Martin Gerber

Last updated

Martin Gerber
Martin Gerber Oklahoma City Barons.jpg
Gerber with the Oklahoma City Barons in 2011
Born (1974-09-03) 3 September 1974 (age 49)
Burgdorf, Switzerland
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position Goaltender
Played for SC Langnau
Färjestad BK
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Carolina Hurricanes
Ottawa Senators
Toronto Maple Leafs
Atlant Mytishchi
Edmonton Oilers
Växjö Lakers
Rögle BK
EHC Kloten
National teamFlag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland
NHL draft 232nd overall, 2001
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Playing career 19942017

Martin Gerber (born 3 September 1974) is a Swiss former professional ice hockey goaltender. He was drafted in the eighth round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft (232nd overall) by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Mighty Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Edmonton Oilers, winning the Stanley Cup as a member of the Hurricanes in 2006. Following the 2011–12 season, he played two seasons in the Swedish Elitserien before returning to the Swiss NLA, finishing his playing career with the Kloten Flyers.

Contents

Playing career

Gerber began his career in his native Switzerland for SC Langnau. Initially playing in the Nationalliga B, Gerber and the Tigers won promotion to Nationalliga A in 1998. In 2001, he was drafted by the NHL's Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and spent the subsequent season in Sweden playing for Färjestads BK in the Elitserien. He moved to the Ducks organization in 2002 and on 11 October of that year, Gerber played his first NHL game, a 4–2 loss to the Dallas Stars. He went on to play 22 regular season games that season, serving as backup to Jean-Sébastien Giguère. That season, the Mighty Ducks made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, narrowly losing in seven games to the New Jersey Devils. [1] Gerber continued his role as backup and played 32 games for Anaheim in 2003–04.

On 18 June 2004, Gerber was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Tomáš Malec and a third-round pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. [2] During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Gerber returned to his former European teams, playing 20 games with the SCL Tigers and 30 with Färjestad BK.

Gerber returned to the NHL for the 2005–06 season, and it was a successful one for Gerber, who won 38 games and helped earn Carolina their third division championship. Gerber entered the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs as the Hurricanes' starting goaltender, but he struggled in the team's opening series and was replaced by rookie Cam Ward, who had been his backup for most of the season. Ward went on to backstop the team to its first Stanley Cup championship as the Hurricanes defeated the Edmonton Oilers in seven games in the Finals. [3] Gerber, who earned 1 of Carolina's 16 playoff wins, became the second Swiss player in NHL history to win a Stanley Cup; David Aebischer, also a goaltender, was the first in 2001 with the Colorado Avalanche. [4]

On 1 July 2006, as a free agent, Gerber signed a contract with the Ottawa Senators. [5] However, he struggled throughout the season and was replaced as starting goaltender by Ray Emery. That season, Emery led the Senators to their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, where they would lose to Gerber's former team, the Anaheim Ducks. It was Gerber's third appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals in five years. [6] Gerber began the 2007–08 season as the Senators' starter when Emery was sidelined after off-season wrist surgery. His play was inconsistent and Emery resumed the starting job once he was healthy again. However, after the team suffered a rapid decline in the standings and head coach John Paddock was fired and replaced by general manager Bryan Murray, Murray declared Gerber as the starting goaltender for the remainder of the season. Gerber entered the 2008–09 season in that role, but his uneven play continued and he was eventually supplanted by the newly signed Alex Auld. On 22 January 2009, Gerber was placed on waivers after having been sent down to the Senators' then-American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Binghamton Senators. [7]

Gerber sporting his all-black "Darth Gerber" mask with the Senators. Martin Gerber.jpg
Gerber sporting his all-black "Darth Gerber" mask with the Senators.

On 4 March 2009, Gerber was claimed off waivers by the Toronto Maple Leafs to replace goaltender Vesa Toskala, who was scheduled for season-ending surgery. [8] During a game on 24 March against the Washington Capitals, Gerber was assessed a game-misconduct and immediately suspended for three games for an incident with the on-ice officials, during which Gerber was arguing a call and proceeded to make contact with referee Mike Leggo and a linesman who was attempting to restrain him. [9]

During the off-season, Gerber signed a contract with Atlant Moscow Oblast of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), coincidentally the same team that fellow former Senators goaltender Ray Emery played for the previous season before returning to the NHL in 2009. [10] On 13 December 2009, while playing for Atlant, Gerber suffered an apparent fracture of the fourth vertebrae when an opposing forward slid into him. Gerber's neck injury was initially thought to be a compression fracture of a cervical vertebra and it was believed that he would miss upwards of six months. [11] However, after more comprehensive testing the following day, no fractures were found and it was diagnosed as a spinal contusion; he would only be sidelined for a few weeks. [12]

On 6 August 2010, Gerber signed a one-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers. [13] He was assigned to the team's AHL affiliate, the Oklahoma City Barons. He was recalled on 18 November after Oilers' goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin was placed on injured reserve. [14] Gerber made his first start for the Oilers on 25 November, recording a 3–2 victory over the visiting Colorado Avalanche. He stopped 35 of 37 shots and drew an assist on the game-winning goal scored by Taylor Hall. [15] Gerber started one more game, a 4–1 victory at Ottawa, before Khabibulin was re-activated and Gerber was returned to the Barons. Gerber was again re-called in late February after another injury to Khabibulin. Picking up where he left off in late November, Gerber stopped 34 shots in a 2–1 shootout win over the Nashville Predators on 1 March, improving to a 3–0 record with Edmonton. [16]

