Professional
Dubnyk began his professional career in 2006 with the Stockton Thunder of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) where he compiled a strong 24–11–7 record. His 24 wins, 2.56 GAA and .921 save percentage set club records and he was selected to be an ECHL All-Star for the 2006-07 season. In 2007-08 Dubnyk began to play full-time for what was then Edmonton's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Springfield Falcons. In three seasons with the Falcons, Dubnyk played 128 games, compiling a 40-75-4 record. In 2008-09, Dubnyk set a club record for most appearances by a goaltender with 62.
Dubnyk was called up to the Oilers early in the 2009-10 season after Oilers starting goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin underwent season-ending back surgery. For the remainder of the season he served as back-up to Jeff Deslauriers. Dubnyk made his first NHL appearance on November 28, 2009, replacing Deslauriers in a 7-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. Dubnyk allowed 3 goals on 24 shots. It took him until March 19, 2010, to register a win, and it came via a shootout versus the Detroit Red Wings. Dubnyk made 31 saves in the win. On March 21, 2010, Dubnyk recorded the first regulation win of his career, making 27 saves in a 5-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks.
On July 13, 2010, The Oilers re-signed Dubnyk to a two-year contract. The 2010-11 season was Dubnyk's first full season in the NHL, and it proved a busy one. He entered the season as the full-time back-up to Nikolai Khabibulin, but injuries to Khabibulin combined with strong play from Dubnyk resulted in the latter registering over 30 starts. He finished the season with a 12-13-8 record on a last-place Oilers squad, impressing the Oilers coaching staff. Oilers coach Tom Renney summed up Dubnyk's season: "As much as we had an idea of how much we wanted to play him, we’ve played him more, and he’s made the best of it." On February 7, 2011, Dubnyk earned his first career shutout by stopping 37 shots in a 4-0 win against the Nashville Predators. He closed out his season by earning back-to-back wins against the President's Trophy winning Vancouver Canucks, stopping 46 of 47 shots against in the process.
On October 9, 2011, Dubnyk started his first career season opener, by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 in the shootout, while stopping 35 shots in the process.
Dubnyk struggled at the beginning of the 2011-12 NHL season posting 4 wins in his first 13 games, along with a 3.03 goals against average, and a 0.902 save percentage. Allowing Nikolai Khabibulin to steal the show, but as Khabibulin started to struggle, Dubnyk got more starts. Dubnyk had a strong second half of the season. Dubnyk earned his stripes as the starting goaltender in the month of March, posting a 6-2-1 record with a 1.95 GAA, and a .934 save percentage, and started in 12 of the Oilers last 13 games, and hasn't surrendered more than 3 goals in 20 straight games. Also winning 16 of the Oilers final 17 games.
Read more about this topic: Devan Dubnyk
Famous quotes containing the word professional:
“I sometimes wonder whether, in the still, sleepless hours of the night, the consciences of ... professional gossips do not stalk them. I myself believe in a final reckoning, when we shall be held accountable for our misdeeds. Do they? If so, they have cause to worry over many scoops that brought them a day’s dubious laurels and perhaps destroyed someone’s peace forever.”
—Mary Pickford (1893–1979)
“The belief that there are final and immutable answers, and that the professional expert has them, is one that mothers and professionals tend to reinforce in each other. They both have a need to believe it. They both seem to agree, too, that if the professional’s prescription doesn’t work it is probably because of the mother’s inadequacy.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)
“The American character looks always as if it had just had a rather bad haircut, which gives it, in our eyes at any rate, a greater humanity than the European, which even among its beggars has an all too professional air.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)