Joey MacDonald

Joseph MacDonald (born February 7, 1980) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender in the Detroit Red Wings organization who currently plays with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League (AHL). He has previously played for the Boston Bruins, New York Islanders, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. He plays in the butterfly style of goaltending.

Early life
MacDonald was born on February 7, 1980, in Pictou, Nova Scotia. His favorite television program growing up was Hockey Night in Canada.

Junior hockey
MacDonald began his goaltending career in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for the 1997–98 season playing for the Halifax Mooseheads. In 17 games, he recorded only three wins, but continued to work on his style and play, impressing the coaching staff in the process. The Ontario Hockey League then came calling the following season and MacDonald began play for the Peterborough Petes as their starting goaltender. MacDonald thrived in his expanded role, finishing with a winning record and a lower goals against average. He remained the Pete's starting goaltender until the 2001–02 season when he joined the Toledo Storm after being noticed and signed up by the Detroit Red Wings scouting team.

Professional career
MacDonald struggled on the weak ECHL team and recorded only 12 wins in his 38 games. The Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL decided to call up MacDonald for their 2002–03 AHL season as backup to Marc Lamothe. MacDonald proved to be a capable in his new role, finishing with 14 wins and 6 losses in the 25 games he played. The 2003–04 AHL season saw MacDonald splitting time with Lamothe. The Griffins had seen enough and after Lamonthe left the following season, MacDonald was named starting goaltender. MacDonald played in 66 games for the Griffins, finishing with a record of 34–29–2 and a save percentage of .926. The 2005–06 AHL season saw an influx of goaltenders into the Red Wings farm system and MacDonald competed to stay near the top. He split time with Drew MacIntyre and new prospect Jimmy Howard. MacDonald finished the season 17–9–2 in 32 games played.

MacDonald was brought up to the NHL for the 2006–07 season when he was named as a backup goaltender to Dominik Hašek and Chris Osgood of the Detroit Red Wings. MacDonald made his NHL debut on October 19, 2006 against the San Jose Sharks. Detroit was down 3–0 when MacDonald came in for Osgood after he let in three power play goals in the first 15 minutes of period one. However, it would take five more games, in which he was the starting goaltender, before MacDonald would get his first NHL win with a 7–4 victory over the Calgary Flames on February 11, 2007.

On February 24, 2007, the Boston Bruins picked up MacDonald on waivers. He played his first game with the Bruins on March 4, 2007 resulting in a 4–1 win over the New Jersey Devils.

On July 8, 2007, MacDonald signed a two-year deal as an unrestricted free agent with the New York Islanders. He was then assigned to affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL.

In the 2008–09 season, MacDonald became the Islanders regular backup goalie. This is due to the departure of the team's previous backup, Wade Dubielewicz, as an UFA and his subsequent signing in Russia. This also had to do with the second year of MacDonald's contract being a one-way deal. Many Islanders fans were apprehensive about this arrangement, feeling that MacDonald may not be ready to be DiPietro's backup on a regular basis- especially since they hoped their starting netminder was going to get more time to rest. That time to rest came earlier than expected as DiPietro started the season recovering from an injury and then went out once again to another injury after two losses. MacDonald finished the season with a 14-26-6 record, to go along with a 3.37 goals against average. A high point of his season was a 2-0 victory against his former team, the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. MacDonald made 42 saves while recording his first career shutout in the NHL.

On August 10, 2009, MacDonald was signed to a one-year contract by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Prior to the 2009–10 season, MacDonald was placed on waivers and was assigned the starting goaltender for the Toronto Marlies of the AHL, on September 29, 2009. On October 8, 2009, MacDonald was called up to the Maple Leafs to backup Vesa Toskala. He would later get his first ever start with the Maple Leafs on October 13, 2009.

On March 3, 2010, MacDonald was traded by the Leafs to the Anaheim Ducks for a 7th round pick. As the Ducks have no AHL affiliate farm club, MacDonald remained with the Marlies after the trade.

On July 2, 2010, MacDonald returned to Detroit when he signed a one-year two-way contract with the organization. He recorded a 4-4-1 record in 11 appearances with Detroit, including one shutout. He remained with the Red Wings for the final months of the regular season and playoffs as Jimmy Howard's backup due to an injury to Chris Osgood.

Awards and achievements

 * 2002–03 Hap Holmes Memorial Award winner (with Marc Lamothe)
 * Team record: Highest save percentage in a season .936 (Grand Rapids Griffins 2003–04)
 * Team record: Most career goaltending wins 70 (Grand Rapids Griffins)
 * Team record: Most career shutouts 14 (Grand Rapids Griffins)