Marty Biron

From hockeygoalies.org:

BIOGRAPHY

BORN: Lac St. Charles, Quebec, August 15, 1977.
HOME:
HEIGHT: 6'1"-6'2".
WEIGHT: 154-168 lbs.
UNIFORM #: 00, 43 (Buffalo, Philadelphia). Martin was the last goaltender in the history of the National Hockey League to wear the number "00" - after he was returned to juniors in early 1996, the league made the number off-limits, and when he returned to the league, he switched to his current "43".
CATCHES: Left
JUNIOR TEAM: Beauport Harfangs (QMJHL), Hull Olympiques (QMJHL).

STRENGTHS: Rarely getting rattled, Biron is extremely poised for a goaltender of his age. Good agility and confidence.

WEAKNESSES: For a 6'1" goaltender, Biron is very small at 168 pounds, and will have to fill out to ultimately reach his full potential.

Name pronouced bih-RAH.

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING:
"Biron got the call to Buffalo after Hasek went down with a strained groin. He has seen limited action, but still appears to be on track for an NHL career. Biron, who plays a butterfly style, was the American League player of the month in Feburary with five shutouts and was selected as the starting goaltender for the Canadian stars in the AHL All-Star Game. Before joining the Sabres he led the AHL in wins (25), shutouts (6) and was among the league leaders in goals-against average (1.92), minutes (2,280), saves (1,134) and save percentage (.936)." (Jim Kelley, The Hockey News Future Watch 1999)

"One of the top goaltending prospects in all of hockey, Biron has done his time in the minors. He was selected to the AHL's first all-star team in 1998-99 and seems ready to supplant Dwayne Roloson as backup in 1999-2000. When Dominik Hasek leaves the team, Biron will be right there to take his place." (The Sports Forecaster 1999-2000, p. 79)

"Because of the emergence of Biron, the Sabres are no longer worried about life after "The Dominator". With Hasek hurt for a large chunk of the schedule, Biron was forced into action and responded with a stellar rookie season. In fact, the young goaltender was among the league leaders in shutouts and may have been the biggest reason the Sabres were able to salvage their season. He received almost no offensive support or his wins total would have been much higher. It will be interesting to see how much playing time Biron gets during Hasek's final season in the NHL." (The Sports Forecaster 2000-01, p. 68)

"Has nothing left to prove in the minor leagues, and should spend only one more season in a backup role. Should continue Buffalo's steep goaltending tradition. Has the mental fortitude to successfully replace a legend. Has Vezina Trophy written all over him." (The Sports Forecaster Online 2000-01)

"Biron did well in biding his time as the Sabres' backup netminder last year. He garnered a .500 record with decent stats overall (2.55 goals against, .909 save percentage and two shutouts). However, the 24-year-old's time to take over the starting reins is now. The 16th overall selection in 1995 is considered one of the best young goaltenders in the league. Despite the Dominik Hasek trade, Biron must have a strong training camp in order to cement the No. 1 job. If not, he'll have Finnish rookie Mika Noronen breathing down his neck before long." (The Sports Forecaster 2001-02, p. 70)

"Perhaps no NHL player faced more scrutiny in 2001-02 than Biron. Asked to step in to replace the departed Dominik Hasek, the rangy youngster more than met the challenge. In fact. Biron practically duplicated Hasek's Detroit numbers for goals-against average and save percentage while his 72 appearances equaled the most ever by his predecessor in a Buffalo uniform. Overall, Biron answered numerous questions in his first season as a starter. The young goalkeeper now faces a new challenge from surging backup Mika Noronen. However, Biron's character will prevent him from relinquishing the No. 1 role without a fight for now." (The Sports Forecaster 2002-03, p. 68)

"[Buffalo coach Lindy] Ruff says his top job is to get Martin Biron back on his game. Biron looked good late in 2001-02, but regressed last season. He must stop giving up bad goals and having the occasional bad game to emerge as the clear-cut No. 1" (Sporting News Hockey 2003-04, p. 33)

"Of Buffalo's three NHL-caliber netminders, Biron is the only one to not see any competitive action during the lockout. That may hurt his chances of staving off both Mika Noronen and Ryan Miller as the organization's No. 1 netminder. Biron has been a quality netminder for the Sabres, but can he raise his game?" (The Sports Forecaster 2005-06, p. 98)

TRANSACTIONS:

* Selected by Buffalo Sabres in first round (second Sabres pick, 16th overall) of National Hockey League entry draft, July 8, 1995.
* Agreed to contract with Sabres (missed first twelve games of 2000-01 season), November 7, 2000.
* Re-signed to one-year contract by Buffalo, August 9, 2004.
* Re-signed as restricted free agent to one-year contract by Buffalo, August 12, 2005.
* Traded by Buffalo to Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for second-round selection in 2007 entry draft, February 27, 2007.
* Signed to two-year contract extension by Philadelphia, March 27, 2007.

