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Mike Palmateer

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Mike Palmateer
Born (1954-01-13) January 13, 1954 (age 70)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Right
Played for Toronto Maple Leafs
Washington Capitals
NHL draft 85th overall, 1974
Toronto Maple Leafs
WHA draft 24th overall, 1974
Cincinnati Stingers
Playing career 1974–1984

Michael Scott Palmateer (born January 13, 1954) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goalie. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1976 to 1984 for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Washington Capitals.

Playing career

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As a youth, Palmateer played in the 1966 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Toronto Shopsy's minor ice hockey team.[1]

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Palmateer was drafted 85th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1974 NHL amateur draft. Palmateer played 356 games in the NHL, posting 149 wins against 138 losses and 52 ties while compiling a 3.53 goals against average. Palmateer began his career with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1976-77 season and served as the club's starting goaltender for the next three seasons. In his fourth season, the 1979-80 campaign, Palmateer was slowed by injuries and made just 38 appearances for the Leafs while sharing the duties with four other goalies. Off-ice drama during this season led to his departure from Toronto. After being sidelined with an ankle injury that kept him out of the crease for six weeks, Palmateer's injury was questioned[2] by the team's management, who felt he was healthy enough to play. Palmateer, a pending free agent, could not get Maple Leafs general manager Punch Imlach to agree to a multi-year contract[3] and their impasse ultimately led to the goaltender signing a four-year $800,000[3] deal with the Washington Capitals. In lieu of working out the compensation required for the signing, the two clubs agreed to a trade that sent Palmateer's rights to Washington while the Maple Leafs acquired defensemen Robert Picard along with forward Tim Coulis.[4] The clubs also swapped draft picks. Following the trade, Capitals general manager Max McNab declared "with a player like Palmateer, I feel we are set in goal for the next ten years."[3]

Things did not work out that way, however. Palmateer's first year in Washington saw the netminder win 18 games for the lowly Capitals, but the following year he won just two games and spent the bulk of the season sidelined by a knee injury. Palmateer's knee problems, which seriously hampered his mobility, ultimately cost GM McNab and head coach Gary Green their jobs.[citation needed] Capitals owner Abe Pollin, who had committed a large sum of money towards securing Palmateer's services, was not happy to see the goalie struggling and demanded Green continue to use him despite diminishing returns. When Green protested and said that his knees were "gone" and he could no longer play him, Pollin instructed Green to "fix him" so that, at the very least, the Capitals could trade him for something in return.[5] When Palmateer continued to falter, both McNab and Green were fired. During the off-season, David Poile was hired as the new general manager of the Capitals and just days into the job, on September 9, 1982, made his first trade by sending Palmateer back to the Maple Leafs for cash considerations.

Back in Toronto, Palmateer resumed his job as the club's starting goalie, suiting up for 53 games. The next year, his knee problems flared up again and the goalie was limited to 34 games and had his 12th knee surgery performed.[6] With Palmateer sidelined, the bulk of the goaltending duties for the Maple Leafs fell to prospect Allan Bester, who was summoned from the Ontario Hockey League in midseason to take over the starting job.[7] The following year, with Palmateer ready to return, the Maple Leaf management opted to go with youth in goal, and named 20-year-olds Bester and Ken Wregget their tandem. That left Palmateer as the odd man out and he was instructed by Maple Leafs general manager Gerry McNamara to stay home and collect his salary.[8] Out of Toronto's plans, Palmateer nearly got a chance to return to the ice in February, after an injury to Edmonton Oilers star goaltender Grant Fuhr. The Oilers' director of player personnel, Barry Fraser, thought Palmateer could be a veteran option to fill in for Fuhr and contacted the Maple Leafs about a trade, but the talks never got off the ground when Fuhr's injury proved to be less serious than first thought.[9] The season ended with Palmateer never suiting up at all.

