00	.925
2004–05	Avangard Omsk	Russia		28
2005–06	Avangard Omsk	Russia		44				2565	91	5	2.13	.909
2006–07	Avangard Omsk	Russia		12
NHL totals				66	14	33	8	3430	177	1	3.10	.897

Post season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1991–92	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		15	9	5	860	37	0	3.38
1992–93	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		9	4	5	569	33	0	3.48
1993–94	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		16	11	5	940	48	1	3.06
1995–96	Adirondack Red Wings	AHL		1	0	1	30	4	0	8.11
1996–97	Adirondack Red Wings	AHL		4	1	3	192	10	1	3.13
1997–98	Adirondack Red Wings	AHL		3	0	3	180	10	0	3.33
1998–99	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		2	0	0	58	3	0	3.10	.864
2000–01	Orlando Solar Bears	IHL		16	12	4	1003	37	1	2.21
2001–02	Chicago Wolves	AHL		2	0	1	55	4	0	4.36	.818
2002–03	Chicago Wolves	AHL		8	3	4	462	17	1	2.21	.915
2003–04	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	Russia		14
NHL totals				2	0	0	58	3	0	3.10	.864

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ Personalentscheidungen bei den Kölner Haien

External links

• Norm Maracle's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Norm Maracle @ hockeygoalies.org

Persondata
Name	Maracle, Norm
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	2 October 1974
Place of birth	Belleville, ON, CAN
Date of death
Place of death