Kay Whitmore, Jr. (born April 10, 1967) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender. He played for the Hartford Whalers, Vancouver Canucks, Boston Bruins, and Calgary Flames during his career, as well as several teams in the minor American Hockey League and International Hockey League, from 1987 until 2002.

Kay Whitmore
Born (1967-04-10) April 10, 1967 (age 57)
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Height5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
PositionGoaltender
CaughtLeft
Played forHartford Whalers
Vancouver Canucks
Boston Bruins
Calgary Flames
NHL draft26th overall, 1985
Hartford Whalers
Playing career1987–2002

Hockey career

edit

As a youth, Whitmore played in the 1979 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Greater Sudbury.[1]

In 1983-84, Whitmore joined OHL's Peterborough Petes and went 17-8-0 as a major junior rookie. The following season, he paced the league with 53 games by a goalie and 35 wins. In the playoffs, he went 10-4. In 1985-86, he went 27-12-2 with a league-best three shutouts and 2.77 GAA. At year's end, he was named an OHL First Team All-Star.[citation needed]

Whitmore was drafted 26th overall in the 1985 Entry Draft by the Hartford Whalers. He played most of his first four professional seasons for Hartford's minor league teams in Binghamton and Springfield, with some spot duty for the Whalers in 1989, 1990 and 1991. In the 1991 American Hockey League season, Whitmore led the Springfield Indians to the franchise's seventh and final Calder Cup, and was named the winner of the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP.[citation needed]

The following season, Whitmore stuck in the NHL, platooning with Peter Sidorkiewicz in the Whalers' nets but losing his job to Frank Pietrangelo at season's end and in the playoffs.[citation needed]

In the 1992 offseason, he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks for Corrie D'Alessio and cash. That season, he played 31 games behind Kirk McLean and helped the Canucks win the Smythe Division season title, going 18-8-4 with a 3.10 GAA. In 1994, he played 32 games and posted an 18-14-0 record. In the playoffs, he helped his team win the Clarence Campbell Bowl in the Western Conference finals before losing to the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup finals. In the shortened 1994-95 season, Kay played eleven games for the Canucks.[citation needed]

His contract expiring thereafter, Whitmore spent the next five seasons in the minor leagues, his most successful season being 1998, when he led the Long Beach Ice Dogs of the International Hockey League into the league semi-finals, as well as winning First Team All-Star accolades.[citation needed]

Being traded to the Boston Bruins in 1999 for future considerations, he was recalled from Boston's Providence farm team in the 2000-01 season when Bruins goaltenders Byron Dafoe and John Grahame were both injured. Whitmore, getting his first NHL start in over six years, posted a 5–4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on November 2, 2000.[2] In five games with the Bruins, Whitmore's save percentage stood at .809, and he was sent back down to the minors. The following season Whitmore signed as a free agent with the Calgary Flames, but only played in one game for them, seeing most of his action for their American Hockey League farm team, the Saint John Flames. He retired from professional hockey thereafter, save for a three-game playoff stint for the Nuremberg Ice Tigers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in 2005.[citation needed]

Post playing career

edit

Following his hockey career, Whitmore was the goaltending coach for the Peterborough Petes from 2002-2004. From 2005-2006, Whitmore worked as a studio analyst on the NHL Network's program On the Fly, as well as a guest studio analyst on The NHL on OLN Post Game Report. Whitmore can also be seen as a guest analyst on the Versus Network.[3] Currently, Whitmore is serving as a goaltending supervisor for the NHL.

Career statistics

edit

Regular season and playoffs

edit
Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPWLT/OTMINGASOGAASV%GPWLMINGASOGAASV%
1982–83Sudbury LegionnairesNOHA43258010842.51
1983–84Peterborough PetesOHL291780147111004.49.858
1984–85Peterborough PetesOHL5335162307717223.35.9011710410205803.41
1985–86Peterborough PetesOHL4127122246711432.77.90114858374002.87
1986–87Peterborough PetesOHL3614175215911813.287333661712.79
1987–88Binghamton WhalersAHL3817154213712133.40.8852021181005.08.873
1988–89Hartford WhalersNHL32101801003.33.8962021351004.44.863
1988–89Binghamton WhalersAHL5621294320024114.52.864
1989–90Hartford WhalersNHL94214422603.53.858
1989–90Binghamton WhalersAHL243192138610904.72.858
1990–91Hartford WhalersNHL183938505203.67.863
1990–91Springfield IndiansAHL33229119169813.07.892151149263702.40
1991–92Hartford WhalersNHL4514216256715533.62.88010019103.23.800
1992–93Vancouver CanucksNHL31188418179413.10.890
1993–94Vancouver CanucksNHL3218140192111303.53.867
1994–95Vancouver CanucksNHL110625583703.98.86710020206.00.889
1995–96Detroit VipersIHL103505013303.95.860
1995–96Los Angeles Ice DogsIHL30109715639913.80.891
1995–96Syracuse CrunchAHL116416633703.35.896
1995–96Binghamton RangersAHL202127904.27.868
1996–97Södertälje SKSWE2513208503.86.858
1997–98Long Beach Ice DogsIHL4628123251610932.60.89814958384303.08
1998–99Hartford Wolf PackAHL1888210804702.61.903
1998–99Milwaukee AdmiralsIHL23106413046422.95.904
1999–00Providence BruinsAHL4317193239312713.18.89910159202.04.939
2000–01Boston BruinsNHL51202031805.33.809
2000–01Providence BruinsAHL26138214606522.67.917
2001–02Calgary FlamesNHL101058303.08.857
2001–02Saint John FlamesAHL361016820018302.49.908
2004–05Nürnberg Ice TigersDEL3
NHL Totals155606416859750843.55.8754021741304.49.865

References

edit
  1. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-01-15.
  2. ^ "Kallio hat trick leads Thrashers". ESPN. Associated Press. 2000-11-04. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  3. ^ Pollard, Dan (2004-09-13). "Tough times for Kiprusoff's mentor". TSN. Archived from the original on February 10, 2005. Retrieved 2006-07-21.
edit