Robert Zepp (born September 7, 1981) is a Canadian-born German former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) 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. In ice hockey, two o ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

. He played 10 games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL) with the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wel ...

during the 2014–15 season. The rest of his career, which lasted rom 2001 to 2015, was mainly spent in Europe, playing two seasons in the Finnish

SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

for

SaiPa SAIPA ( fa, سایپا, ''SAIPA'') is an Iranian automaker headquartered in Tehran. The SAIPAC (an acronym for the French ''Société anonyme iranienne de production des automobiles Citroën'') was established in 1965 as with 75% Iran ...

and seven seasons in the

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

for

Eisbären Berlin Eisbären Berlin (; English: ''Berlin Polar Bears'') is a professional ice hockey team based in Berlin, Germany. The team competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), the highest level of play in professional German ice hockey, and is also one ...

. Internationally Zepp, a naturalized German citizen, played for the

German national team German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

at three

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Playing career

Born in Newmarket,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Zepp played junior hockey for the

Plymouth Whalers The Plymouth Whalers were a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They played out of Compuware Arena in Plymouth, Michigan, USA, a suburb of Detroit until 2015 when they were relocated to Flint, Michigan. History The Wha ...

in the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overa ...

(OHL). During three standout years with the high-flying Whalers, Zepp was awarded the

Dave Pinkney Trophy The Dave Pinkney Trophy is awarded to the goaltenders of the Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian H ...

three years running as a part of the goaltending duo in OHL with the lowest

goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on ...

(GAA). In his first season with the Whalers, Zepp was also awarded the

Bobby Smith Trophy The Bobby Smith Trophy is awarded annually to the Ontario Hockey League Scholastic Player of the Year, who best combines high standards of play and academic excellence. The trophy is named for Bobby Smith, a former Ottawa 67's player. It is symbo ...

as the OHL Scholastic Player of the Year who best combines high standards of play and academic excellence and the

CHL Scholastic Player of the Year The CHL Scholastic Player of the Year Award is awarded annually to the Canadian Hockey League player who is best combines success on the ice with success in school. It is chosen from the winners of the constituent league awards; the Daryl K. (Doc) ...

Award. Zepp was drafted by the

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 seaso ...

in the fourth round, 99th overall, in the

1999 NHL Entry Draft The 1999 NHL Entry Draft was the 37th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 26 at the FleetCenter in Boston. According to ''Sports Illustrated'' and other sports news agencies, at the time the 1999 draft was considered one of the deepest in talen ...

. He never signed a contract with the Thrashers and was drafted by the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

in round 4, 110th overall in the

2001 NHL Entry Draft __NOTOC__ The 2001 NHL Entry Draft was the 39th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 23 and 24, 2001 at the National Car Rental Center in Sunrise, Florida, Sunrise, Florida. As of 2022, the only remaining active players in the NHL from the 2001 ...

. He played from 2001 until 2005 with the

Florida Everblades The Florida Everblades are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Estero, Florida, in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan area. They play in the ECHL and are affiliated with the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League ( ...

of the

East Coast Hockey League The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

(ECHL) before deciding to play in Europe, joining

of the Finnish

, where he played two seasons. He then joined

in 2007. On July 1, 2014, Zepp returned to North America by signing a one-year, two-way contract with the

. On December 21, Zepp made his NHL debut against the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...

at the age of 33. Wearing jersey number 72, he made 25 saves out of 28 shots on goal to lead the Flyers to a 4–3

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

victory.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zepp, Rob 1981 births Living people Atlanta Thrashers draft picks Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Carolina Hurricanes draft picks Eisbären Berlin players Florida Everblades players German ice hockey players Lehigh Valley Phantoms players Lowell Lock Monsters players Sportspeople from Newmarket, Ontario Philadelphia Flyers players Plymouth Whalers players SaiPa players SaPKo players