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Robert Esche
Robert Esche
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
Height
Weight
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
225 lb (102 kg)
NLA Team
F. Teams
SCL Tigers
RSL
Ak Bars Kazan
NHL
Phoenix Coyotes
Philadelphia Flyers
AHL
 Springfield Falcons
IHL
Houston Aeros
KHL
HC Dinamo Minsk
SKA Saint Petersburg
Born (1978-01-22)January 22, 1978,
Whitesboro, New York, USA
NHL Draft 139th overall, 1996
Phoenix Coyotes
Pro Career 1998 – present

Robert L. Esche (born January 22, 1978) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for SCL Tigers of National League A.

Playing career[]

Robert Esche started his career with the Phoenix Coyotes, only to be traded to the Flyers in a deal involving Michal Handzuš and Brian Boucher. He hails from Whitesboro, New York, where he contributes much to the community and charitable organizations with his spare time. In 2004, he claimed the starting goaltending spot for the Flyers, and led them to the NHL Eastern Conference Finals, only to fall in seven games to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning.

Esche has represented the United States in the 1997 and 1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and the IIHF World Championships in 2000, shutting out Russia in Russia, an accomplishment he still lists as his greatest moment in hockey. He also represented the US team in 2001 and also received the starting nod at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.

Esche is nicknamed "Chico" after former Flyers goaltender Glenn "Chico" Resch because his sticks are labeled R. Esche.[1][2]

Esche was named to the 2006 US Men's Olympic Hockey Team in Turin. He played one game in the Olympic tournament, losing 5–4 to Russia.

While playing in Russia for Ak Bars, he posted a record of 22–5–2 with a 2.01 GAA and a .912 save percentage along with 4 shutouts.[3]

He skated with Dynamo-Minsk during the 2010–11 KHL season. In 2008–2009 he posted a record of 21–14 with a 1.87 Goals against average, and .912 save percentage. He also posted 9 shutouts.

On June 16, 2011, the SCL Tigers announced they have signed the 33 year old Esche to a contract and will arrive in late July to start his training with the team[1]

Esche played for the 2008 Team USA Hockey team in the World Championships which took place in Canada. He had earned some starts after sitting out the first few games, including a 42 save performance in a controversial 3–2 loss against Finland. He also posted a 9–1 victory against Norway.

Awards and accomplishments[]

Career statistics[]

Regular season[]

   
Season Team League GP W L T/OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1995–96 Detroit Whalers OHL 23 13 6 0 1139 71 1 3.74
1996–97 Detroit Whalers OHL 58 24 28 2 3241 206 2 3.81 .878
1997–98 Plymouth Whalers OHL 48 29 13 4 2810 135 3 2.88 .896
1998–99 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 3 0 1 0 130 7 0 3.23 .860
1998–99 Springfield Falcons AHL 55 24 20 6 2957 138 1 2.80
1999–2000 Springfield Falcons AHL 21 9 9 2 1207 61 2 3.03 .912
1999–2000 Houston Aeros IHL 7 4 2 1 419 16 2 2.29 .922
1999–2000 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 8 2 5 0 408 23 0 3.38 .893
2000–01 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 25 10 8 4 1350 68 2 3.02 .896
2001–02 Springfield Falcons AHL 1 1 0 0 60 0 1 0.00 1.000
2001–02 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 22 6 10 2 1145 52 1 2.72 .902
2002–03 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 30 12 9 3 1638 60 2 2.20 .907
2003–04 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 40 21 11 7 2322 79 3 2.04 .915
2005–06 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 40 22 11 5 2286 113 1 2.97 .897
2006–07 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 18 5 9 1 860 62 1 4.32 .872
2007–08 AK Bars Kazan RSL 18 1095 34 3 1.86
2008–09 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 38 21 14 6 2183 68 9 1.87 .912
2009–10 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 42 29 7 5 2527 87 6 2.07 .917
2010–11 HC Dinamo Minsk KHL 24 5 14 5 1383 76 0 3.30 .897
NHL totals 186 78 64 22 10140 464 10 2.75 .900

Post season[]

   
Season Team League GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1995–96 Detroit Whalers OHL 3 0 2 105 4 0 2.29
1996–97 Detroit Whalers OHL 5 1 4 317 19 0 3.60
1997–98 Plymouth Whalers OHL 15 8 7 868 45 0 3.11
1998–99 Springfield Falcons AHL 1 0 1 59 4 0 4.02 .867
1999–2000 Springfield Falcons AHL 3 1 2 180 12 0 4.01 .878
2002–03 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 1 0 0 30 1 0 2.00 .929
2003–04 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 18 11 7 1060 41 1 2.32 .918
2005–06 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 6 2 4 314 22 0 4.20 .875
2007–08 AK Bars Kazan RSL 10 609 25 1 2.46
2008–09 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 3 0 3 185 8 0 2.59
NHL totals 25 13 11 1405 64 1 2.73 .907

International play[]

Played for the United States in:

Family[]

Esche is married and has two children[1].

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 The SCL Tigers complete their defense with goalkeeper Robert Esche and the defender Philippe Rytz (German). scltigers.ch (June 16, 2011). Retrieved on June 19, 2011.

External links[]

Preceded by
Patrick Roy
Co-winner of the Jennings Trophy
2003
Succeeded by
Martin Brodeur


This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Robert Esche. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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