Robert Esche
{{Short description|American ice hockey player (born 1978)}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=October 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2011}}
{{Infobox ice hockey player
| position = Goaltender
| catches = Left
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 2
| weight_lb = 225
| ntl_team = United States
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1978|1|22}}
| birth_place = Whitesboro, New York, U.S.
| career_start = 1998
| career_end = 2012
| draft = 139th overall
| draft_year = 1996
| draft_team = Phoenix Coyotes
| image = Robert Esche 2018.jpg
| caption = Esche in 2018
| played_for = Phoenix Coyotes
Philadelphia Flyers
Ak Bars Kazan
SKA Saint Petersburg
Dinamo Minsk
SCL Tigers
}}
Robert L. Esche (born January 22, 1978) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender who is the current president of the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League (AHL) and the Utica City FC of the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). He previously played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Phoenix Coyotes and Philadelphia Flyers.
Playing career
Esche started his career with the Phoenix Coyotes, only to be traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in a deal involving Michal Handzuš and Brian Boucher.{{cite web |title=Flyers Acquire Center Michal Handzus and goaltender Robert Esche from Phoenix for Brian Boucher |url=http://www.philadelphiaflyers.com:80/pressbox/archive/526.asp |website=Philadelphia Flyers |access-date=June 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020803223304/http://www.philadelphiaflyers.com:80/pressbox/archive/526.asp |archive-date=August 3, 2002 |date=June 12, 2002}} In 2004, he claimed the starting goaltending spot for the Flyers, and led them to the Eastern Conference Finals, only to fall in seven games to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
While playing in Russia for Ak Bars Kazan, he posted a record of 22–5–2 with a 2.01 goals against average (GAA) and a .912 save percentage, along with four shutouts.
Esche skated with Dinamo Minsk during the 2010–11 KHL season. In 2008–09, he posted a record of 21–14 with a 1.87 GAA and .912 save percentage, as well as nine shutouts.
On June 16, 2011, the SCL Tigers announced they had signed the 33-year-old Esche to a contract,{{cite web | title=The SCL Tigers complete their defense with goaltender Robert Esche and the defender Philippe Rytz | language=de | publisher=scltigers.ch | url=http://www.scltigers.ch/news-content.aspx?id=1010 | date=June 16, 2011 | access-date=June 19, 2011 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232356/http://www.scltigers.ch/news-content.aspx?id=1010 | archive-date=March 3, 2016 | df=mdy-all }} where he played 40 games, going 15-25, with a 3.05 GAA and .898 save percentage.
International play
Esche has represented the United States in the 1997 and 1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and the IIHF World Championships in 2000, shutting out Russia in Russia, an accomplishment he still lists as his greatest moment in hockey. He represented the US team in 2001 and also received the starting nod at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.
Esche was named to the 2006 US Men's Olympic Hockey Team in Turin. He played one game in the Olympic tournament, losing 5–4 to Russia.
Esche played for the 2008 Team USA Hockey team in the World Championships which took place in Canada. He had earned some starts after sitting out the first few games, including a 42 save performance in a controversial 3–2 loss against Finland. He also posted a 9–1 victory against Norway.
Personal Life
Esche has two children with his former wife Kelly.
Esche is nicknamed "Chico" after former NHL goaltender Chico Resch because his sticks were labeled R. Esche.{{cite web|title=Robert L. 'Chico' Esche|url=http://www.hockeygoalies.org/bio/esche.html|publisher=The Goaltender Home Page|access-date=April 17, 2013}}
Career statistics
=Regular season and playoffs=
| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="width:75%; text-align:center;" | ||||||||||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! colspan="10" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" | Regular season ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! colspan="8" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Season ! Team ! League ! GP !! W !! L !! T !! OTL !! MIN !! GA !! SO !! GAA !! SV% ! GP !! W !! L !! MIN !! GA !! SO !! GAA !! SV% | ||||||||||||||||
| 1994–95
| CJHL | 20 | 10 | 6 | 0 | — | 1034 | 70 | 0 | 4.06 | —
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1995–96 | OHL | 23 | 13 | 6 | 0 | — | 1139 | 71 | 1 | 3.74 | .876
| 3 | 0 | 2 | 105 | 4 | 0 | 2.29 | — |
| 1996–97
| Detroit Whalers | OHL | 58 | 24 | 28 | 2 | — | 3241 | 206 | 2 | 3.81 | .878
| 5 | 1 | 4 | 317 | 19 | 0 | 3.60 | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1997–98 | OHL | 48 | 29 | 13 | 4 | — | 2810 | 135 | 3 | 2.88 | .896
| 15 | 8 | 7 | 868 | 45 | 0 | 3.11 | .920 |
| 1998–99
| AHL | 55 | 24 | 20 | 6 | — | 2957 | 138 | 1 | 2.80 | .905
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 59 | 4 | 0 | 4.02 | .867 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1998–99 | NHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 130 | 7 | 0 | 3.23 | .860
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1999–00
| Springfield Falcons | AHL | 21 | 9 | 9 | 2 | — | 1207 | 61 | 2 | 3.03 | .912
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 180 | 12 | 0 | 4.01 | .878 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1999–00 | IHL | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | 419 | 16 | 2 | 2.29 | .922
