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Reto Berra
RBerra
Born January 3, 1987 (1987-01-03) (age 37)
Bülach, Switzerland
Height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
NHL team
Former teams
Florida Panthers
ZSC Lions
HC Davos
SCL Tigers
EV Zug
EHC Biel
Calgary Flames
Colorado Avalanche
National team Template:Country data Switzerland
NHL Draft 106th overall, 2006
St. Louis Blues
Playing career 2003–present

Reto Berra (born on January 3, 1987) is a Swiss professional ice hockey goaltender who currently plays for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He played seven seasons in Switzerland's National League A, spending time with the ZSC Lions, HC Davos and SCL Tigers before joining EHC Biel in 2009 where he was the team's starting goaltender for four years.

Reto was a draft pick of the St. Louis Blues, selected in the fourth round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft and was traded to Calgary in 2013.

Internationally, he has played with the Swiss National Team on several occasions. He has appeared in two World Championships.

At the 2013 tournament, Reto shared goaltending duties with Martin Gerber and helped lead Switzerland to a silver medal, the nation's first of any colour in 60 years.

Playing Career[]

Reto began playing youth hockey in his hometown where he became a full-time goaltender when he was 11 years old.

He played his first professional game in 2003–04 in the National League B (NLB) for GCK Lions, and two years later played his first National League A (NLA) games with ZSC Lions.

Reto caught the attention of the St. Louis Blues during the 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, and the team selected him with their fourth round pick, (106th overall) at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

He opted to remain in Switzerland where he was the back-up goaltender for the Lions, SCL Tigers and HC Davos.

Reto was a member of HC Davos' Swiss championship team in 2009. Moving to EHC Biel for the 2009–10 NLA season, he became the team's starting goaltender and appeared in 40 games, posting a win-loss record of 16–20 and a goals against average (GAA) of 3.36.

Reto improved over the following seasons, culminating in 2011–12 when he was named the NLA's goaltender of the year after posting a 23–26 record with Biel and a 2.45 GAA.

As Reto played with Biel in the 2012–13 NLA season, his NHL playing rights were traded by the Blues on April 1, 2013.

The Calgary Flames acquired his rights, along with Mark Cundari and a first round draft selection in exchange for defenceman Jay Bouwmeester.

After completing his fourth season with Biel, Reto believed his career had progressed to the point where he could succeed in North America. He signed a one-year contract with Calgary for the 2013–14 NHL season.

The Flames wanted Reto to gain some playing experience in North America, so they assigned him to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat to start the season.

After nine appearances with the Heat in which he recorded a 2.66 GAA and a .908 save percentage, Reto was recalled to Calgary.

On November 3, 2013, Reto made his NHL debut, making 42 saves for his first win as the Flames defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, 3–2. He appeared in 29 games for the Flames and posted a 9–17–2 record with a 2.95 GAA.

On 5 March 5, 2014, the Flames traded him to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a second round draft pick.

Before making his debut with the Avalanche and as an impending free agent at season's end, Reto was signed to a three-year contract extension to assume the backup role to Semyon Varlamov on March 13, 2014.

On January 16, 2015, while playing for the Lake Erie Monsters, Reto became the 11th goalie in AHL history to score a goal when he shot the puck the length of the ice to score in an empty net against the Chicago Wolves.

Approaching the final year of his contract and having been surpassed to third choice on the depth chart by Calvin Pickard, Reto was traded by the Avalanche to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Rocco Grimaldi on June 23, 2016.

Career Statistics[]

