Bob Froese

Robert Glenn Froese (born June 30, 1958) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers.

Bob Froese
Froese in 1986
Born (1958-06-30) June 30, 1958
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for Philadelphia Flyers
New York Rangers
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 160th overall, 1978
St. Louis Blues
Playing career 1979–1990

Early life

Froese was born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. He was the middle child to Frank and Agnes Froese with sisters Dorothy (elder) and Patty (younger).

Playing career

Junior and minor leagues

At 16 Froese made his Ontario Major Junior Hockey League debut for his hometown St. Catharines Blackhawks, having been protected as a homegrown player instead of entering the OMJHL draft. His rookie campaign he played in 15 games. Bob played all four of his junior years for the Emms family, moving across the Niagara Region to the Niagara Falls Flyers for the latter two. Following the 1977–78 season, Froese was drafted by the St Louis Blues in the 10th round, 160th overall.

Due to the Blue's financial woes, Froese was not offered a contract out of junior, but instead signed for the Saginaw Gears of the International Hockey League. Halfway through his rookie IHL campaign, Froese was loaned to the Milwaukee Admirals, where he led them to a playoff berth. Froese played a total of three seasons in Saginaw, culminating with the 1980–81 Turner Cup.

1981–82 saw Froese sign with the Philadelphia Flyers, who placed him with the Maine Mariners. Froese played 33 AHL games for the Mariners in each of the 1981–82 and 1982–83 seasons. His call-up to the NHL came after Pelle Lindbergh injured his wrist in an exhibition game against a travelling Soviet exhibition team.

Philadelphia Flyers

Froese made his NHL debut on January 8, 1983, against the Hartford Whalers. The Flyers won 7–4. Froese went on to win his first 8 NHL starts and go undefeated for his first 13, compiling a 12–0–1 record along the way. These were both records for a rookie goaltender at the time. His first NHL shutout came in his third game against the New York Rangers.

The 1983–84 season saw Froese lead the Flyers in games played. 1984–85 saw injuries limit Froese to 17 NHL games along with 4 AHL games for the Hershey Bears. In the 1984–85 playoffs, Froese made 1 start and came in 3 times in relief as the Flyers went to the Stanley Cup finals.

After Pelle Lindbergh died early in the 1985–86 season, Froese became the Flyers' starting goalie. Froese was selected as the Wales Conference backup goaltender for the 1986 All-Star Game, leading the Wales Conference to an overtime victory. At the close of this season he shared the William M. Jennings Trophy (for backstopping the team that gave up the fewest goals) with Darren Jensen. Froese also came second in Vezina Trophy voting to John Vanbiesbrouck by only two votes. During this season he led the NHL in save % (.909), shutouts (5), wins (31) and was named to the NHL Second All-Star Team.

1986–87 saw Froese lose the starting job for the Flyers to Ron Hextall. After appearing in only 3 games for the Flyers that season, he was traded to the New York Rangers on December 19, 1986, for Kjell Samuelsson and a second-round draft pick.[1]

New York Rangers

Following his trade to the Rangers, Froese became half of one of the best tandems in the NHL along with the man he lost the Vezina Trophy to the year before, John Vanbiesbrouck. Appearing in only 28 games that season for the Rangers, he set the team record for most penalty minutes in a season, with 56.[2] Following the season and the Rangers' early exit from the playoffs, Froese went to the IIHF World Championships in Vienna, Austria, where he shut out the Soviet Union during a 0–0 tie.

On November 29, 1987, Froese briefly became the second NHL goalie to score a goal in a game. An errant pass by the New York Islanders' Brent Sutter slid the length of the ice and into the Islanders' empty net on a delayed penalty call. Froese, who had appeared to make a save seconds earlier, was given credit for the goal. Later reviews showed that the shot had actually hit the post and not Froese, so the goal was given to David Shaw.[3]

Altogether, he played for a total of eight seasons, appearing in 242 games and winning 128.

