Peter Budaj

Peter Budaj
Born	(1982-09-18) September 18, 1982 Banská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	196 lb (89 kg; 14 st 0 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Catches	Left
NHL team Former teams	Los Angeles Kings Colorado Avalanche Montreal Canadiens
National team	Slovakia
NHL Draft	63rd overall, 2001 Colorado Avalanche
Playing career	2002–present

Peter Budaj (/buːˈdaɪ/ boo-DYE; born September 18, 1982) is a Slovak professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Los Angeles Kings in the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Colorado Avalanche, by whom he was drafted, and the Montreal Canadiens.

Playing career

Colorado Avalanche

Budaj was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2001 draft as the first pick for the Avalanche and 63rd overall. He wore number 31 for the Avalanche after playing for the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL) and the Toronto St. Michael's Majors of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).

Budaj with the Avalanche in 2007.

In his first NHL season in 2005–06, he appeared in 34 games while backing up David Aebischer and then José Théodore. He recorded a combined 47 wins in the next two seasons while splitting duties with Théodore. His first NHL playoff appearances came in the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs in relief of Théodore in Colorado's second round matchup against the eventual Stanley Cup champions Detroit Red Wings.

Budaj played his 100th NHL game on November 3, 2007, in a 4–3 home loss against the Vancouver Canucks.^[1]

For the 2008–09 season, Budaj was named the starting goalie for the Colorado Avalanche for the first time. He and backup goaltender Andrew Raycroft struggled throughout the season as the Avalanche finished last in the Western Conference, missing the playoffs for the second time in last three seasons.^[2]

On June 29, 2009, Budaj was re-signed by the Avalanche to a one-year contract for the 2009–10 season.^[3] He started the season playing as the Avalanche backup goalie to Craig Anderson, formerly of the Florida Panthers. Before his first appearance in net, Budaj was diagnosed with the H1N1 virus and was completely isolated from the rest of the team until he was cleared to play by the coaching staff.^[4] Budaj finally made his first appearance of the season on November 4, against the Phoenix Coyotes. He stopped 28 of 29 shots and backstopped the Avs to a 4–1 victory.^[5] Budaj made his second post season appearance on April 22, 2010 against the San Jose Sharks, when he relieved Craig Anderson at 11:05 in the third period. The Sharks won the game 5–0, with one goal scored against Budaj.^[6]

On April 1, 2011, Budaj became the first Slovakian goaltender to reach 100 career NHL wins with a 4–3 shootout win over Phoenix.

Montreal Canadiens

Budaj signed a two-year contract worth $2.3 million with the Montreal Canadiens on July 1, 2011.^[7] During the lockout shortened 2012–13 season, his second year as backup to Carey Price, Budaj carried an 8–1–1 record in 13 games, to earn a two-year contract extension with the Canadiens on April 10, 2013.^[8]

Winnipeg Jets

On October 5, 2014, Budaj and Patrick Holland were traded to the Winnipeg Jets in return for Eric Tangradi.^[9] He was waived less than a day later.^[10] On the following day, he was assigned to the St. John's IceCaps, Winnipeg's American Hockey League affiliate, after clearing waivers.^[11] Budaj remained with the IceCaps for the duration of the 2014–15 season, however was unable to impress with the club in failing to win a single game in 19 contests.

Los Angeles Kings

As a free agent from the Jets, Budaj was unable to secure an NHL contract and on August 28, 2015, agreed to sign a try-out contract to attend the Los Angeles Kings training camp.^[12] On October 9, 2015 it was announced that Budaj signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Los Angeles Kings and was subsequently waived and assigned to the Ontario Reign of the AHL to begin the 2015–16 season.^[13] Budaj immediately rebounded with the Reign with a succession of impressive performances to secure the starting goaltender duties. In leading the Reign to claim the Pacific Division title, Budaj led the league most statistical categories, to earn the Baz Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL's best goaltender. On February 11, 2016, he was recalled by the Los Angeles Kings on an emergency basis and made a victorious debut in a victory over the New York Rangers.^[14] On his return to Ontario, Budaj was signed to a one-year contract extension to remain with the Kings on March 2, 2016.^[15]

Budaj was recalled from the Kings, where he became the starting goaltender after both Jonathan Quick and Jeff Zatkoff were injured.

Mask

Budaj, a devout Christian, is perhaps best known for having the depiction of Ned Flanders, a popular religious character from TV's The Simpsons painted on the back of his masks.^[16] In 2008, Budaj began wearing a mask featuring the character Altaïr from the popular video game Assassin's Creed.^[17] The mask primarily worn by Budaj during the 2008–09 season features a burgundy colored version of the comic book hero The Hulk,^[18] although he did continue wearing the Assassin's Creed mask as well. Budaj's 2009–10 mask features his racing idol Valentino Rossi on one side, the Avalanche's alternate foot logo on the other, and retains Ned Flanders on the back.^[19] Budaj's 2013–14 mask still has Ned Flanders' image as well as an image of Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi. Ned Flanders continues to appear on Budaj's 2014–15 mask, without Lionel Messi.^[20]

Personal life

Peter and his wife Taylor have one son, Peter Jr., who was born in July 2010.^[21]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

• Peter Budaj's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
• Peter Budaj's player profile at NHL.com