Playing Career
Greiss was selected 94th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the San Jose Sharks. He earned a spot on Team Germany for the 2006 Winter Olympics. At 20 years of age, he was the youngest goaltender in the tournament, and had a 35 save performance on 40 shots against Team Canada.
He played for San Jose in pre-season games. On January 8, 2008, he was officially recalled to replace Dimitri Pätzold as Evgeni Nabokov's backup goaltender. He started his first game on January 13, 2008, in an eventual 4–3 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
For the 2009–10 season, Greiss was the back-up goaltender for the San Jose Sharks. He was also named to Team Germany for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
On October 12, 2010, Greiss cleared waivers and was reassigned to San Jose's AHL affiliate, the Worcester Sharks. Greiss' reassignment was primarily due to the signing of goaltenders Antero Niittymäki and Antti Niemi. Nine days later, after not seeing any game action as Worcester's third-string goaltender, the Sharks reassigned Greiss from Worcester to Brynäs of Elitserien to give Greiss playing time.
On April 11, 2011, Greiss was recalled to the San Jose Sharks for the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He re-signed with the Sharks on July 7.
Greiss was the starting goaltender in the season opener for the Sharks in the 2011-12 season, a 6-3 win over the Phoenix Coyotes in San Jose. He went on to start the next two games (losses to the Anaheim Ducks and St. Louis Blues) before Niemi returned from an off-season surgery.
Greiss recorded his first shutout in NHL on January 26, 2013, recording 24 saves in a 4-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche.
Read more about this topic: Thomas Greiss
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