Jocelyn Thibault

Jocelyn Thibault
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Height Weight	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg)
Teams	Quebec Nordiques Colorado Avalanche Montreal Canadiens Chicago Blackhawks Pittsburgh Penguins Buffalo Sabres
Nationality	Canadian
Born	(1975-01-12)January 12, 1975, Montreal, QC, CAN
NHL Draft	10th overall, 1993 Quebec Nordiques
Pro Career	1993 – 2008

Jocelyn Thibault (born January 12, 1975) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Quebec Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres. He is currently the Goaltender coach for the Colorado Avalanche.

He is currently leading a group out of Sherbrooke, Canada to create an expansion team in the QMJHL

Playing career

He was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques 10th overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. He went on to play for the Nordiques, continuing for a short time after they moved to Denver and became the Colorado Avalanche. In 1995, midway through the Avalanche's first season in Denver, he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in the trade that moved Patrick Roy to the Avalanche. Thibault played two seasons with the Canadiens before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in November 1998.

Thibault played his longest stretch with any one team with the Blackhawks—five seasons. His best season was the 2002–03 season when he recorded eight shutouts and made an appearance in the 2003 NHL All-Star Game. He recorded his career best GAA of 2.37 and a save percentage of .915.

After the lockout, Thibault was acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins in August 2005, for a fourth round pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft on a two-year contract worth $3m. However, a hip injury contributed to a bad beginning, with the veteran losing twelve of thirteen starts. He was replaced as the starter by Marc-André Fleury in late November and put on waivers. In January 2006, he underwent surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left hip.

He was signed as an unrestricted free agent on July 5, 2007, by the Buffalo Sabres. He played one season with Buffalo as the backup to Ryan Miller and was not re-signed.

He has the distinction of being the winning goaltender of the last game at the Montreal Forum, Maple Leaf Gardens and the Capital Centre.

Personal

Thibault has three daughters, Noemie, Zoe and Annabel. They currently reside in Littleton, Colorado.

Career statistics

Regular season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T/OTL	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1990–91	Laurentides	QAAA		20	14	5	0	1178	78	1	3.94
1991–92	Trois-Rivières Draveurs	QMJHL		30	14	7	1	1496	77	0	3.94
1992–93	Sherbrooke Faucons	QMJHL		56	34	14	5	1497	159	3	2.99	0.904
1993–94	Cornwall Aces	AHL		4	4	0	0	240	9	1	2.25	0.930
1993–94	Quebec Nordiques	NHL		29	8	13	3	1504	83	0	3.31	0.892
1994–95	Sherbrooke Faucons	QMJHL		13	6	6	1	776	38	1	2.94	0.903
1994–95	Quebec Nordiques	NHL		18	12	2	2	898	35	1	2.34	0.917
1995–96	Colorado Avalanche	NHL		10	3	4	2	558	28	0	3.01	0.874
1995–96	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		40	23	13	3	2334	110	3	2.83	0.913
1996–97	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		61	22	24	11	3397	164	1	2.90	0.910
1997–98	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		47	19	15	8	2652	109	2	2.47	0.902
1998–99	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		10	3	4	2	529	23	1	2.61	0.908
1998–99	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		52	21	26	5	3015	136	4	2.69	0.905
1999–00	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		60	25	26	7	3438	158	3	2.76	0.906
2000–01	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		66	27	32	7	3844	180	6	2.81	0.895
2001–02	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		67	33	23	9	3838	159	6	2.49	0.902
2002–03	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		62	26	28	7	3650	144	8	2.37	0.915
2003–04	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		14	5	7	2	821	39	1	2.85	0.913
2005–06	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		16	1	9	3	807	60	0	4.46	0.876
2006–07	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		22	7	8	2	1101	52	1	2.83	0.909
2007–08	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		12	3	4	2	507	28	2	3.31	0.869
NHL totals				586	238	238	68	32,893	1,508	39	2.75	0.904

Playoffs

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV %
1990–91	Laurentides	QAAA		5	2	3	300	20	0	4.00
1991–92	Trois-Rivières Draveurs	QMJHL		3	1	1	110	4	0	2.19
1992–93	Sherbrooke Faucons	QMJHL		15	9	6	882	57	0	3.87
1994–95	Quebec Nordiques	NHL		3	1	2	148	8	0	3.24	0.895
1995–96	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		6	2	4	310	18	0	3.47	0.904
1996–97	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		3	0	3	179	13	0	4.36	0.871
1997–98	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		2	0	0	43	4	0	5.53	0.750
2001–02	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		3	1	2	158	7	0	2.65	0.909
2006–07	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		1	0	0	8	0	0	0.00	1.000
NHL career totals				18	4	11	847	50	0	3.54	0.891

Transactions

• June 26, 1993 – Drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in the first round (10th overall) in 1993 draft.
• June 21, 1995 – Rights transferred to the Colorado Avalanche after the Nordiques franchise relocated.
• December 6, 1995 – Montreal Canadiens traded Patrick Roy and Mike Keane to the Avalanche for Andrei Kovalenko, Martin Ručínský and Thibault.
• November 16, 1998 – Chicago Blackhawks traded Jeff Hackett, Eric Weinrich, Alain Nasreddine and fourth-round selection (previously acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning – Chris Dyment) in 1999 draft to the Canadiens for Thibault, Dave Manson and Brad Brown.
• August 10, 2005 – Traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a fourth-round selection in 2006 draft.
• July 5, 2007- Signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Buffalo Sabres.

External links

• Jocelyn Thibault's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Jocelyn Thibault's NHL player profile
• QMJHL buys Maineiacs, dissolves team

Preceded by Todd Warriner

Quebec Nordiques first round draft pick 1993

Succeeded by Adam Deadmarsh