Palmateer's final taste of NHL action - a preseason game - came with the Edmonton Oilers.[10] However, with 14 knee operations, a year spent off the ice and the all-star tandem of Fuhr and Andy Moog already in Edmonton, his tryout was brief and he officially retired from the National Hockey League. Palmateer returned to the Maple Leafs as a scout in 2001[11] and worked with the club for the next 14 years. He is now up to twenty knee surgeries and a knee replacement.[11]

Awards and achievements

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  • 1980–81 - Set an NHL record for assists by a goaltender in one season (8).
  • In 2017 Palmateer was inducted into the Aurora Sports Hall of Fame (Athlete/Hockey).

https://aurorashof.ca/inductee/mike-palmateer/

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1970–71 Markham Waxers MetJHL — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
1971–72 Markham Waxers MetJHL — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
1972–73 Toronto Marlboros OHA 31 — — — 1860 87 5 2.81 — — — — — — — — —
1972–73 Toronto Marlboros MC — — — — — — — — — 3 2 1 180 6 0 2.00 —
1973–74 Toronto Marlboros OHA 32 — — — 1895 120 0 3.80 — — — — — — — — —
1974–75 Saginaw Gears IHL 20 — — — 1095 70 2 3.84 — — — — — — — — —
1974–75 Oklahoma City Blazers CHL 16 7 5 2 841 39 1 2.78 — 5 2 3 278 18 0 3.88 —
1975–76 Oklahoma City Blazers CHL 42 15 21 4 2272 137 1 3.61 — 3 0 2 158 8 0 3.04 —
1976–77 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 50 23 18 8 2877 154 4 3.21 .904 6 3 3 360 16 0 2.67 .923
1976–77 Dallas Black Hawks CHL 3 0 2 1 171 5 0 1.75 .939 — — — — — — — —
1977–78 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 63 34 19 9 3760 172 5 2.74 .911 13 6 7 795 32 2 2.42 .918
1978–79 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 58 26 21 10 3396 167 4 2.95 .909 5 2 3 298 17 0 3.42 .889
1979–80 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 38 16 14 3 2039 125 2 3.68 .875 1 0 1 60 7 0 7.00 .837
1980–81 Washington Capitals NHL 49 18 19 9 2679 172 2 3.85 .878 — — — — — — — —
1981–82 Washington Capitals NHL 11 2 7 2 584 47 0 4.83 .850 — — — — — — — —
1982–83 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 53 21 23 7 2965 197 0 3.99 .872 4 1 3 252 17 0 4.05 .907
1982–83 St. Catharines Saints AHL 2 1 0 1 125 4 1 1.92 .938 — — — — — — — —
1983–84 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 34 9 17 4 1831 149 0 4.88 .849 — — — — — — — —
NHL totals 356 149 138 52 20,131 1183 17 3.53 .889 29 12 17 1765 89 2 3.03 .909

Transactions

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References

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  1. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  2. ^ Blumenstock, Kathy. "And pop goes the goalie!". si.com.
  3. ^ a b c "The Hour - Google News Archive Search". google.com.
  4. ^ "Mike Palmateer stats". HockeyReference.com.
  5. ^ Mitchell, Bob (29 February 2012). "Firing and getting fired part of the job for NHL GMs and coaches | The Star". thestar.com. Toronto Star. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  6. ^ Burnham, Jamie (29 October 2001). "Looking back at Mike Palmateer". NHL.com. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  7. ^ "Legends of Hockey -- NHL Player Search -- Player -- Allan Bester". www.legendsofhockey.net. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  8. ^ CP Staff (26 October 1984). "Palmateer anxious to be back on ice". Ottawa Citizen. The Canadian Press. Retrieved 29 July 2019 – via Google Newspaper Archives.
  9. ^ CP Staff (22 February 1985). "Oilers eyeing Palmateer". Ottawa Citizen. The Canadian Press. Retrieved 29 July 2019 – via Google Newspaper Archives.
  10. ^ "Mike Palmateer in Edmonton Oilers Uniform". Mikepalmateer.ca. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  11. ^ a b Cox, Damien (12 November 2009). "How an ex-Leaf goalie helped bag Gustavsson". Toronto Star. Torstar Inc. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
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