Import Goalies Need Not Apply

As a current coach in Germany and a former goaltender in Switzerland my ears always perk up when hearing about goalie jobs overseas. I, along with many Canadian goaltenders, played in an era where there was a tremendous demand for North American goalies. Today is a different story where European clubs have the luxury of signing a national born player and save one of their import spots for a forward or defensemen.

For a quick snapshot of how the tables have turned over the last ten years I compared this weeks German DEL top 10 goalies with the top 10 goalies from the 2005/2006 season. Currently, eight German goalies appear in the 2015/2016 top 10 with the two non national goalies being one from Finland and the other from Sweden. The highest ranked current North American goalie is 14th*. In the 2005/2006 season, Germany only had three goalies in the top 10. Seven imports were at the top of the DEL with four of the top 10 goalies being Canadian.

Goaltending has improved around the world thanks to information technology, European goalies coming to North America to play junior and the North American goalie coaches that traveled to Europe 10 and 20 years ago to coach at camps, clinics and to share information. Will their own home grown supply of goalies and limited import spots, clubs are opting to go with local talent which has made if more difficult then ever for North American goaltenders to find job overseas.

* Chet Pickard, currently #2 in the DEL playing for Iserlohn, is a duel Canadian/German citizen.

Current DEL 2015/2016 Top Ten Goalies

TOP TORHÜTER

№	Spieler		Nat	Größe	Gewicht	Geb.Datum	SH	Mannschaft	Sp.	Min.	S	U	N	SO	GT	GTS	SV	SV%
1	Dennis Endras		GER	183 cm	78 kg	14.07.1985	L	Adler Mannheim	19	1142:58	14	0	5	4	36	1.89	535	93.7%
2	Chet Pickard		GER	188 cm	98 kg	29.11.1989	L	Iserlohn Roosters	8	478:03	3	0	4	1	16	2.01	269	94.4%
3	Mathias Niederberger		GER	180 cm	80 kg	26.11.1992	L	Düsseldorfer EG	16	931:38	8	0	7	1	32	2.06	454	93.4%
4	Gustaf Wesslau		SWE	193 cm	88 kg	05.02.1985	L	Kölner Haie	16	965:30	10	0	6	0	36	2.24	521	93.5%
5	Dimitrij Kotschnew		GER	184 cm	80 kg	15.07.1981	L	Hamburg Freezers	11	603:38	3	0	7	1	23	2.29	271	92.2%
6	Felix Brückmann		GER	180 cm	83 kg	16.12.1990	L	Grizzlys Wolfsburg	13	791:13	6	0	7	2	32	2.43	312	90.7%
7	Andreas Jenike		GER	179 cm	80 kg	14.07.1988	L	Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers	20	1187:21	13	0	7	2	49	2.48	602	92.5%
8	Petri Vehanen		FIN	187 cm	84 kg	09.10.1977	L	Eisbären Berlin	18	1083:14	11	0	7	0	45	2.49	514	91.9%
9	Danny aus den Birken		GER	186 cm	87 kg	15.02.1985	L	EHC Red Bull München	14	830:50	7	0	7	0	37	2.67	375	91.0%
10	Dustin Strahlmeier		GER	193 cm	87 kg	17.05.1992	L	Straubing Tigers	7	396:51	2	0	4	0	19	2.87	197	91.2%

DEL 2005/20006 top Ten Goalies

TOP GOALKEEPER

№	player		Nat	size	weight	Date of birth	SH	team	Sp.	Minute	S	U	N	SO	GT	GTS	SV	SV%
1	Tomáš Pöpperle		CZE	185 cm	85 kg	1984-10-10	L	Eisbären Berlin	11	655: 29	0	0	0	1	23	2.11	290	92.7%
2	Jimmy Waite		CAN	185 cm	82 kg	1969-04-15	L	ERC Ingolstadt	7	395: 27	0	0	0	1	17	2.58	179	91.3%
3	Lukas Lang		GER	188 cm	84 kg	1986-07-27	L	Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers	1	21:56	0	0	0	0	1	2.74	12	92.3%
4	Roman Čechmánek		CZE	191 cm	91 kg	1971-03-02	L	Hamburg Freezers	6	366: 17	0	0	0	0	17	2.78	171	91.0%
5	Jeff Maund		CAN	186 cm	80 kg	1976-04-08	L	ERC Ingolstadt	1	20:00	0	0	0	0	1	3.00	12	92.3%
6	Thomas Greiss		GER	185 cm	98 kg	1986-01-29	L	Kölner Haie	9	533: 13	0	0	0	1	27	3.04	239	89.8%
7	Andrei Trefilov		RUS	183 cm	82 kg	1969-08-31	L	DEG Metro Stars	14	839: 01	0	0	0	0	43	3.08	295	87.3%
8th	Trevor Kidd		CAN	188 cm	88 kg	1972-03-26	L	Hannover Scorpions	10	596: 41	0	0	0	0	32	3.22	286	89.9%
9	Robert Müller		GER	172 cm	85 kg	1980-06-25	L	Krefeld Pinguine	5	297: 09	0	0	0	0	21	4.24	133	86.4%
10	Jean-François Labbé		CAN	175 cm	78 kg	1972-06-15	L	Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers	4	220: 07	0	0	0	0	17	4.63	96	85.0%