Ray Emery

Ray Emery (born on September 28, 1982) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He formerly played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, and the Ottawa Senators of the NHL and Atlant Moscow Oblast of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Ray led the Ottawa Senators to the Stanley Cup finals in 2007. It was the first appearance of an Ottawa club in the finals since 1927. They lost to the Anaheim Ducks in five games.

Ray is a two-time Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy nominee and finalist being recognized for dedication and perseverance. He was chosen 99th overall by the Senators in the 2001 NHL entry draft. During the 2006–07 season, Emery signed a three-year deal with the Senators worth $9.5 million.

However, on June 20, 2008, the Ottawa Senators waived Ray and then bought out his contract after a string of off-ice incidents caused the organization to sour on him. On July 9, 2008, it was announced that Ray had signed a one-year, $2M contract with Atlant Mytishchi of the Russian KHL.

On June 10, 2009, the Philadelphia Flyers announced that Emery had signed a one-year deal for a reported $1.5 million. In March of 2010, GM Paul Holmgren announced that Ray would be out for remainder of the season due to avascular necrosis and that a bone graft would be done to alleviate his hip issues.

Doctors were able to catch the disease early on before it spread and in April, the surgery was declared to be extremely successful. In July, Ray began the grueling and tedious workout and rehabilitation process.

On February 7, 2011, Emery signed a one year, two-way contract with the Anaheim Ducks and led the Ducks into the playoffs, finishing tied for fourth in the league and posting a 7–2–0 record with 2.28 goals-against average (GAA) and .926 save percentage (SV%) in 10 regular season NHL appearances.

In July of 2011, it was announced that Ray was invited by the Chicago Blackhawks to begin training camp on a tryout basis, having to test out his injury. On October 3, 2011, the Blackhawks announced they had signed Emery to a 1-year deal.

In April of 2012, Ray signed a $1.15 million extension with the Chicago Blackhawks for the 2012-13 season. In March of 2013, he made NHL history becoming the first goaltender to ever start a season with 10 straight wins, going 10-0-0. He surpassed his own record making NHL history yet again, going 12-0-0 in a shutout win against the Calgary Flames.

In April of 2013, Ray won the award for the NHL's best combined GAA, the 2013 William M. Jennings Trophy awarded to the goaltender who give up the fewest goals in the season, along with teammate Corey Crawford. He finished the season with a 1.94 goals-against average and a 0.922 save percentage. His 17 wins included 12 straight to start the year, the best such streak in NHL history.

In June of 2013, Ray won his first Stanley Cup when the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Boston Bruins in 6 games during the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals.

Early Playing Career
Ray decided to commit to hockey on the advice of his mother and tried out unsuccessfully for eight different junior teams. He started his junior hockey career in 1998 in Junior C with the Dunnville Terriers of the OJHL.

Despite winning three games out of 22 played, Ray was named Rookie of the Year. He was drafted by OHL's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the 5th round of the 1999 OHL draft. He split the 1999–2000 season between the Welland Cougars of the OHA and the Greyhounds in the OHL.

In 2000–2001 with the Greyhounds, Ray was involved in four on-ice fights. In 2001, Emery was drafted by the Ottawa Senators and subsequently enjoyed his most successful OHL season in 2001–2002.

In 2002–2003, Ray joined the Binghamton Senators of the AHL for his first professional season. He won 27 of 50 games and was named to the AHL's All-Rookie team. Emery was suspended twice for on-ice incidents the same season, and such behavior continued into the 2003–2004 season.

Ray was suspended for three games for bumping a referee and he was involved in an altercation with Denis Hamel of the Rochester Americans, when Hamel admittedly uttered a racial slur.

Ray retaliated and was suspended for three games. He and Hamel later became teammates in Binghamton, and Hamel apologized "for not thinking about what I was saying, in the heat of a game." The 2004–05 season would be his last in the AHL; coincidentally, that season was wiped out in the NHL due to a lockout.

Ottawa Senators (2005-2008)
Ray began his NHL career in the 2005–06 season, by setting a record for wins to start a career. Emery won his first nine games, moving ahead of Bob Froese, who started the 1982–83 season with eight wins while playing for the Philadelphia Flyers.

In March of the same season, Ray won 12 games, tying Bernie Parent's 1974 record for the most wins in a month.

At the beginning of the 2005–06 season, he had won nine straight games during the regular season, as the back-up for Dominik Hašek. When Hašek injured his groin during the 2006 Winter Olympics, Ray became the starting goalie.

