Corey Hirsch
Hirsch in 2021
Born (1972-07-01) July 1, 1972
Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 181 lb (82 kg; 12 st 13 lb)
Position Goalie
Caught Left
Played for New York Rangers
Vancouver Canucks
Washington Capitals
Dallas Stars
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 169th overall, 1991
New York Rangers
Playing career 1992–2006
Olympic medal record
Representing  Canada
Men's ice hockey
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1994 Lillehammer Ice Hockey
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1995 Sweden Ice hockey

Corey Hirsch (born July 1, 1972) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender, currently working for Sportsnet as a colour commentator on Vancouver Canucks radio broadcasts.[1] He spent the majority of his National Hockey League career with the Vancouver Canucks. He is the former goaltending coach for the St. Louis Blues, having previously served the Toronto Maple Leafs along with François Allaire.

Hirsch is tied with Tyson Sexsmith for most wins in the Western Hockey League's history, with 120.

Playing career

Born in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Hirsch played major junior hockey with the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League for four seasons. He was named to the WHL Second All-Star Team in his second season with Kamloops, in which the team won the President's Cup (now the Ed Chynoweth Cup) and advanced to the 1990 Memorial Cup in Hamilton, Ontario, where the Blazers placed third. Hirsch was subsequently chosen 169th overall in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers.

Upon being drafted, Hirsch led the league in shutouts, with 5, and goals against average with 2.72 in 1991–92, he was named CHL Goaltender of the Year and the Del Wilson Trophy as the WHL Goaltender of the Year. As the Blazers again captured President's Cup in 1992, they advanced to the Memorial Cup in Seattle and defeated the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 5–4 in the final. Hirsch was additionally awarded the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as the tournament's top goaltender.

In 1992–93, his first professional season, he played for the Binghamton Rangers, New York's AHL affiliate, and won the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award as the league's top goalie.[2] At 2.79, he was also awarded the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award for the lowest goals-against-average (shared with goaltending teammate Boris Rousson).

Hirsch started his first NHL game that season, a 2–2 tie against the Detroit Red Wings on January 19, 1993. He recorded his first win on his next start, an 8–3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on January 23.[3]

At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, Hirsch played all eight games for Canada and won a silver medal after losing in a shootout to Sweden in the gold medal game. The shootout-winning goal by Peter Forsberg was depicted on a Swedish postage stamp, featuring the image of a generic goalie because Hirsch refused to allow his likeness to be used.

Hirsch remained with Binghamton for three seasons until New York traded him to the Vancouver Canucks on April 7, 1995, in exchange for forward Nathan LaFayette.[3]

Hirsch split goaltending duties with Kirk McLean in 1995–96 and was named to the All-Rookie Team after posting a 2.93 goals-against average, .903 save percentage and a winning 17–14–6 record. He also finished fifth in Calder Memorial Trophy voting (won by Daniel Alfredsson). During the season, he recorded his first career NHL shutout on January 15, 1996, a 6–0 win against the Boston Bruins.[3]

On July 2, 1999, he was waived by the Canucks[3] and for the next few seasons, would bounce around the league between the Nashville Predators, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Washington Capitals, and Dallas Stars. Playing for minor league affiliates, he only appeared in a handful of NHL games for the remainder of his career. In 2002–03, he recorded AHL career highs with a 2.64 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage in 35 games with the Utah Grizzlies.

Before retiring, Hirsch played three seasons overseas in the Swedish Elitserien, and the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

Post-playing career

After retiring, Hirsch became a goaltending consultant for Hockey Canada. He worked with the national junior team as part of the 2007 and 2008 World Junior gold medal winning teams.[4]

On September 9, 2008, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced they had hired Hirsch as their goaltending coach.[4]

On June 18, 2010, the St. Louis Blues announced they had hired Hirsch as their goaltending coach.

On May 7, 2014, the St. Louis Blues relieved Hirsch of his coaching duties.[5]

In 2015, Hirsch joined the NHL on Sportsnet as a freelance TV analyst.[6]

Personal

Hirsch is a divorcee after 15 years of marriage, with three children.[6] In the summer of 2015, Hirsch's son Hayden, who is a forward, attended hockey training camp with his father's old junior team, the Kamloops Blazers, but didn't make the regular season roster.[7] Hirsch has struggled with severe anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) for much of his life, and described his struggle in a Player's Tribune article on February 15, 2017 and a video for the Canucks' Hockey Talks initiative.[8] He has since become an outspoken advocate for mental health awareness and ending the stigma associated with mental illness. He elaborated further about his mental health challenges in his autobiography, "The Save of My Life: My Journey Out of the Dark", which was written in collaboration with Sean Patrick Conboy and published in 2022. Hirsch also co-hosts a podcast with psychiatrist Dr. Diane McIntosh called "Blindsided", featuring athletes talking about mental health.[9]

