Martin Gerber

Martin Gerber (born 3 September 1974) is a Swiss former professional ice hockey goaltender. He was drafted in the eighth round, as 232nd overall, by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.

Martin Gerber
Born (1974-09-03) 3 September 1974
Burgdorf, Switzerland
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position Goaltender
Played for NHL:
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Carolina Hurricanes
Ottawa Senators
Toronto Maple Leafs
Edmonton Oilers
Other:
SC Langnau
Färjestad BK
Atlant Moscow Oblast
Växjö Lakers
Rögle BK
Kloten Flyers
National team   Switzerland
NHL Draft 232nd overall, 2001
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Playing career 1994–2017

Before moving to the National Hockey League (NHL) in 2002, Gerber played professionally in Switzerland and Sweden; he would return to both countries during the 2004–05 NHL lockout. Gerber played two seasons with the Mighty Ducks before spending time with the Carolina Hurricanes, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2006, the Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Gerber spent the 2009–10 season in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) before signing with the Edmonton Oilers in 2010. Following the 2011–12 season, he played two years in the Elitserien before returning to the NLA. Gerber finished his playing career with the Kloten Flyers.

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.

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.


Medal record
Representing Switzerland
Ice hockey
Ice Hockey World Championships
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 Team League GPWLTOTLMINGASOGAASV% GPWLMINGASOGAASV%
1992–93 SC Signau SWI-5 —————————— ————————
1993–94 SC Thun SWI-4 —————————— ————————
1994–95 SC Langnau SWI-2 5————2221804.86— 1—————4.50—
1995–96 SC Langnau SWI-U20 —————————— ————————
1996–97 SC Langnau SWI-2 38————228612103.18— 8——4882903.56—
1997–98 SC Langnau SWI-2 40 ————2430141—3.48— 16——9614202.62—
1998–99 SC Langnau NLA 42————2522203—4.83— ————————
1999–00 SC Langnau NLA 44————2652161—3.64— ————————
2000–01 SC Langnau NLA 44————267111432.56.927 ————————
2001–02 Färjestad BK SEL 44————26648741.96.922 10——6571821.64.941
2002–03 Cincinnati Mighty Ducks AHL 1100—60202.00.951 ————————
2002–03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 226113—12033911.94.929 20020103.00.833
2003–04 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 3211124—16986422.26.918 ————————
2004–05 SC Langnau NLA 206104—12175702.81— ————————
2004–05 Färjestad BK SEL 302064—18275841.90.929 15969003612.40.925
2005–06 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 603814—6349216232.78.906 6112211313.53.856
2006–07 Ottawa Senators NHL 29159—319697412.78.906 ————————
2007–08 Ottawa Senators NHL 573018—4319714522.72.910 4042381403.53.912
2008–09 Ottawa Senators NHL 1449—18394012.86.899 ————————
2008–09 Binghamton Senators AHL 1467—07833813.03.902 ————————
2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 1265—07063803.23.905 ————————
2009–10 Atlant Mytishchi KHL 30156—617516422.19.914 ————————
2010–11 Oklahoma City Barons AHL 422016—4247210742.60.911 6233351011.79.931
2010–11 Edmonton Oilers NHL 330—0185401.30.958 ————————
2011–12 Växjö Lakers SEL 42————24178842.18.928 ————————
2012–13 Rögle BK SEL 431131—0245711612.83.916 ————————
2013–14 Kloten Flyers NLA 341714—020857632.19.927 15688853312.24.934
2014–15 Kloten Flyers NLA 331412—118887922.51.915 ————————
2015–16 Kloten Flyers NLA 471923—2279013702.95.902 ————————
2016–17 EHC Kloten NLA 301111—517569503.24.910 ————————
NLA totals 294————17,581922—3.15— 15688853312.24.934
NHL totals 2291137871412,915566102.63.911 12154792813.50.890

International
Year Team Event Result GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2000 Switzerland WC 6th 2 1 1 0 120 7 0 3.50 .873
2001 Switzerland WC 9th 6 2 4 0 358 16 0 2.68 .919
2002 Switzerland OG 11th 3 1 1 0 158 4 0 1.52 .958
2002 Switzerland WC 10th 4 1 3 0 240 12 0 3.00 .894
2004 Switzerland WC 8th 6 2 2 2 358 11 2 1.84 .932
2005 Switzerland OGQ Q 3 3 0 0 180 4 0 1.33 .923
2005 Switzerland WC 8th 6 3 3 0 359 10 1 1.67 .946
2006 Switzerland OG 6th 3 1 2 0 160 11 1 4.13 .890
2008 Switzerland WC 7th 5 3 2 — 267 14 0 3.15 .879
2009 Switzerland WC 9th 6 3 3 — 364 14 1 2.31 .902
2010 Switzerland WC 5th 5 3 2 — 298 7 1 1.41 .936
2013 Switzerland WC 6 4 2 — 365 11 0 1.81 .923
Senior totals 52 24 25 2 3047 117 6 2.30 .916

References
  1. "Devils down Ducks in Game 7 to win third Stanley Cup". Sports Illustrated. 6 September 2003. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  2. "Might Ducks trade goalie Gerber to Carolina". USA Today. 19 June 2004. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  3. Jason Diamos (20 June 2006). "Third Try at Clinching Gives Carolina Its First Cup". NY Times. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  4. "Swiss ice hockey star steps out of the shadows". swissinfo. 10 June 2003. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  5. "Senators sign Gerber to multiyear contract; say goodbye to Hasek". ESPN. 7 January 2006. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  6. Chris Iorfida (20 March 2008). "Martin Gerber's march". CBC.ca. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  7. "Senators' Gerber clears waivers". TSN. 23 January 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  8. "Maple Leafs claim Gerber after placing Toskala on IR". TSN. 3 April 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  9. "Leafs' Gerber suspended for three games". NHL.com. 25 March 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  10. "Gerber follows Emery path to Russia". Rogers Sportsnet. 23 July 2009. Archived from the original on 26 July 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  11. Greg Wyshynski (13 December 2009). "Goalie Martin Gerber suffers significant neck injury in KHL". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  12. Noah Love (14 December 2009). "Gerber not as seriously injured as initially thought". National Post. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  13. "Oilers sign Gerber to 1-year deal". CBC.ca. 6 August 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  14. "Nikolai Khabibulin placed on IR". ESPN. 18 November 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  15. "Hall scores game-winner in third period as Oilers edge Avs". TSN. 25 November 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
  16. "Omark scores winner in shootout as Oilers defeat Predators". TSN. 1 March 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  17. "Martin Gerber klar för ett år" (in Swedish). Växjö Lakers. 12 July 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  18. Erikzon, Olof (18 May 2012). "Världsmålvakt förstärker Rögle". roglebk.se (in Swedish). Rögle BK. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  19. "Sens' Gerber has new mask, new outlook on season". The Sports Network. 24 September 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
  20. "Do You Believe in... Switzerland? Canada Does". NY Times. 19 February 2006. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
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