Daren Puppa

Daren James Puppa ( born March 23, 1965 in Kirkland Lake, Ontario ) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played from 1985 to 2000 for the Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning in the National Hockey League.

Career

As a junior, he studied at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and played for the team in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. In the NHL Entry Draft in 1983 it chose the Buffalo Sabres in the fourth round as 75th out. This was surprising, because as soon as a Scout had him on his list. The tip had Buffalo's general manager Scotty Bowman received from Ralph Backstrom, who is a cousin of Puppas father.

To his debut in the NHL he came in the season 1985 / 86th After a few games in the American Hockey League with the Rochester Americans they picked Puppa in the NHL and was goalkeeper Tom Barrasso conserve. When reigning Stanley Cup winner, the Edmonton Oilers, they had not much calculated. The young goalkeeper surprised and kept his goal clean and the Sabres won 2-0. However, he failed the breakthrough in the Sabres and he was only the third goalkeeper. Only when Barrasso joined the Pittsburgh Penguins, he managed to fight for the place of the ordinary goalkeeper. Finally, in this position he excelled in the season 1989 / 90th He was elected to the Second All-Star Team, participated in the All-Star Game and landed behind Patrick Roy in second place in the election for the Vezina Trophy. In the coming years, he could not hold constant the high level. Over the 1992/93 season he was released together with Dave Andreychuk and a draft law, which the Sabres Kenny Jönsson brought to the Toronto Maple Leafs. In turn, Grant Fuhr came to Buffalo.

The Maple Leafs do not protect him at NHL Expansion Draft in 1993 and as he came through the detour to the Florida Panthers Tampa Bay Lightning. The new team, he was a decent support. Especially in the season 1995/96 season he showed a strong performance, was again in the circle of nominees for the Vezina Trophy. But back problems plagued him since training camp in the summer of 1996. He could not play the following game times consistently and so he decided to end his career after five games in the season 1999/2000.

NHL stats

Sporting successes

Personal Awards

  • AHL First All -Star Team: 1987
  • NHL Second All-Star Team: 1990
  • Participate in the NHL All-Star Game: 1990
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