Goaltender Arturs Irbe Reassigned to Lock Monsters

RALEIGH, N.C. – Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the defending Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes, announced today that the team has recalled goaltender Patrick DesRochers from Lowell of the American Hockey League. The team reassigned goaltender Arturs Irbe to Lowell, the Hurricanes’ top minor-league affiliate.

The Hurricanes acquired DesRochers from Phoenix on Dec. 31 in exchange for goaltender Jean-Marc Pelletier. DesRochers (6’ 4’’, 205 lbs.) has played in nine career NHL games for Phoenix and has a career record of 1-5-1 with a goals-against average of 3.73. He played four games with the Coyotes this season and recorded a 0-3-0 record with a goals-against average of 3.77. The Penetanguishene, Ont., native has played 17 games with Lowell since the trade, compiling a record of 4-12-1 with a goals-against average of 2.80. He is a combined 6-16-2 with a goals-against average of 2.75 and a save percentage of .914 with Springfield and Lowell of the AHL this season. Phoenix originally chose DesRochers in the first round, 14th overall, in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft.

Irbe (5’ 8’’, 190 lbs.) is 7-20-2 with a goals-against average of 3.17 and a save percentage of .880 in 30 games with Carolina this season. The franchise’s all-time leader in games played, wins and shutouts, Irbe is 125-116-43 with a goals-against average of 2.49 and 20 shutouts in 295 career games with Carolina. In 554 career games in the NHL with San Jose, Dallas, Vancouver and the Hurricanes, Irbe is 213-230-78 with a goals-against average of 2.83. He ranks second in NHL history among European-born goaltenders in wins behind Dominik Hasek (288). Irbe was recalled from Lowell on Feb. 24 after recording a 2-2-1 record and 3.32 goals-against average in five games following his first reassignment on Feb. 11.

The Hurricanes travel to Buffalo this afternoon and begin a two-game road trip when they take on the Sabres on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at HSBC Arena (Fox Sports Net, Hurricanes radio network). Carolina then travels to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers at 7 p.m. at First Union Center on Thursday (FSN, Hurricanes radio network). The Hurricanes return home on Saturday as they host the Los Angeles Kings at 7 p.m. at the RBC Center. Tickets for that game and all Hurricanes games are available via the team’s official website, CarolinaHurricanes.com, the Dodge Box Office at the RBC Center or by calling 919-834-4000.