Awards

Major Junior

Professional

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1987–88 Calgary Canucks AJHL 32 22 5 0 1538 91 1 3.55 — — — — — — — — —
1988–89 Kamloops Blazers WHL 32 11 12 2 1516 106 2 4.20 — 5 3 2 245 19 0 4.65 —
1989–90 Kamloops Blazers WHL 63 48 13 0 3608 230 3 3.82 — 17 14 3 1043 60 0 3.45 —
1989–90 Kamloops Blazers M-Cup — — — — — — — — — 3 0 3 191 18 0 5.65 —
1990–91 Kamloops Blazers WHL 38 26 7 1 1970 100 3 3.05 — 11 5 6 623 42 0 4.04 —
1991–92 Kamloops Blazers WHL 48 35 10 2 2732 124 5 2.72 — 16 11 5 954 35 2 2.20 —
1991–92 Kamloops Blazers M-Cup — — — — — — — — — 5 4 1 300 13 1 2.60 —
1992–93 New York Rangers NHL 4 1 2 1 224 14 0 3.75 .879 — — — — — — — —
1992–93 Binghamton Rangers AHL 46 35 4 5 2692 125 1 2.79 — 14 7 7 831 46 0 3.32 —
1993–94 Canada Intl. 45 24 17 3 2653 124 0 2.80 — — — — — — — — —
1993–94 Binghamton Rangers AHL 10 5 4 1 610 38 0 3.74 — — — — — — — — —
1994–95 Binghamton Rangers AHL 57 31 20 5 3371 175 0 3.11 .894 — — — — — — — —
1995–96 Vancouver Canucks NHL 41 17 14 6 2338 114 1 2.93 .903 6 2 3 338 21 0 3.73 .873
1996–97 Vancouver Canucks NHL 39 12 20 4 2127 116 2 3.27 .894 — — — — — — — —
1997–98 Vancouver Canucks NHL 1 0 0 0 50 5 0 6.00 .853 — — — — — — — —
1997–98 Syracuse Crunch AHL 60 30 22 6 3512 187 1 3.19 .902 5 2 3 297 10 1 2.02 —
1998–99 Vancouver Canucks NHL 20 3 8 3 919 48 1 3.13 .890 — — — — — — — —
1998–99 Syracuse Crunch AHL 5 2 3 0 300 14 0 2.80 .909 — — — — — — — —
1999–2000 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 19 9 8 1 1098 49 0 2.68 .891 — — — — — — — —
1999–2000 Utah Grizzlies IHL 17 9 5 1 937 42 3 2.69 .914 2 0 2 121 4 0 1.98 —
2000–01 Albany River Rats AHL 4 0 4 0 199 19 0 5.73 .862 — — — — — — — —
2000–01 Washington Capitals NHL 1 1 0 0 20 0 0 0.00 1.000 — — — — — — — —
2000–01 Cincinnati Cyclones IHL 13 11 2 0 783 28 1 2.15 .935 — — — — — — — —
2000–01 Portland Pirates AHL 36 17 17 2 2142 104 1 2.91 .912 2 0 2 118 7 0 3.56 .915
2001–02 Portland Pirates AHL 23 6 12 5 1395 62 1 2.67 .920 — — — — — — — —
2001–02 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 5 2 3 0 299 14 1 2.81 .883 — — — — — — — —
2002–03 Dallas Stars NHL 2 0 1 0 97 4 0 2.47 .897 — — — — — — — —
2002–03 Utah Grizzlies AHL 35 14 16 2 1953 86 0 2.64 .921 1 0 1 60 5 0 5.00 .904
2003–04 Timrå IK SEL 5 2 3 0 312 11 1 1.73 .932 7 3 3 364 11 0 1.81 .934
2004–05 Kassel Huskies DEL 12 — — — 695 31 0 2.68 .920 — — — — — — — —
AHL totals 281 142 105 26 16,473 824 5 3.00 — 22 9 13 1306 68 1 3.12 —
NHL totals 108 34 45 14 5775 301 4 3.13 .896 6 2 3 338 21 0 3.73 .873
IHL totals 49 29 15 2 2818 119 4 2.53 .913 2 0 2 121 4 0 1.98 —

International

Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA
1994 Canada OG 8 5 2 1 495 18 0 2.18
1995 Canada WC 8 4 3 1 488 21 0 2.58
Senior totals 16 9 5 2 983 39 0 2.38

References

  1. ↑ Rush, Curtis (February 13, 2015). "Corey Hirsch rebounds in life thanks to a tweet". Toronto Star. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award (AHL)". hockeydb.com. Archived from the original on June 23, 2008. Retrieved September 22, 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Corey Hirsch". Retrieved September 22, 2008.
  4. 1 2 "Maple Leafs hire coaches Corey Hirsch, Graeme Townshend; two scouts". The Hockey News. September 9, 2008. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved September 22, 2008.
  5. ↑ "Blues Extend Hitchcock Through 2014-15: Shaw, Bennett will remain part of coaching staff; Agnew, Hirsch will not return". NHL.com. May 7, 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Corey Hirsch rebounds in life thanks to a tweet". The Toronto Star. February 13, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Notes from Kamloops Blazers' training camp". Kamloops This Week. Archived from the original on December 30, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Dark, Dark, Dark, Dark, Dark, Dark, Dark, Dark". www.theplayerstribune.com. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  9. ↑ Former NHL Goalie Corey Hirsch Embarks On ‘The Save Of His Life’ With New Book, forbes.com, 2023-04-12, retrieved 2023-06-04


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