Wikipedia

Andrew Raycroft

Andrew Joseph Ernest Raycroft (born May 4, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender and current media personality. Originally drafted by the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL) 135th overall in 1998, he won the Calder Memorial Trophy with the club in 2004 as rookie of the year. Raycroft has also played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks, Dallas Stars, Hockey Milano Rossoblu and IF Björklöven.

Andrew Raycroft
Raycroft at a meet and greet in January 2023
Born (1980-05-04) May 4, 1980 (age 44)
Belleville, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for Boston Bruins
Toronto Maple Leafs
Colorado Avalanche
Vancouver Canucks
Dallas Stars
Hockey Milano Rossoblu
NHL draft 135th overall, 1998
Boston Bruins
Playing career 2000–2014

Since 2014, he has been a volunteer assistant coach for the University of Connecticut's men's hockey team. Raycroft is currently a rinkside and studio analyst for the Boston Bruins broadcasts on NESN and a host on the hockey podcast Morning Bru with Jaffe & Razor.

Playing career

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Early years/Boston Bruins

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Prior to entering the junior hockey ranks, Raycroft grew up playing minor hockey with the Quinte Red Devils AAA system in the Eastern Ontario AAA League of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA). In 1997–98, he began a three-year career in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), playing for the Kingston Frontenacs and Sudbury Wolves. He also played junior for the Wellington Dukes of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League (OPJAHL).

Raycroft was drafted 135th overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. He made his NHL debut in 2000–01 with the Bruins, replacing Byron Dafoe in a 5–1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. However, as a late-game replacement, he was not given the decision.[1] Raycroft recorded his first NHL win two days later on October 9 in a 4–2 win over the Florida Panthers.[1] 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 of the American Hockey League (AHL).

After the Bruins renewed his contract on July 31, 2003,[1] Raycroft played his first full NHL season in 2003–04, compiling a 29–18–9 record with a 2.05 goals against average (GAA), .926 save percentage and three shutouts. 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 Calder Memorial Trophy in 2004 as league rookie of the year.

Due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Raycroft signed with Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish Elitserien on November 6, 2004.[1] However, he did not play any games for the team and signed with Tappara Tampere of the Finnish SM-liiga several months later on January 17, 2005.[1] 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.

Toronto Maple Leafs

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The following off-season, on June 24, 2006, Raycroft was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for the rights to Finnish goaltending prospect Tuukka Rask.[1] It was later revealed the Bruins intended to release him, which would have made him available to Toronto without any compensation at all.[2] 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 on October 5, 2006.[1] 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 in 2002–03 (Raycroft played more games than Belfour and earned three shootout wins, which did not exist prior to the 2005–06 season).[3] 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. The Leafs then placed him on waivers on June 24, 2008,[4] and bought out the remainder of his contract on June 27.[5]

Colorado Avalanche

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Several days after being bought out by the Maple Leafs, on July 1, he signed a one-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche.[6] Despite being brought in to back-up Peter Budaj, Raycroft started the 2008–09 season strong, becoming only the second Avalanche goaltender to begin a season with a 9–1 record.[7] In 31 games with the Avalanche, Raycroft posted a 12-16-0 record with a 3.14 GAA.

Vancouver Canucks

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On July 6, 2009, Raycroft signed a one-year contract with the Vancouver Canucks.[8] He earned the backup position behind Roberto Luongo after competing with prospect Cory Schneider during training camp.[9] 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 after Luongo was sidelined with a fractured rib.[10] 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.[11] Raycroft won his 100th NHL career game on February 12, 2010, in a 4–3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.[12]

 
Raycroft debuts his new goalie mask against the Vancouver Canucks.

Dallas Stars

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On July 1, 2010, Raycroft signed a two-year contract as a free agent with the Dallas Stars.[13] He compiled an 8–5 record with a 2.83 GAA in his first season in Dallas, backing-up Stars starter Kari Lehtonen.

On December 29, 2011, Raycroft was assigned to the Texas Stars, the Dallas Stars' AHL affiliate. Richard Bachman replaced Raycroft as backup to the Stars starter Lehtonen. He played in the minors for the remainder of his contract.

Europe

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On July 3, 2012, with little NHL interest and an impending lockout 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 club, Milano Rossoblu.[14] The Italian team has been in proposed talks to join the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).[15]

On July 15, 2013, it was announced Raycroft would join IF Björklöven for the 2013–14 season.[16]

On April 9, 2014, Raycroft announced his retirement from professional hockey.[17] He later joined the Connecticut Huskies men's ice hockey as a volunteer assistant coach.[18]

Broadcasting

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Following his playing career, Raycroft became active in media, including stints with ESPN and the New England Sports Network where he covers college hockey and the Boston Bruins respectively. Since 2021, Raycroft has hosted a Bruins podcast with fellow NESN employee Billy Jaffe entitled Morning Bru with Jaffe & Razor.

