Wade Dubielewicz

Wade Roger Dubielewicz (born January 30, 1979), is a Canadian ice hockey goaltender, who last played for the Cologne Sharks (Kölner Haie) in Germany for the 2010-2011 season. He has played for three National Hockey League (NHL) teams during his career: the Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild and the New York Islanders.

Playing career
After tending goal for four years at the University of Denver, Dubielewicz was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Islanders on May 26, 2003. He joined the Islanders' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, where he became a fan favorite at the Arena at Harbor Yard, home of the Tigers. "Dubie" holds numerous AHL league records that still stand as of 2009. He holds the AHL/Sound Tigers records for most shutouts (15) and wins (81) in a career, and highest save percentage (.946) and goals against average (1.38) in a season (during the 2003–04 AHL season), passing the records of Rick DiPietro. Dubielewicz won the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as the top rookie in the AHL for 2003–04.

Dubielewicz made his first appearance of the 2006–2007 season for the New York Islanders on March 15, 2007, relieving Mike Dunham. In the regular season, he started the Islanders' final five games with a record of 4–1–0. On April 8, 2007, in the final game of the season against the New Jersey Devils, after Dubielewicz gave up a goal with .7 seconds left in regulation, he rebounded to stop the Devils in the shootout of a 3–2 victory to send the Islanders into the postseason as the 8th seed, eliminating the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Dubielewicz made his post-season debut on April 12, 2007 on the road in game one of the Eastern Conference Quarter-finals against the Buffalo Sabres. He allowed four goals on 35 shots in a 4–1 loss, giving the Sabres a 1–0 series lead. His teammate Rick DiPietro would get the start in goal for game two, after recovering from an injury.

The Islanders re-signed Dubielewicz to a one-year contract worth $500,000 for the 2007–2008 season. After the sesaon, on June 1, 2008, Newsday reported that Dubielewicz declined the two-way contract extension they offered, as he believed that he'd be assigned to the AHL, as Joey MacDonald had a one-way deal. Dubielewicz his previously voiced a desire to remain an Islander and called himself "an Islander at heart". He signed instead with Ak Bars of the Kontinental Hockey League.

On December 30, 2008, Wade Dubielewicz terminated his contract with Ak Bars by mutual agreement. In the last month before that, Wade often was the backup goalie, with younger Stanislav Galimov becoming the #1 goalie for Ak Bars. Wade left Ak Bars with a record of 11-8-3, a .892 save pct., and 2.77 GAA. After an injury to the Islanders' goaltender Joey MacDonald and with starting goalie Rick DiPietro sidelined, Dubielewicz re-signed with the Islanders on January 15, 2009, but the Blue Jackets claimed him off re-entry waivers on January 17, 2009. Dubielewicz played the rest of the season for Columbus.

Dubielewicz became a free agent in July 2009 and he signed a contract with the Minnesota Wild on July 17. The Wild have two other goalies with NHL experience and he was signed to improve the depth at the position.

Amateur career
Dubielewicz was an all-American goaltender at the University of Denver as a junior in 2001–2002 leading his team to the NCAA tournament, and turned down a million plus dollar NHL offer to stay at Denver for his senior season and to finish his degree. Before signing with Denver, he played for the Fernie Ghostriders, a Junior B team in the KIJHL in Fernie, British Columbia.

Awards and records

 * Fernie Ghostrider 1997 MVP Award Winner
 * WCHA Second All-Star Team (2001, 2003)
 * WCHA First All-Star Team (2002)
 * AHL All-Rookie Team (2004)
 * AHL Second All-Star Team (2004)
 * Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award (Rookie of the Year - AHL) (2004)
 * Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award (fewest goals against - AHL) (2004) (shared with Dieter Kochan)

Source: nhl.com.