ACCOLADES:

* Winner, Canadian Hockey League Goaltender of the Year Award, 1994-95.
* Winner, Raymond Lagace Trophy, 1994-95.
* Winner, Mike Bossy Trophy, 1994-95.
* Winner, Jacques Plante Trophy, 1994-95.
* Named to Canadian Hockey League All-Star First Team, 1994-95.
* Named to Canadian Hockey League All-Rookie Team, 1994-95.
* Named to American Hockey League All-Star First Team, 1998-99.
* Winner, Baz Bastien Trophy, 1998-99.
* Shared (with Tom Draper) Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Trophy, 1998-99.
* Named National Hockey League Player of the Week, November 8, 1999.
* Shared (with Dominik Hasek) William M. Jennings Trophy, 2000-01.

RECORDS:

* On January 24, 2003, Martin registered his third straight whitewash and established a franchise-record shutout string as the Sabres stretched their unbeaten streak to seven games with a 4-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. The replacement for future Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek in the nets for Buffalo, Biron made 27 saves to record a third straight shutout for the first time in his career and help the Sabres improve to 5-0-2 during their season-high unbeaten run. Biron also ran his shutout streak to 201 minutes, 12 seconds, breaking the mark of Hasek - a six-time Vezina Trophy winner - of 178:33. He has not yielded a goal since 3:48 into the third period of a victory at Montreal on January 11. "I didn't know it was a Sabres' record that Dom did a few years ago," Biron said. "It's as good as I've felt, but a lot of the time it's circumstances being in the right situation at the right time. In the last few games, guys have bailed me out."

PENALTY SHOTS:

* Stopped penalty shot (Daniel Alfredsson), January 8, 2000.
* Stopped penalty shot (Mike Johnson), February 1, 2001.
* Allowed penalty shot goal (Alexei Zhamnov), December 13, 2002.
* Allowed penalty shot goal (Patrick Stefan), November 5, 2003.
* Allowed penalty shot goal (Erik Cole), November 9, 2005.
* Stopped penalty shot (Erik Cole), November 9, 2005.
* Allowed penalty shot goal (Marek Svatos), December 4, 2005.
* Stopped penalty shot (Justin Williams), March 28, 2007.
* Stopped penalty shot (Phil Kessel), October 27, 2007.
* Stopped penalty shot (Roman Hamrlik), November 1, 2007.

NHL SHOOTOUTS:

* November 22, 2005 - lost to NY Rangers, 2-3 (replaced Noronen, Michael Nylander goal, Jaromir Jagr goal).
* November 23, 2005 - defeated NY Islanders, 2-0 (Alexei Yashin save, Jason Blake save).
* December 29, 2005 - lost to Toronto, 0-2 (Mats Sundin goal, Alexei Ponikarovsky goal).
* January 12, 2006 - lost to Phoenix, 0-1 (Ladislav Nagy save, Geoff Sanderson goal, Mike Comrie save).
* April 3, 2006 - defeated Toronto, 1-0 (Mats Sundin save, Darcy Tucker save, Alexei Ponikarovsky save).
* 2005-06 season to date: 2 wins, 3 losses, 6 saves on 12 chances.
* March 4, 2007 - lost to Pittsburgh, 0-2 (Erik Christensen goal, Evgeni Malkin miss, Sidney Crosby goal).
* 2006-07 season to date: 0 wins, 1 loss, 1 save on 3 chances.
* November 15, 2007 - lost to NY Rangers, 0-1 (Marcel Hossa save, Brendan Shanahan goal).
* December 15, 2007 - lost to Carolina, 2-3 (Matt Cullen goal, Jeffrey Hamilton goal, Rod Brind'amour goal).
* December 22, 2007 - lost to Buffalo, 0-1 (Ales Kotalik goal, Maxim Afinogenov save).
* February 19, 2008 - lost to Ottawa, 1-2 (Daniel Alfredsson miss, Antoine Vermette goal, Jason Spezza goal).
* February 25, 2008 - defeated Buffalo, 2-1 (Tim Connolly save, Ales Kotalik goal, Derek Roy miss).
* March 2, 2008 - lost to NY Rangers, 0-2 (Brendan Shanahan goal, Nigel Dawes goal).
* 2007-08 season to date: 1 win, 5 losses, 5 saves on 15 chances.

DID YOU KNOW?

* Martin's younger brother, Mathieu, is a defenseman with the Washington Capitals.
* On November 9, 2005, Martin faced two penalty shots from the same player in the same game! Carolina's Erik Cole faced Biron twice, scoring on the first but being stopped on the second.
* On February 22, 2007, Martin was ejected from Buffalo's match against the Ottawa Senators for fighting counterpart Ray Emery. At 5:13 of the second period, Biron received a major for fighting, a minor for leaving his crease, and a game misconduct.