Mike Morrison became the backup after he was picked up off waivers from the Edmonton Oilers. Ray would be the starting goaltender for the rest of the season, leading the Senators to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

After the 2005–06 season the Senators decided not to bring back Hašek and they brought in Martin Gerber to compete with Ray for the starter position. Gerber was the starter at the beginning of the season, but due to his poor play, Ray replaced him in mid-November.

On Saturday, February 10, 2007, Ray was suspended three games from the NHL for striking Montreal Canadiens forward Maxim Lapierre with his stick on his face after Lapierre crashed into Ray's net.

Twelve days later, after his three-game suspension had ended, Ray was involved in a mêlée between the Senators and the Buffalo Sabres. He and Sabres goaltender Martin Biron left their creases to fight each other.

After the first fight was finished, Sabres' enforcer Andrew Peters grabbed Emery and a second fight ensued. Both goaltenders received game misconducts and Ray had the rare feat (for a goaltender) of receiving two five-minute majors for fighting in the same incident.

In total, Ray received 22 penalty minutes (two five-minute majors for fighting, a two-minute minor for leaving the crease, and the 10-minute game misconduct) for this altercation.

After the altercation, fans and media have dubbed him "Sugar Ray" in reference to retired boxer Sugar Ray Robinson and Emery's reputation as a fighter. Then-teammate Brian McGrattan opined that if Emery were a position player and not a goalie, he would likely rank among the top five fighters in the NHL.

Prior to the 2007 playoffs, Ray and the Senators won 5–2 against the Montreal Canadiens on March 30, 2007, which was his 100th NHL game. Ray's strong play in the season continued on in the playoffs, as the Senators defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres each in five games en route to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since the team returned to the NHL in 1992, where the Senators lost to the Anaheim Ducks in five games.

Ray became a restricted free agent after the end of the season and filed for salary arbitration, but he agreed to a three-year deal with the Senators worth $9.5 million before the hearings were held.

By the pre-season of the 2007–08 campaign, Ray was injured for a lengthy time, due to a wrist injury which limited him to only 40 minutes of the pre-season and to miss several games early in the Senators' season.

Unspectacular performances by Ray, combined with improved play by Martin Gerber during the first two months of the season, reduced his playing time once he returned. As a result, Gerber was designated as the starting goaltender for the team.

In December, Ray was involved in more controversy as he was sent home by head coach John Paddock from a practice after claiming that he was feeling ill. It occurred one day after he slammed a stick at another practice expressing his frustration stemming for his reduced playing time this season.

Ray later explained that he woke up late and missed the start of that practice. The issue briefly fueled trade rumors. On January 28, 2008, he showed up late to another practice in Long Island, New York. Ray said that he mistakenly thought that the session was held at the New York Islanders arena, the Nassau Coliseum, but it was instead held at the Farmingdale Iceworks.

There were also reports that Ray had spent the All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas but Paddock simply stated that he arrived in New York from the west. General manager Brian Murray admitted that he had tried to trade Emery, but there were no takers.

Due to his recent tardiness, Ray was fined 1/187 of his salary per this year, which was $14,705.88, which was turned into a donation to CHEO. In addition, he was also involved in separate altercations with Brian McGrattan and Chris Neil during practice sessions.

On April 18, 2008, Murray announced to the media in an end-of-season press conference that Ray would not return to the Senators for the 2008–09 season. On June 20, 2008, Ray was waived by the Ottawa Senators, and cleared them three days later; as a result, he became a free agent.

Mask Controversy
On January 30, 2006, Ray was the target of many critics as a result of a design which was painted on his goalie mask. Ray (an avid boxing fan, wore a mask with a picture of Mike Tyson painted on it.

The mask attracted controversy due to Tyson's reputation, notably his past rape conviction. After speaking to the Senators' management, Ray decided to not further wear the mask as they both felt it was inappropriate for hockey. He wore the Tyson mask for only one game, a 5–0 loss against the Boston Bruins.

During the 2006 NHL playoffs, Ray wore a new mask featuring Canadian heavyweight boxer George Chuvalo. In the 2007–2008 season, his mask also featured Muhammad Ali. He finished the season off with Floyd Mayweather on his mask.

Atlant Moscow (2008–2009)
Ray signed a one-year, $2 million contract with Atlant Moscow Oblast of the new Kontinental Hockey League on July 9, 2008 after he was unsuccessful in obtaining an NHL contract.

