Washington Hires Arturs Irbe as Goalie Coach

by Jonathan Willis on Aug 13, 2009 11:21 AM MDT in News

Admittedly, this isn't Oilers' news, but I couldn't let it pass by unnoticed. Arturs Irbe (pictured above, showing just how small a goaltender can look) was one of my favourite NHL'ers during his career and a guy I've always cheered for. He was mostly a middling goaltender capable of getting very hot, and he went on two lengthy playoff runs, with San Jose and with Carolina.

He was also famous for his ugly face mask and beat-up pads. He used the same pads his entire career, stitching them himself when they were torn. Like most goalies, I can't imagine him as entirely sane.

Irbe's previous job was as the goaltending coach with Riga Dynamo, where he did an admirable job trying to get by with Sergei Naumov before the team picked up Martin Prusek for the second half of the season. Prusek went 11-6-2 with a 1.70 GAA and .941 SV% to finish the season for Riga.

Irbe will have an important role in Washington; Semyon Varlamov is a tremendous prospect and Irbe will also have to try and get the most out of Jose Theodore. I hope he does well.

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Language

This might be my memory failing me, but wasn’t Irbe the guy that never spoke English?

Contributor to The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.

by Derek Zona on Aug 13, 2009 12:20 PM MDT reply actions

Apparently he speaks it well enough now, but his fluency in Russian, no doubt, helped him land this job tutoring young Semyon.

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by J.P. on Aug 13, 2009 1:09 PM MDT up reply actions

irbe

I remember Irbe coming back from injury when he was with the sharks and they were in town to face the jets. He completely outplayed whatever slug the jets had in net at the time, smart, quick, agile… but Dave Manson managed to beat him from the wrong side of the redline to break the shutout.

by rent a goalie on Aug 13, 2009 10:17 PM MDT reply actions

Other fun "Archie" facts

The summer of 1994 saw near tragedy visit Irbe. Back home in Riga he was doing sit-ups one day next to his sleeping dog. At one point he nudged the animal, which woke up and went berserk, tearing and ravaging Irbe’s hands and forcing him to go to the hospital. He suffered extensive damage to the tendons and nerves in his hands, and his career was threatened.

He also was obsessive about leaving his catching glove on the bench between periods

by Matt.N on Aug 14, 2009 6:44 AM MDT reply actions

Arturs Irbe

First of all, Mr. Irbe speaks english probably better than any of you! So trust me, your memory is failing you! He is a political and sports hero in his native Latvia and any Caps fan should be ecstatic that you got him to be your Goalie Coach. First of all, he will teach Varlamov how to catch a bloody puck, and also, when Theodore and Varlamov start to suck, you could put Arturs in net. It’s amazing what a good goalie can do for a pretty good team!
GO FLAMES GO!!!!

by wyntyre on Aug 14, 2009 11:14 PM MDT reply actions

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