Ty Conklin

Background and College Career:

Ty Conklin is a six year NHL veteran goalie, currently on the Detroit Red Wings’ roster.  He is from Anchorage, Alaska and played his collegiate hockey at the University of New Hampshire from 1998 - 2001, where he still holds 8 goaltending records.

Edmonton Oilers:

Undrafted out of college, he signed with the Edmonton Oilers as a free agent.  He spent most of his first two seasons with the Hamilton Bulldogs, Edmonton’s AHL affiliate.   While a member of the Bulldogs, Conklin set an AHL record 83 saves in one game – the famous triple-overtime 2003 Calder Cup Game 2 against the Houston Aeros.

His consistency and tenacity got him noticed by the Oilers.  He was called up for the 2003-04 season, where he was scheduled to serve as back up to starting goaltender Tommy Salo.  However, Salo was injured midway through the season, and Conklin became the starter.  After Salo was traded later in the year, Conklin shared the starting duties with Jussi Markkanen.

Conklin played for Wolfsburg of the DEL  (German Hockey League) during the NHL lockout of 2004-05.  During this time he also played for the US National Team in the International Ice Hockey Federation Championships. At the IIHF games the US team won a surprising bronze medal and Conklin was voted the tournament’s best goaltender.

When the NHL lockout ended, it was expected that Conklin would be the fulltime goaltender for the 2005-06 season.  However, nagging injuries caused him to be inconsistent and he ended up sharing the starting job with Jussi Markkanen.  Eventually the Oilers decided that Conklin’s inconsistency made him no longer an asset to the team and they waived him in February of 2006.  He was later recalled to the team but appeared in only one game for the rest of the regular season and playoffs.

However, he was on the Oilers bench for the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs.  Because of a series-ending knee injury to starting goalie Dwayne Roloson, Conklin was unexpectedly thrust into Game 1 of the series.  Unfortunately, due to a mistake by he and teammate Jason Smith, the Hurricanes scored an unopposed goal with 30 seconds left in the game.  Conklin never appeared in another game with Edmonton, as Markkanen went on to play in the remaining six games, eventually losing to Carolina in the series.

Columbus Blue Jackets and Buffalo Sabres:

Edmonton declined to pick up Conklin’s option for the 2006-07 season, and he signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets.  He spent most of the season with the Blue Jackets’ Syracuse AHL affiliate.  After appearing in just 11 games with Columbus, he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres.  Although he appeared in only 5 games with Buffalo, he made a career-high 42 saves in his first start with the team.

Pittsburgh Penguins:

Prior to the 2007-08 season, Conklin signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins as an unrestricted free agent.  He was initially sent down to Wilkes Barre/Scranton of the AHL, but he was recalled to Pittsburgh in December when starting goalie Marc-Andre Fleury suffered an ankle sprain.   Although he was slated to back up Dany Sabourin while Fleury recovered, Conklin won the starting job and became a minor sensation among Penguins fans.  By the time Fleury returned, Conklin had gone 17-6-5, including a career-high 50 save game, and led all NHL goalies in save percentage.  Conklin played in 33 games for Pittsburgh and posted an 18-8-5 record and finished with the second best save percentage in the NHL.

Detroit Red Wings:

In July 2008 Conklin signed with the Detroit Red Wings as an unrestricted free agent.  During the 2008-09 regular season he shared goalie duties with Chris Osgood, going 25-11 with 2 overtime losses, compiling a 2.51 GAA and a .909 save percentage.
He has yet to appear in a post season game with Detroit
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