As a foreign goaltender, Ray was only allowed to play in 65% of his team's 56 regular season games due to rules that encourage the development of Russian netminders. He split duties for the season with former Colorado Avalanche goaltender Vitaly Kolesnik.

In February of 2009, footage surfaced of Ray in a physical altercation with his team's trainer during a KHL game, after he had just been pulled after allowing three goals in the first period against Yaroslavl. Ray's agent, J.P. Barry, stated that the goalie did not like being "pestered" by the trainer to wear a sponsor's hat.

After the following mid-season break, Ray failed to report back to the team due to a financial dispute. With the devaluation of the Russian ruble during the global financial crisis, Ray's salary was consequently devalued; he had wrongly assumed that his contracted salary would be price locked at the US dollar forex equivalent. Emery eventually returned to the team and finished out the remainder of the season.

Philadelphia Flyers (2009-10)
On June 10, 2009, the Philadelphia Flyers announced that they had agreed to terms on a one-year contract worth $1.5 million with Ray.

As the jersey number 1 is retired in Philadelphia in honor of Bernie Parent, he wore number 29. No explanation has been given for his choice. For his mask he has chosen real and fictional boxing figures local to Philadelphia.

The left side of his mask shows Bernard Hopkins, the right side has Joe Frazier and the backplate is adorned by Sylvester Stallone as the character Rocky Balboa in the pose with the American flag from the theatrical poster of Rocky IV.

After a successful training camp, Ray marked his return to the NHL with a 2–0 shutout victory against the Carolina Hurricanes in the first game of the season. In his second regular season game with the Flyers against the New Jersey Devils, he stopped 24 of 26 shots, in a 5–2 victory.

Avascular necrosis
On December 8, Ray was placed on injured reserve to have surgery on a torn muscle in his abdomen. Originally expected to miss about six weeks, the prognosis changed when it was discovered that he had avascular necrosis.

In March of 2010, Flyers General Manager Paul Holmgren announced that Ray would be out for remainder of the season due to the diagnosis and that a bone graft would be done to alleviate his hip issues.

Doctors were able to catch the disease early on before it spread, unlike the case of baseball and American football player Bo Jackson. As a result, in April, doctors announced an extremely successful surgery. Jackson spoke out about Ray, speculating that they were the only two athletes to come back after the disease. Jackson added, "I take my hat off [to him]. I want him to know I am in his corner. It's a lot of hard work. To come back and play, it takes a very, very special and driven person. He's got a different makeup to want to do all the little things he needs to compete on a professional level."

Unlike Jackson, who required numerous hip replacements, Ray had the benefit of advancements in modern medicine, undergoing a very specialized and complex procedure that involved removing 13 centimetres from his right fibula and then grafting it to the femur to re-introduce a proper blood supply to the area. Holmgren said that while the surgery went better than expected, he did not know exactly how long Ray's recovery would take.

On July 1, Ray became an unrestricted free agent as his injury deemed him unable to play until he recuperates. In August, Ray was given the go ahead to begin the grueling and tedious workout and rehabilitation process.

In November of 2010, TSN visited Ray during an on-ice workout and were surprised to see him get down into the butterfly position and play for the first time since surgery. Emery stated that he did not "care if [he could] walk in 7 years" and he "just [wanted] to play."

To the surprise of his doctors and trainers, Emery has been doing better than expected.[48] In January of 2011, Emery began skating with an OHL team, taking shots and training with Eric Lindros working with personal trainer Matt Nichol and goalie coach Eli Wilson. According to Wilson, Ray was "as sharp and ready now as he was the summer before Ottawa's Stanley Cup final run."

In March of 2011, Ray's injury and undefeated return to the NHL with the Anaheim Ducks garnered much media attention and fascination, with a special segment featured on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. Remarkably, he currently has 13 centimetres of bone missing from his leg. This later garnered him a nomination for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.

Anaheim Ducks (2011)
On February 7, 2011, Ray signed a one year, two-way contract with the Anaheim Ducks,[52] allowing him to the standard two-week conditioning AHL stint. Three other NHL teams showed interest in signing him.

Ray was then assigned to the Syracuse Crunch to begin conditioning. He played three games for the Crunch, compiling a 2–1–0 record with a 2.62 goals-against-average and .925 save percentage. He eventually went on to play a total of five games for the Crunch in their 2010–11 season posting a 4–1–0, 1.98 GAA and .943 save percentage.