Coaching career

Following his career, Froese joined the New York Rangers coaching staff as their goaltending consultant, working primarily with young prospects Mike Richter and Corey Hirsch. Following two years on the Rangers staff, he joined the New York Islanders in the same role. After three years on the Islanders staff, Froese stepped away from hockey to pursue ministry full-time.

Pastoral ministry

Following his retirement from coaching, Froese became the youth pastor at Faith Fellowship Church in Clarence, New York.[4] One year later, Froese became the senior pastor. He has been the pastor at Faith Fellowship Church since 1995. He later resigned from the church in 2020. During his time in ministry, he earned a Bachelor of Science in religion from Liberty University, a Master of Arts in religion from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Biblical counseling from Trinity Theological Seminary.

Personal life

Froese is married to his high school sweetheart Ruth.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1974–75 St. Catharines Black Hawks OMJHL 15 — — — 871 71 0 4.89 — — — — — — — — —
1975–76 St. Catharines Black Hawks OMJHL 39 — — — 1976 193 0 5.86 — 4 1 3 240 20 0 5.00 —
1976–77 Niagara Falls Flyers OMJHL 39 — — — 2063 161 2 4.68 — — — — — — — — —
1977–78 Niagara Falls Flyers OMJHL 53 — — — 3128 246 0 4.72 — 4 2 2 236 17 0 4.36 —
1978–79 Saginaw Gears IHL 21 — — — 1050 58 0 3.31 — — — — — — — — —
1978–79 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 14 — — — 715 42 1 3.52 — 7 — — 334 23 0 4.14 —
1979–80 Maine Mariners AHL 1 0 1 0 60 5 0 5.00 — — — — — — — — —
1979–80 Saginaw Gears IHL 52 — — — 2827 178 0 3.78 — 4 — — 213 13 0 3.66 —
1980–81 Saginaw Gears IHL 43 — — — 2298 114 3 2.98 — 13 12 1 806 29 2 2.16 —
1981–82 Maine Mariners AHL 33 16 11 4 1900 104 2 3.28 — — — — — — — — —
1982–83 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 25 17 4 2 1407 59 4 2.52 .896 — — — — — — — —
1982–83 Maine Mariners AHL 33 18 11 3 1966 110 2 3.36 — — — — — — — — —
1983–84 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 48 28 13 7 2863 150 2 3.14 .887 3 0 2 154 11 0 4.29 .857
1984–85 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 17 13 2 0 923 37 1 2.41 .913 4 0 1 146 11 0 4.52 .845
1984–85 Hershey Bears AHL 4 1 2 1 245 15 0 3.67 — — — — — — — — —
1985–86 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 51 31 10 3 2728 116 5 2.55 .909 5 2 3 293 15 0 3.07 .880
1986–87 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 3 3 0 0 180 8 0 2.67 .909 — — — — — — — —
1986–87 New York Rangers NHL 28 14 11 0 1474 92 0 3.74 .883 4 1 1 165 10 0 3.64 .896
1987–88 New York Rangers NHL 25 8 11 3 1440 85 0 3.54 .878 — — — — — — — —
1988–89 New York Rangers NHL 30 9 14 4 1621 102 1 3.78 .870 2 0 2 72 8 0 6.68 .843
1989–90 New York Rangers NHL 15 5 7 1 812 45 0 3.33 .873 — — — — — — — —
NHL totals 242 128 72 20 13,448 694 13 3.10 .889 18 3 9 830 55 0 3.98 .869

International
Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA
1987 Canada WC 5 1 3 1 300 18 1 3.60

"Froese's stats". The Goaltender Home Page. Retrieved 2017-09-22.

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References
  1. Wolff, Craig (1986-12-19). "Froese Is Traded to Rangers". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
  2. "New York Rangers goaltending history". goaliesarchive.com. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
  3. , The New York Times, December 5, 1987, accessed April 14, 2011.
  4. "Staff | Faith Fellowship Church". faithfellowship.us. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
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