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1999–00
| Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 8 | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | 408 | 23 | 0 | 3.38 | .893
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2000–01 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 25 | 10 | 8 | 4 | — | 1350 | 68 | 2 | 3.02 | .896
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2001–02
| Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 22 | 6 | 10 | 2 | — | 1145 | 52 | 1 | 2.72 | .902
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2001–02 | Springfield Falcons | AHL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 60 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 1.000
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2002–03
| NHL | 30 | 12 | 9 | 3 | — | 1638 | 60 | 2 | 2.20 | .907
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 | .929 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2003–04 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 40 | 21 | 11 | 7 | — | 2322 | 79 | 3 | 2.04 | .915
| 18 | 11 | 7 | 1060 | 41 | 1 | 2.32 | .918 |
| 2005–06
| Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 40 | 22 | 11 | — | 5 | 2286 | 113 | 1 | 2.97 | .897
| 6 | 2 | 4 | 314 | 22 | 0 | 4.20 | .875 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2006–07 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 18 | 5 | 9 | — | 1 | 860 | 62 | 1 | 4.32 | .872
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2007–08
| RSL | 18 | — | — | — | — | 1095 | 34 | 3 | 1.86 | .926
| 10 | — | — | 609 | 25 | 1 | 2.46 | .885 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2008–09 | KHL | 38 | 21 | 14 | — | 6 | 2183 | 68 | 9 | 1.87 | .912
| 3 | 0 | 3 | 185 | 8 | 0 | 2.59 | .877 |
| 2009–10
| SKA Saint Petersburg | KHL | 42 | 29 | 7 | — | 5 | 2527 | 87 | 6 | 2.07 | .917
| 4 | 1 | 3 | 236 | 9 | 0 | 2.29 | .910 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2010–11 | KHL | 24 | 5 | 14 | — | 5 | 1383 | 76 | 0 | 3.30 | .897
| 4 | 2 | 1 | 216 | 7 | 0 | 1.94 | .942 |
| 2011–12
| NLA | 40 | 15 | 25 | — | 0 | 2305 | 117 | 1 | 3.05 | .898
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan=3 | KHL totals ! 104 !! 55 !! 35 !! — !! 16 !! 6093 !! 231 !! 15 !! 2.27 !! .910 ! 11 !! 3 !! 7 !! 637 !! 24 !! 0 !! 2.26 !! .915 | ||||||||||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan=3 | NHL totals ! 186 !! 78 !! 64 !! 16 !! 6 !! 10,140 !! 464 !! 10 !! 2.75 !! .900 ! 25 !! 13 !! 11 !! 1405 !! 64 !! 1 !! 2.73 !! .907 |
=International=
| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" ID="Table3" style="text-align:center; width:60em" | ||||||||
| ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Year ! Team ! Event ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! GP !! W !! L !! T !! MIN !! GA !! SO !! GAA !! SV% | ||||||||
| 1998
| WJC | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 238 | 13 | 0 | 3.28 | .922 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2000 | WC | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 120 | 1 | 1 | 0.50 | .984 |
| 2001
| United States | WC | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 359 | 13 | 0 | 2.17 | .931 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2004 | United States | WCH | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 237 | 10 | 0 | 2.53 | .909 |
| 2006
| United States | OLY | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 59 | 5 | 0 | 5.10 | .762 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2008 | United States | WC | 4 | 2 | 2 | — | 198 | 7 | 0 | 2.12 | .931 |
| 2009
| United States | WC | 8 | 3 | 5 | — | 480 | 25 | 0 | 3.12 | .891 |
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | Junior totals ! 4 !! 2 !! 2 !! 0 !! 238 !! 13!! 0 !! 3.28 !! .922 | ||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | Senior totals ! 25 !! 11 !! 13 !! 1 !! 1453 !! 61!! 1 !! 2.52 !! .913 |
Awards and accomplishments
- 1997–98: Second All-Star Team (OHL)
- 1998–99: All-Rookie Team (AHL)
- 2002–03: William M. Jennings Trophy shared with Roman Čechmánek, PHI and Martin Brodeur, NJ (NHL)
- 2002–03: Yanick Dupre Memorial (Philadelphia Flyers)
- 2003–04: Pelle Lindbergh Memorial (Philadelphia Flyers)
- 2008 World Championships: Best save percentage (.931)
- 2008–09: Played in KHL All-Star Game
References
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
External links
- {{Ice hockey stats}}
- [http://hockeygoalies.org/bio/esche.html Robert Esche biography] at [http://hockeygoalies.org hockeygoalies.org] - advanced statistics and game logs
{{s-start}}
{{succession box | before = Patrick Roy | title = Tri-winner of the Jennings Trophy
(with Roman Cechmanek and Martin Brodeur) | years = 2003| after = Martin Brodeur}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esche, Robert}}
Category:Ak Bars Kazan players
Category:American men's ice hockey goaltenders
Category:Arizona Coyotes draft picks
Category:Detroit Whalers players
Category:American expatriate ice hockey players in Russia
Category:HC Dinamo Minsk players
Category:Houston Aeros (1994–2013) players
Category:Ice hockey players from New York (state)
Category:Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics
Category:Olympic ice hockey players for the United States
Category:Philadelphia Flyers players
Category:People from Whitesboro, New York
Category:Phoenix Coyotes players
Category:Plymouth Whalers players
Category:SKA Saint Petersburg players
Category:Sportspeople from Oneida County, New York
Category:Sportspeople from Utica, New York
Category:Springfield Falcons players