Men O' War Goalie Smith Makes Hockey History
October 27, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)
Burlington News Release
Lexington, KY- Lexington Men O' War goalie Mike Smith made professional hockey history last night at Rupp Arena during Lexington's 2-0 win over the Dayton Bombers. Making his third ever professional start, Smith shutout the Bombers, recorded his first win and scored his first goal. Smith, 20, became the first ever goalie in the history of professional hockey to post a shutout and score a goal within the confines of his first professional win. In addition, the 20-year-old, 5th round draft pick of the Dallas Stars (2001) became the youngest goalie ever to score a goal in a game, which coincided with the Men O' War's first ever home win at Rupp Arena after an 0-2-1 start. The goal was the first ever scored by a goaltender at Rupp Arena.
Smith's goal in Saturday night's game was the 6th ever goal scored by a goaltender in the ECHL. The last goaltender to accomplish the feat was Toledo's Mark Brenard in March of 2001. Corwin Saurdiff, Sean Gauthier, Olie Sundstrom, and Nick Vitucci have all completed the task in the ECHL. Only seven NHL goaltenders have scored a goal in a game. The last NHL goaltender to score a goal in a game was Evgeny Nabakov of the San Jose Sharks. Only six AHL goaltenders have scored a goal in a professional game. Chris Mason of the Milwaukee Admirals was the last to score in the AHL.
The first professional goalie to score a goal was Michel Plasse of the Kansas City Blues in the Central Hockey League on February 21, 1971 against Oklahoma City. Plasse was the Number 1 Draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens in the 1968 NHL Amateur Draft. On December 8, 1987, Philadelphia goalie Ron Hextall became the first NHL goaltender to score a goal by shooting the puck into a Boston Bruins' empty net. The Flyers defeated the Boston Bruins, 5-2, at the Spectrum.
Lexington will wrap up their weekend with Richmond at home on Today at 6:00.
Individual game tickets to the 7,600 seat capacity Rupp Arena are on sale by calling (859) 233-3535 or any Ticketmaster outlet by calling (859) 281-6644. Tickets can also be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com.
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