Jim Hrivnak (born May 28, 1968) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

. Selected by the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

in the 1986 NHL Draft, Hrivnak played parts of four seasons with the Capitals before joining the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...

and later, the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

Playing career

Hrivnak played for

Merrimack College Merrimack College is a Private university, private Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian university in North Andover, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine with an initial goal to educate World War II veterans. It en ...

from 1985 to 1989. His freshman year he would go 12-6. This would lead to him being named

ECAC east New England Hockey Conference (formerly the ECAC East) is a college athletic conference which operates in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division III as a hockey-only conference. __TOC__ History The New England ...

rookie of the year his freshman year. Hrivnak would have a great sophomore year as he would play every game for the warriors going 27-7 overall. Leading Merrimack to their first ECAC East championship. He would have a shutout in the championship game leading to him being named finals MVP. The accolades would keep coming as Hrivnak would also be named 1987 ECAC East league MVP as well being honored as an all American. During his junior year during the 1987-88 season he would have a program record 31 wins as he and Merrimack would win another ECAC East championship. This would result in Merrimack making their first ever appearance in the DI NCAA tournament. Hrivnak would be between the pipes as Merrimack pulled off a huge first round upset of hockey east champions Northeastern. Before eventually falling in the quarterfinals. He would once again be named an all American at the end of the season. His senior year he would go 18-4. He would finish his time at Merrimack with a 88-23-2 record. He still holds numerous records at Merrimack such as most shutouts in a season, most overall shutouts and most wins. Following his graduation, Hrivnak played with the Capitals

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

affiliate, the

Baltimore Skipjacks The Baltimore Skipjacks were a minor league professional ice hockey team from Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The Skipjacks originated in 1979, and played as the Baltimore Clippers in the Eastern Hockey League for two seasons. The team was ...

, to conclude their 1988–89 season. Hrivnak made his NHL debut on December 6, 1989, against the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

and stopped one shot. From 1989 to 1992 he would play in 32 games for the capitals going 15-10-1 during this stretch. During the 1992-93 season he would see more action playing in 27 game for the capitals and going 13-9-2. On March 22, 1993, Hrivnak was traded from the Capitals to the

for

Rick Tabaracci Richard Stephen Tabaracci (born January 2, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Biography Tabaracci was born to a Finnish mother and an Italian father. As a youth, Tabaracci played in the 1982 Quebec International ...

. He would start 3 games for the jets going 2-1. On July 29, 1993, Hrivnak was traded to the

in exchange for a 7th round draft pick. He would play 23 games with the Blues going 4-10 overall. While playing with the St. Louis Blues during the 1993–94 season, he set a new record for most saves by a Blues goaltender against the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

with 46. This would turn out to be his final year in the NHL as he would finish with an overall record of 34-30-3. He would then go to

milwaukee admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team based in Milwaukee. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Nashville Predators. They play their homes games at the UW–Milwaukee Panther ...

of the International Hockey League playing in 28 games and going 17-10-1. After bouncing around a couple of teams in the IHL and AHL. He would sign with the Las Vegas Thunder in 1995 playing in 13 games going 10-1-1. This would be his final season in America. As In 1996 he sign with

Kölner Haie The Kölner Haie (English: ''Cologne Sharks'') are an ice hockey club based in Cologne, Germany, that plays in the professional Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The team was one of the founding members of the DEL. The ''Kölner Haie'' play their ho ...

of the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called Penny (supermarket), PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga) (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a professional ice hockey league in Germany and the highest division in German i ...

playing in 21 games. He would then sign with Manchester Storm of the Ice Hockey Superleague. Playing in 21 games. Then the year after in 1998 he would join Hamburg Crocodiles of Germany2. Playing 35 games going 11-14-2. Hrivnak joined

Ässät Ässät or Ässä may refer to: *HC Ässät Pori Oy, Finnish sports club **Porin Ässät (men's ice hockey) **Porin Ässät (women's ice hockey) **Porin Ässät (men's football) **PATA (esports) *, Finnish band from Oulu *S Group, Finnish Consumer ...

in the Finnish league

Liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mesti ...

to compete in their 1999–2000 season. He played 34 games in two seasons with Ässät. On October 28, 2003, Hrivnak joined the Granby Prédateurs of the Quebec Senior Major Hockey League. He would then retire after the 2003-04 season. In 2018, Hrivnak was inducted into the Merrimack College Athletics Hall of Fame.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honors

Records

* Most wins career (88) * Most wins in a season (31) * Most shutouts career (11)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hrivnak, Jim 1968 births Living people Porin Ässät (men's ice hockey) players Baltimore Skipjacks players Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Carolina Monarchs players Hamburg Crocodiles players Ice hockey people from Montreal Kansas City Blades players Kölner Haie players Las Vegas Thunder players Manchester Storm (1995–2002) players Merrimack Warriors men's ice hockey players Milwaukee Admirals (IHL) players St. Louis Blues players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Washington Capitals draft picks Washington Capitals players Winnipeg Jets (1979–1996) players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland