Daren Puppa

Daren James Puppa (born March 23, 1965 in Kirkland Lake, Ontario) is a former professional ice hockey player in the NHL. During his career he played as a goaltender for the Buffalo Sabres, Tampa Bay Lightning and briefly the Toronto Maple Leafs. He started his career splitting time between the Sabres and the AHL's Rochester Americans, before becoming the Sabres' main goalie until 1992–93. That season he was traded to the Maple Leafs, but played only 8 games for them before being claimed by the Lightning in the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft. In 1995–96, Puppa's stellar goaltending was a major factor in the Lightning earning their first playoff berth in team history. The team took the heavily-favoured Philadelphia Flyers to six games before losing in the first round. A series of injuries, most notably chronic back trouble, would limit Puppa to only 50 games over the next four years, and he was forced to retire midway through the 1999–2000 season.

Daren Puppa was the runner up to Patrick Roy for the 1989–1990 Vezina Trophy, awarded to the best NHL goaltender each year.