Regular season and playoffs[]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2003–04 GCK Lions NLB 1 0 0 0 14 0 0 0.00 1.000
2004–05 GCK Lions NLB 3 2 1 0 180 12 0 4.00
2005–06 GCK Lions NLB 15 2 7 0 835 51 1 3.56
2005–06 ZSC Lions NLA 2 0 1 0 90 6 0 3.99
2006–07 GCK Lions NLB 6 4 2 0 359 18 0 3.01
2006–07 ZSC Lions NLA 2 1 0 0 78 4 0 3.08 4 0 3 188 9 0 2.87
2007–08 HC Davos NLA 16 9 7 0 966 44 0 2.73
2008–09 HC Davos NLA 8 3 4 0 445 20 0 2.70 4 3 1 216 5 0 1.39
2008–09 SCL Tigers NLA 2 1 1 0 120 9 0 4.50 .875
2008–09 EV Zug NLA 6 1 5 0 368 17 0 2.77 .918
2009–10 EHC Biel NLA 40 16 20 0 2319 130 3 3.36 10 3 7 582 33 0 3.40
2010–11 EHC Biel NLA 41 17 24 0 2452 122 3 2.99 .889
2011–12 EHC Biel NLA 49 23 26 0 2865 117 7 2.45 .916 5 1 4 302 18 0 3.57 .889
2012–13 EHC Biel NLA 49 24 25 0 2973 149 3 3.01 .906 7 3 4 455 24 0 3.17 .901
2013–14 Abbotsford Heat AHL 9 4 3 1 473 21 0 2.66 .908
2013–14 Calgary Flames NHL 29 9 17 2 1648 81 0 2.95 .897
2013–14 Colorado Avalanche NHL 2 0 1 1 72 7 0 5.83 .781
2014–15 Colorado Avalanche NHL 19 5 4 1 748 33 1 2.65 .918
2014–15 Lake Erie Monsters AHL 5 3 1 1 303 13 0 2.57 .914
2015–16 Colorado Avalanche NHL 14 5 8 0 718 29 2 2.41 .922
2015–16 San Antonio Rampage AHL 16 7 7 0 884 50 0 3.39 .901
NLA totals 215 95 113 0 12736 618 16 2.36 30 10 19 1743 89 0 2.44
NHL totals 64 19 30 4 3189 150 3 2.82 .906

International[]

Year Team Event Result GP W L T/OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2005 Switzerland WJC-18 9th 1 1 1 0 120 9 0 4.50 .885
2006 Switzerland WJC 7th 6 2 2 2 359 14 0 2.34 .910
2007 Switzerland WJC 7th 6 3 3 0 360 19 0 3.17 .899
2012 Switzerland WC 11th 4 1 3 0 239 12 0 3.01 .880
2013 Switzerland WC Template:Sica 4 4 0 0 240 4 1 1.00 .967
2014 Switzerland Oly 9th 1 0 1 0 59 1 0 1.02 .968
2014 Switzerland WC 10th 6 3 3 0 362 16 0 2.65 .902
2015 Switzerland WC 8th 5 0 5 0 310 18 0 3.48 .876
2016 Switzerland WC 11th 6 2 3 0 372 21 0 3.39 .881
Junior totals 14 5 5 2 838 42 0 3.01
Senior totals 26 10 15 0 1582 72 1 2.80 .899

International Play[]

Medal record
Men's Ice hockey
Competitor for Flag ch Switzerland
World Championships
Silver 2013 Sweden/Finland

Reto has represented Switzerland at several international tournaments. He played with the national junior team three times; the first was at the 2005 IIHF World U18 Championships where he appeared in two games, winning one, for the ninth place Swiss.

Reto also played in two World Junior Championships, appearing in all six of his nation's games each in 2006 and 2007 as Switzerland finished seventh both years.

With the senior team, he appeared in four of his nation's seven games at the 2012 IIHF World Championship where he posted a record of 1–3 and had a GAA of 3.01.

At the 2013 IIHF World Championship, Reto split goaltending duties with Martin Gerber.

He appeared in four games, winning all four and posting a GAA of 1.00. The unheralded Swiss team went on a "Cinderella run" at the championship, winning their first nine games of the tournament.

The ninth win came in the semi-final as Reto led his team to an upset win over the United States.

Reto recorded a shutout in a 3–0 win that guaranteed the Swiss their first World Championship medal in 60 years. He described the victory: "I think it's the biggest win since a long, long time for Switzerland and also I think for a lot of players it was the most important game in their life today."

The tournament ended in disappointment for the Swiss as, with Gerber in goal, they lost the gold medal game, 5–1 to Sweden. The silver medal matched the best finish in Swiss history.

Reto and Hiller returned to the Swiss team for the 2014 Winter Olympics. He appeared in one of Switzerland's four games, a 1–0 defeat.

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