On 12 July 2011, Gerber signed a one-year contract with Växjö Lakers of the Swedish Elitserien. [17] Playing 42 games, he finished the 2011–12 season ranked fifth in the save percentage with .928 and seventh in goals against average (GAA) with 2.18, although Växjö failed to qualify for the playoffs. For the 2012–13 season, he signed with fellow Elitserien club Rögle BK. [18] After one season with Rögle, Gerber returned to Switzerland in signing a two-year contract with Kloten Flyers. He retired from professional hockey after his contract with Kloten expired.

Martin Gerber 2013 World Championship Final.JPG
Medal record
Representing Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Switzerland
Ice hockey
Ice Hockey World Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2013 Sweden/Finland

Goaltender mask

To start the 2007–08 season, Gerber wore an all-black mask while his other mask was being painted; he played so well wearing the black mask that he decided not to replace it, wearing it for the remainder of the season. Fans endearingly called him "Darth Gerber". In response, Gerber tried out a new Darth Vader-inspired mask design to begin the 2008–09 season when he was with the Ottawa Senators. [19] The mask was worn by Gerber during his first few games with Toronto before he switched to a new one paying homage to old masks of past Maple Leafs' goaltenders.

International play

During his playing career, Gerber was a mainstay on the Switzerland national team, having represented his country in eight IIHF World Championships and two Winter Olympics since 2000. At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Gerber made 49 saves to shut-out a heavily-favoured Canada 2–0 in one of the biggest upsets in modern Olympic hockey history regarded as one of the greatest accomplishments in Swiss hockey. [20] Gerber has appeared in 40 games at the World Championships. Switzerland failed to medal in any of these tournaments, their highest finish being fifth in 2010, though their play has seen their IIHF World Rank increase from ninth in 2003 to seventh in 2010.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season TeamLeagueGPWLTOTLMINGA SO GAA SV% GPWLMINGASOGAASV%
1992–93SC SignauSWI-5
1993–94SC Thun SWI-4
1994–95 SC Langnau SWI-2 52221804.8614.50
1995–96SC LangnauSWI-U20
1996–97 SC LangnauSWI-238228612103.1884882903.56
1997–98 SC LangnauSWI-24024301413.48169614202.62
1998–99 SC Langnau NDA 4225222034.83
1999–00 SC LangnauNDA4426521613.64
2000–01 SC LangnauNLA44267111432.56.927
2001–02 Färjestad BK SEL 4426648741.96.922106571821.64.941
2002–03 Cincinnati Mighty Ducks AHL 110060202.00.951
2002–03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 22611312033911.94.92920020103.00.833
2003–04 Mighty Ducks of AnaheimNHL321112416986422.26.918
2004–05 SC LangnauNLA20610412175702.81
2004–05 Färjestad BKSEL30206418275841.90.92915969003612.40.925
2005–06 Carolina Hurricanes NHL6038146349216232.78.9066112211313.53.856
2006–07 Ottawa Senators NHL29159319697412.78.906
2007–08 Ottawa SenatorsNHL5730184319714522.72.9104042381403.53.912
2008–09 Ottawa SenatorsNHL144918394012.86.899
2008–09 Binghamton Senators AHL146707833813.03.902
2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL126507063803.23.905
2009–10 Atlant Mytishchi KHL 30156617516422.19.914
2010–11 Oklahoma City Barons AHL4220164247210742.60.9116233351011.79.931
2010–11 Edmonton Oilers NHL3300185401.30.958
2011–12 Växjö Lakers SEL4224178842.18.928
2012–13 Rögle BK SEL4311310245711612.83.916
2013–14 Kloten Flyers NLA341714020857632.19.92715688853312.24.934
2014–15 Kloten FlyersNLA331412118887922.51.915
2015–16 Kloten FlyersNLA4719232279013702.95.902
2016–17 EHC KlotenNLA301111517569503.24.910
NLA totals29417,5819223.1515688853312.24.934
NHL totals2291137871412,915566102.63.91112154792813.50.890

International

YearTeamEventResultGPWLTMINGASOGAASV%
2000 Switzerland WC 6th2110120703.50.873
2001 SwitzerlandWC9th62403581602.68.919
2002 Switzerland OG 11th3110158401.52.958
2002 SwitzerlandWC10th41302401203.00.894
2004 SwitzerlandWC8th62223581121.84.932
2005 SwitzerlandOGQQ3300180401.33.923
2005 SwitzerlandWC8th63303591011.67.946
2006 SwitzerlandOG6th31201601114.13.890
2008 SwitzerlandWC7th5322671403.15.879
2009 SwitzerlandWC9th6333641412.31.902
2010 SwitzerlandWC5th532298711.41.936
2013 SwitzerlandWCSilver medal icon.svg6423651101.81.923
Senior totals5224252304711762.30.916

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