Norm Maracle
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| Position | Goaltender |
| Height Weight |
5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 175-195 lb (86 kg) |
| RHSL Team F. Teams |
Avangard Omsk Atlanta Thrashers Detroit Red Wings |
| Nationality |  Canada |
| Born | October 2, 1974, Belleville, Ontario, Canada |
| NHL Draft | 126th overall, 1993 Detroit Red Wings |
| Pro Career | 1994 – present |
Norm Maracle (born October 2, 1974, in Belleville, Ontario, Canada) is a professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings and Atlanta Thrashers. Currently, he is playing in the Russian Hockey Super League with Avangard Omsk.
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[edit] Career in The Juniors
Maracle joined the WHL's Saskatoon Blades during the 1991-92 season and remained with them until the 1993-94 season. Maracle's level of play during the 1993-94 season would earn him the Del Wilson Trophy for best goaltender in the WHL. Prior to the 1993-94 seasons, the Detroit Red Wings drafted Maracle in the 5th Round, 126th overall, in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.
[edit] Professional career in North America
[edit] Detroit
For the start of the 1994-95 season, Maracle was signed by the Red Wings and reassigned to their AHL affiliate the Adirondack Red Wings, sharing goaltending duties with Kevin Hodson. For the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons, Maracle would remain in the AHL, posting prolific winning records and a high save percentage each season, but didn't get called up to the NHL due to the Red Wings' overwhelming goaltending depth, being the fourth goaltender behind Mike Vernon, Chris Osgood, and Hodson.
While Maracle would spend the 1997-98 season as the starting goaltender in Adirondack, he would eventually get the call up from the Red Wings and post a 2-0-1 record in 4 NHL appearances. He did not see any playoff action that season, where the Red Wings would go on to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship.
Maracle challenged Hodson for the backup spot for the 1998-99 season. Maracle put up solid numbers during the season and as a result, became Detroit's backup goaltender to Osgood. Maracle appeared in 16 regular season contests, posting a 6-5-2 record and a 91.8% save percentage. Hodson, however, was sent to the Tampa Bay Lightning prior to the trade deadline so the Red Wings could acquire Bill Ranford as Detroit's third goaltender. Due to Ranford's strong showing towards the end of the regular season, the Red Wings kept Maracle on roster, but designated him as the third goaltender. After the Red Wings defeated the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the opening round of the playoffs, they went on to face the Colorado Avalanche in the Conference Semifinals. Osgood was injured prior to the first game, placing Ranford as the starting goaltender and having Maracle serve as his backup. Maracle played in two games against Colorado, relieving Ranford in both instances. By the time Osgood returned from being injured, the Red Wings couldn't solve the Avalanche and were eliminated in the playoffs. Not having lived up to expectations, Ranford was not re-signed at the end of the season. Maracle also fell under scrutiny because not only did he not perform as expected in the playoffs, but his conditioning was coming into question. Due to this, Maracle was unprotected in the Expansion Draft, resulting in the Atlanta Thrashers claiming Maracle on 25 June 1999.
[edit] Atlanta
With the 1999-2000 season in the NHL being the first for the Thrashers, there was some instability in the lineup. Maracle still managed to start in more games for the Thrashers than any of the other four goaltenders whom he played along side with (being Damian Rhodes, Scott Fankhouser, Scott Langkow, and Rick Tabaracci). However, with a shaky defense playing in front of him, Maracle finished the season with a 4-19-2 record and would have a save percentage under 90%. The team did not make the playoffs.
When Maracle reported for the 2000-01 training camp, his conditioning had become so poor that he was reassigned to the Orlando Solar Bears of the International Hockey League, Atlanta's minor league affiliate. In spite of this, Maracle worked hard to post an impressive 33-13-3 record at a minor level, earning him 13 appearances for the Thrashers for that season. Though his record for the Thrashers was 2-8-3, his save percentage slightly improved.
Maracle would only appear in one NHL game for the 2001-02 season, being a 3-0 loss to the Washington Capitals on 10 November 2001. This would be his last NHL game to date. Maracle would spend the rest of the season with the Thrashers' new minor league affiliate, the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. Maracle was the starting goaltender with Pasi Nurminen backing him up.
For the 2002-03 Season, Maracle remained in the minors while Nurminen ascended the depth charts to become Atlanta's starting goaltender, with Milan Hnilicka, Byron Dafoe, and Frederic Cassivi supporting him. While Hnilicka and Cassivi would be assigned and recalled from their minor league affiliate, Maracle did not receive that same privledge. Having run out of options to leave the minors in the North American system, Maracle signed with Magnitogorsk Metallurg of the RHSL on 8 June 2003.
[edit] Professional career in Europe
Maracle, better conditioned and in a new system, would appear in 46 contests for Magnitogorsk Metallurg for the 2003-04 season.
Though he signed a contract with the Nurnburg Ice Tigers of the Deutsche Liga at the start of the 2004-05 season, he never appeared in a contest for them. Maracle ended up signing with the 2004 RHSL Champion Avangard Omsk on 5 November 2004. Maracle would go on to compete with Avangard for the European Cup Championship, which Avangard ended up winning.
Maracle establshed himself as the starting goaltender for Avangard for the 2005-06 season as well.
For the current 2006-07 season, Maracle is still on roster for Avangard. Though he was their starting goaltender for their previous seasons, he is currently supporting Aleksandr Fomichev as the team's backup goaltender.