After playing 3 games with the Syracuse Crunch, on February 23, 2011, Ray was recalled to the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL. It was his first NHL appearance since he last played in March of 2010 with the Flyers. Ray made his Anaheim Ducks debut on March 11, 2011 against the Phoenix Coyotes when he replaced goaltender Dan Ellis.

Ray received his first win as an Anaheim Duck in a 2–1 win against the St. Louis Blues. He then went on to win six straight starts to open his Anaheim career, falling one shy of matching the Ducks record for consecutive wins by a goaltender to Guy Hebert.

In the week of March 14, Ray was honored with NHL's Second Star of the Week after going 2–0–0 with a 0.99 GAA and .968 SV%. He led the Ducks into the playoffs, finishing tied for fourth in the league and posting a 7–2–0 record with 2.28 goals-against average (GAA) and .926 save percentage (SV%) in 10 regular season NHL appearances.

In April, Ray's remarkable comeback was recognized when the Anaheim chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association (PHWA) named Ray as their nominee for the 2011 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. The NHL nominated him for the Masterton making him one of three named as finalists.

Chicago Blackhawks (2011-13)
On July 27, 2011, Ray signed a tryout contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. He was signed to a 1-year contract for the 2011–12 NHL season on October 3, 2011. He made his Blackhawks debut ten days later with a 4–3 win over the Winnipeg Jets.

By the end of season, Ray compiled a 15-9-4 record and 2.81 goals-against-average in 34 regular-season appearances, posting a 10-0-3 record and 2.15 GAA in 16 appearances at the United Center. Emery was again nominated, this time by the Chicago Blackhawks for the Bill Masteron Memorial Trophy, honoring dedication and perseverance.

In April of 2012, the Blackhawks signed Ray to a one year extension worth $1.15 million to continue into the 2012-13 season. In March of 2013, Emery made NHL history becoming the first goaltender to ever start a season with 10 straight wins, going 10-0-0. He improved his NHL record, with 11 straight wins, going 11-0-0 against Colorado Avalanche on March 18.

Ray surpassed his own record making NHL history yet again, going 12-0-0 in a shutout win against the Calgary Flames which happened to be his 200th NHL start. On April 10, 2013, he made franchise history recording his third shutout in the last 5 games helping him third overall in the NHL for goals-against-average, posting a 1.90 and seventh in save percentage at .924 with a 15-1-0 record.

Ray proved his previous injuries were no longer an issue, posting career highs. In April of 2013, Ray Emery won the award for the NHL's best combined GAA, the 2013 William M. Jennings Trophy awarded to the goaltender who give up the fewest goals in the season along with teammate Corey Crawford.

He finished the season with a 1.94 goals-against average and a 0.922 save percentage. His 17 wins included 12 straight to start the year, the best such streak in NHL history. Ray won his first Stanley Cup when the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Boston Bruins in 6 games during the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals.

Return to Philadelphia Flyers (2013-current)
On July 5, 2013, Ray signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Flyers. The deal was worth $1.65 million.

Regular season
 Statistics as of 2010-07-28 

Playoffs
 Statistics as of 2008-04-18 

Personal Life
Ray was born to Charlene & Paul Emery. He is the eldest of three brothers: Andrew & Nicholas. He grew up on a century-old farmhouse in Cayuga, Ontario, where he attended high school and excelled in sports.

Ray played many sports other than hockey, including golf, baseball, and soccer. In ice hockey, he originally played defence, but switched to goaltender at nine years old due to a shortage of goaltenders in his league. Ray was very competitive and was "his own worst critic."

For some time before turning to professional hockey, Ray had an ambition to become an architect. In June of 2010, Ray began dating Canadian singer Keshia Chante.

Ray has numerous tattoos which include the initials of his parents & younger brothers. He has an African symbol for the number one (his jersey number with the Senators) and his nickname "Razor" written across his chest. He also has a tattoo representing his birth symbol, Libra.

Ray has another tattoo on his right arm which reads "Anger is a Gift." Emery stating positively of the tattoo, "If you're passionate enough about something, you'll [get mad enough] to do something about it."

Outside of ice hockey, Ray's style has garnered much interest[70] with TSN broadcasting a feature about his wardrobe and taste in fashion including hundreds of pairs of shoes, dozens of watches, diamond chains, and suits costing upwards of $4000.

Ray has owned two Lamborghinis and a Hummer H2 and made news while with the Ottawa Senators for his multiple traffic-related brushes with the law. He also once owned a pet python.