New Jersey Devils‘ veteran goalie Scott Clemmensen(40) has been in the system for 8 of his 14 pro years serving as their primary back-up and has played games with all three of their affiliates, Albany River Rats, Lowell Devils and current Albany Devils‘ teams.
In the few NHL seasons where he was either called on to be the starter or at least co-starter between the pipes, he performed pretty well, especially through 40 games on his second tour of duty in the Garden State 2008/2009, when Martin Brodeur went down with his first big injury.
The 6’2″ 200 lbs. net minder posted a 25-13-1-2 record with a career best 2.39 GAA and .917 SV%. He also had two shutouts.
Based on his performance the unrestricted free agent decided to search for a #1 spot and landed a three-year deal with Florida Panthers. He would spend the next five seasons down south.
In 120 games he went 40-39-18-3 and kept decent numbers through his first three years but with less playing time his numbers suffered.
Almost ironically his only really good year in the AHL was one campaign with Toronto Maple Leafs on reassignment to Toronto Marlies.
He is likely to finish out his one-year deal in the minors with the occasional call-up due to injury.
No doubt he’ll be looking to get that 5000th save (he’s at 4931) to go along with the more than 1000 minutes played, and a 200 game mark wouldn’t suck either.
It’s been quite a career for the 37-year old, former 8th round pick in the 1997 draft (#215 overall), 2001 NCAA Champ with Boston College Eagles.