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1996–97 Wellington Dukes MetJHL 27 — — — — 1402 92 — 3.94 — — — — — — — — —
1997–98 Sudbury Wolves OHL 33 8 16 5 — 1802 125 0 4.16 .901 2 0 1 89 8 0 5.39 .855
1998–99 Sudbury Wolves OHL 45 17 22 5 — 2528 173 1 4.11 .906 3 0 2 96 13 0 8.12 .841
1999–00 Kingston Frontenacs OHL 61 33 20 5 — 3340 191 0 3.43 .924 5 1 4 300 21 0 4.20 .906
2000–01 Providence Bruins AHL 26 8 14 4 — 1459 82 1 3.37 .891 — — — — — — — —
2000–01 Boston Bruins NHL 15 4 6 0 — 649 32 0 2.96 .890 — — — — — — — —
2001–02 Providence Bruins AHL 56 25 24 6 — 3317 142 7 2.57 .916 2 0 2 119 5 0 2.52 .904
2001–02 Boston Bruins NHL 1 0 0 1 — 65 3 0 2.77 .897 — — — — — — — —
2002–03 Providence Bruins AHL 39 23 10 3 — 2255 94 1 2.50 .917 4 1 3 264 6 1 1.36 .955
2002–03 Boston Bruins NHL 5 2 3 0 — 300 12 0 2.40 .918 — — — — — — — —
2003–04 Boston Bruins NHL 57 29 18 9 — 3420 117 3 2.05 .926 7 3 4 447 16 1 2.15 .924
2004–05 Tappara SM-l 11 4 5 2 — 657 32 1 2.92 .912 3 0 2 104 11 0 6.34 .847
2005–06 Providence Bruins AHL 1 1 0 — 0 64 3 0 2.81 .870 — — — — — — — —
2005–06 Boston Bruins NHL 30 8 19 — 2 1619 100 0 3.70 .879 — — — — — — — —
2006–07 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 72 37 25 — 9 4108 205 2 2.99 .894 — — — — — — — —
2007–08 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 19 2 9 — 5 964 63 1 3.92 .876 — — — — — — — —
2008–09 Colorado Avalanche NHL 31 12 16 — 0 1722 90 0 3.14 .892 — — — — — — — —
2009–10 Vancouver Canucks NHL 21 9 5 — 1 967 39 1 2.42 .911 1 0 0 25 1 0 2.40 .857
2010–11 Dallas Stars NHL 19 8 5 — 0 847 40 2 2.83 .910 — — — — — — — —
2011–12 Dallas Stars NHL 10 2 8 — 0 529 31 0 3.52 .898 — — — — — — — —
2011–12 Texas Stars AHL 21 9 10 — 1 1157 61 0 3.16 .891 — — — — — — — —
2012–13 Milano Rossoblu ITA 42 20 22 — 0 2542 114 5 2.69 .918 6 2 4 296 18 0 3.66 .915
2013–14 IF Björklöven SWE-2 41 16 24 — 0 2335 112 3 2.88 .896 10 6 4 610 22 1 2.16 .909
NHL totals 280 113 114 10 17 15192 732 9 2.89 .900 8 3 4 472 17 1 2.16 .922

Awards

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OHL

CHL

NHL

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Andrew Raycroft (2000-present)". HockeyGoalies.org. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
  2. ^ Simmons, Steve (June 9, 2013). "Simmons: Bruins would have taken Pogge instead of Rask from Maple Leafs for Raycroft". The Toronto Star. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
  3. ^ "Hockey". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
  4. ^ "Maple Leafs Place Wellwood, Raycroft on Waivers". TSN. Archived from the original on 2008-06-27. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  5. ^ "Leafs place Raycroft on Unconditional Waivers". TSN. Archived from the original on 2009-08-09. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
  6. ^ "Colorado signs former Maple Leafs Darcy Tucker and Andrew Raycroft". sports.msn.ca. 2008-07-01. Retrieved 2009-04-20.[permanent dead link‍]
  7. ^ "Raycroft aims to be No.1 for the Avalanche". Rocky Mountain News. 2009-01-11. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
  8. ^ "Canucks sign free agent goaltender Andrew Raycroft". Vancouver Canucks. 2009-07-06. Archived from the original on 2009-07-08. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
  9. ^ "Canucks send Schneider, Grabner to AHL". The Sports Network. 2009-09-28. Archived from the original on 2009-12-09. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
  10. ^ "Canucks riding Raycroft wave". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2009-10-30. Archived from the original on 2 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
  11. ^ "Raycroft earns shutout as Canucks defeat Avalanche". The Sports Network. 2009-11-01. Archived from the original on 2009-11-03. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
  12. ^ "Andrew Raycroft - Notes". Vancouver Canucks. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  13. ^ "Stars agree to terms with Burish, Raycroft". KansasCity.com. 2010-07-01. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
  14. ^ "Andrew Raycroft, NHL talent in Milan!" (in Italian). Hockey Milano Rossoblu. 2012-07-03. Archived from the original on 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
  15. ^ "Milan's big league aspirations". Archived from the original on 2014-01-13. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  16. ^ "Raycroft klar för Björklöven" [Raycroft ready for Björklöven] (in Swedish). bjorkloven.com. 2013-07-15. Archived from the original on 2013-09-08. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  17. ^ "Raycroft tackar för sig" [Raycroft bows out] (in Swedish). umeatidning.se. 2014-04-09. Archived from the original on 2014-04-12. Retrieved 2014-04-09.
  18. ^ [1][permanent dead link‍]
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by Winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy
2004 		Succeeded by
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