Wade Dubielewicz

Wade Dubielewicz
Dubielewicz pictured during his tenure with the Islanders.
Born	(1979-01-30) January 30, 1979 Invermere, BC, CAN
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	178 lb (81 kg; 12 st 10 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Played for	New York Islanders Ak Bars Kazan Columbus Blue Jackets Minnesota Wild Kölner Haie
NHL Draft	Undrafted
Playing career	2003–2012

Wade Roger Dubielewicz (born January 30, 1979), is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey goaltender, who last played for the Cologne Sharks (Kölner Haie) in Germany. He has played for three National Hockey League (NHL) teams during his career: the Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild and the New York Islanders.

Following his retirement, he became a goaltending coach for the Columbia Valley Rockies of the KIJHL, where his junior ice hockey career began.

Playing career

After tending goal for four years at the University of Denver, Dubielewicz was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Islanders on May 26, 2003. He joined the Islanders' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, where he became a fan favorite at the Arena at Harbor Yard, home of the Tigers. "Dubie" holds numerous AHL league records that still stand as of 2009. He holds the AHL/Sound Tigers records for most shutouts (15) and wins (81) in a career, and highest save percentage (.946) and goals against average (1.38) in a season (during the 2003–04 AHL season), passing the records of Rick DiPietro. Dubielewicz won the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as the top rookie in the AHL for 2003–04.

Dubielewicz made his first appearance of the 2006–2007 season for the New York Islanders on March 15, 2007, relieving Mike Dunham. In the regular season, he started the Islanders' final five games with a record of 4–1–0. On April 8, 2007, in the final game of the season against the New Jersey Devils, after Dubielewicz gave up a goal with .7 seconds left in regulation, he rebounded to stop the Devils in the shootout of a 3–2 victory to send the Islanders into the postseason as the 8th seed, eliminating the Toronto Maple Leafs from playoff contention.

Dubielewicz made his post-season debut on April 12, 2007 on the road in game one of the Eastern Conference Quarter-finals against the Buffalo Sabres. He allowed four goals on 35 shots in a 4–1 loss, giving the Sabres a 1–0 series lead. His teammate Rick DiPietro would get the start in goal for game two, after recovering from an injury.

The Islanders re-signed Dubielewicz to a one-year contract worth $500,000 for the 2007–2008 season. After the season, on June 1, 2008, Newsday reported that Dubielewicz declined the two-way contract extension they offered, as he believed that he'd be assigned to the AHL, as Joey MacDonald had a one-way deal. Dubielewicz his previously voiced a desire to remain an Islander and called himself "an Islander at heart".[1] He signed instead with Ak Bars of the Kontinental Hockey League.

On December 30, 2008, Wade Dubielewicz terminated his contract with Ak Bars by mutual agreement. In the previous month, Wade was often backing up the younger Stanislav Galimov. Wade left Ak Bars with a record of 11-8-3, a .892 save pct., and 2.77 GAA. After an injury to the Islanders' goaltender Joey MacDonald and with starting goalie Rick DiPietro sidelined, Dubielewicz re-signed with the Islanders on January 15, 2009, but the Blue Jackets claimed him off re-entry waivers on January 17, 2009. Dubielewicz played the rest of the season for Columbus.

Dubielewicz became a free agent in July 2009 and he signed a contract with the Minnesota Wild on July 17. The Wild have two other goalies with NHL experience and he was signed to improve the depth at the position.

Dubielewicz last played in Germany, having signed with the Kölner Haie on September 30, 2010.

Amateur career

Dubielewicz played at the University of Denver and as a junior in 2001–2002 lead his team to the NCAA tournament. He turned down a million plus dollar NHL offer to stay at Denver for his senior season and to finish his degree. Before signing with Denver, he played for the Junior A Fernie Ghostriders of the now-dormant RMJHL in Fernie, British Columbia. He played Junior B for the Columbia Valley Rockies of the KIJHL in Invermere, British Columbia, and then onto Trail of the BCHL in 1998-1999, before ending his junior career the next year for the Chilliwack Chiefs.

Coaching Career

Dubielewicz is currently coaching the Columbia Valley Rockies of the KIJHL.

Awards and honours

Award	Year
All-WCHA Second Team	2000–01
All-WCHA First Team	2001–02
AHCA West Second-Team All-American	2001–02
WCHA All-Tournament Team	2002
All-WCHA Second Team	2002–03
AHL All-Rookie Team	2004
AHL Second All-Star Team	2004
AHL Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award	2004
AHL Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award	2004

External links

• Wade Dubielewicz's player profile at NHL.com
• Yahoo! Sports player bio
• Wade Dubielewicz profile at Kontinental Hockey League website
• Wade Dubielewicz's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Tyler Arnason	WCHA Most Valuable Player in Tournament 2002	Succeeded by Grant Potulny