Corey Hirsch (born July 1, 1972) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He spent the majority of his National Hockey League career with the Vancouver Canucks. He is also the former goaltending coach for the St. Louis Blues, having previously served the Toronto Maple Leafs along with François Allaire.
Hirsch is tied with Tyson Sexsmith for most wins in the Western Hockey League's history, with 120.
Playing career Born in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Hirsch played major junior hockey with the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League for four seasons. He was named to the WHL Second All-Star Team in his second season with Kamloops, in which the team won the President's Cup (now the Ed Chynoweth Cup) and advanced to the 1990 Memorial Cup in Hamilton, Ontario, where the Blazers placed third. Hirsch was subsequently chosen 169th overall in the 1991 NHL entry draft by the New York Rangers.
Upon being drafted, Hirsch led the league in shutouts, with 5, and goals against average with 2.72 in 1991–92, he was named CHL Goaltender of the Year and the Del Wilson Trophy as the WHL Goaltender of the Year. As the Blazers again captured President's Cup in 1992, they advanced to the Memorial Cup in Seattle and defeated the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 5–4 in the final. Hirsch was additionally awarded the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as the tournament's top goaltender.
In 1992–93, his first professional season, he played for the Binghamton Rangers, New York's AHL affiliate, and won the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award as the league's top goalie. At 2.79, he was also awarded the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award for the lowest goals-against-average (shared with goaltending teammate Boris Rousson).
Hirsch started his first NHL game that season, a 2–2 tie against the Detroit Red Wings on January 19, 1993. He recorded his first win on his next start, an 8–3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on January 23.
At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, Hirsch played all eight games for Canada and won a silver medal after losing in a shootout to Sweden in the gold medal game. The shootout-winning goal by Peter Forsberg was depicted on a Swedish postage stamp, featuring the image of a generic goalie because Hirsch refused to allow his likeness to be used.
Hirsch remained with Binghamton for three seasons until New York traded him to the Vancouver Canucks on April 7, 1995, in exchange for forward Nathan LaFayette.
Hirsch split goaltending duties with Kirk McLean in 1995–96 and was named to the All-Rookie Team after posting a 2.93 goals-against average, .903 save percentage and a winning 17–14–6 record. He also finished fifth in Calder Memorial Trophy voting (won by Daniel Alfredsson). During the season, he recorded his first career NHL shutout on January 15, 1996, a 6–0 win against the Boston Bruins.
On July 2, 1999, he was waived by the Canucks and for the next few seasons, would bounce around the league between the Nashville Predators, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Washington Capitals, and Dallas Stars. Playing for minor league affiliates, he only appeared in a handful of NHL games for the remainder of his career. In 2002–03, he recorded AHL career highs with a 2.64 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage in 35 games with the Utah Grizzlies.
Before retiring, Hirsch played three seasons overseas in the Swedish Elitserien, and the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga.
Post-playing career After retiring, Hirsch became a goaltending consultant for Hockey Canada. He worked with the national junior team as part of the 2007 and 2008 World Junior gold medal winning teams.
On September 9, 2008, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced they had hired Hirsch as their goaltending coach.
On June 18, 2010, the St. Louis Blues announced they had hired Hirsch as their goaltending coach.
On May 7, 2014, the St. Louis Blues relieved Hirsch of his coaching duties.
In 2015, Hirsch joined the NHL on Sportsnet as a freelance TV analyst.
Personal Hirsch is a divorcee after 15 years of marriage, with three children. In the summer of 2015, Hirsch's son Hayden, who is a forward, attended hockey training camp with his father's old junior team, the Kamloops Blazers, but didn't make the regular season roster. Hirsch has struggled with severe anxiety and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) for much of his life, and described his struggle in a Player's Tribune article on February 15, 2017 and a video for the Canucks' Hockey Talks initiative. He has since become an outspoken advocate for mental health awareness and ending the stigma associated with mental illness. He elaborated further about his mental health challenges in his autobiography, "The Save of My Life: My Journey Out of the Dark", which was written in collaboration with Sean Patrick Conboy and published in 2022. Hirsch also co-hosts a podcast with psychiatrist Dr. Diane McIntosh called "Blindsided", featuring athletes talking about mental health.
Awards Major Junior WHL West Second All-Star Team – 1990 WHL West First All-Star Team – 1991 & 1992 CHL Goaltender of the Year – 1992 CHL First All-Star Team – 1992 Hap Emms Memorial Trophy (WHL goaltender of the year) – 1992 Del Wilson Trophy (Memorial Cup top goaltender) – 1992 Memorial Cup All-Star Team – 1992
Professional Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award (AHL goaltender of the year) – 1993 Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award (AHL's lowest goals-against-average) – 1993 (shared with Boris Rousson) Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award – 1993 AHL First All-Star Team – 1993 NHL All-Rookie Team – 1996 IHL Goaltender of the Month – December 1999 IHL Goaltender of the Week – December 4, December 18, 2000
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% 1987–88 Calgary Canucks AJHL 32 22 5 0 1538 91 1 3.55 — — — — — — — — — 1988–89 Kamloops Blazers WHL 32 11 12 2 1516 106 2 4.20 — 5 3 2 245 19 0 4.65 — 1989–90 Kamloops Blazers WHL 63 48 13 0 3608 230 3 3.82 — 17 14 3 1043 60 0 3.45 — 1989–90 Kamloops Blazers M-Cup — — — — — — — — — 3 0 3 191 18 0 5.65 — 1990–91 Kamloops Blazers WHL 38 26 7 1 1970 100 3 3.05 — 11 5 6 623 42 0 4.04 — 1991–92 Kamloops Blazers WHL 48 35 10 2 2732 124 5 2.72 — 16 11 5 954 35 2 2.20 — 1991–92 Kamloops Blazers M-Cup — — — — — — — — — 5 4 1 300 13 1 2.60 — 1992–93 New York Rangers NHL 4 1 2 1 224 14 0 3.75 .879 — — — — — — — — 1992–93 Binghamton Rangers AHL 46 35 4 5 2692 125 1 2.79 — 14 7 7 831 46 0 3.32 — 1993–94 Canada Intl. 45 24 17 3 2653 124 0 2.80 — — — — — — — — — 1993–94 Binghamton Rangers AHL 10 5 4 1 610 38 0 3.74 — — — — — — — — — 1994–95 Binghamton Rangers AHL 57 31 20 5 3371 175 0 3.11 .894 — — — — — — — — 1995–96 Vancouver Canucks NHL 41 17 14 6 2338 114 1 2.93 .903 6 2 3 338 21 0 3.73 .873 1996–97 Vancouver Canucks NHL 39 12 20 4 2127 116 2 3.27 .894 — — — — — — — — 1997–98 Vancouver Canucks NHL 1 0 0 0 50 5 0 6.00 .853 — — — — — — — — 1997–98 Syracuse Crunch AHL 60 30 22 6 3512 187 1 3.19 .902 5 2 3 297 10 1 2.02 — 1998–99 Vancouver Canucks NHL 20 3 8 3 919 48 1 3.13 .890 — — — — — — — — 1998–99 Syracuse Crunch AHL 5 2 3 0 300 14 0 2.80 .909 — — — — — — — — 1999–2000 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 19 9 8 1 1098 49 0 2.68 .891 — — — — — — — — 1999–2000 Utah Grizzlies IHL 17 9 5 1 937 42 3 2.69 .914 2 0 2 121 4 0 1.98 — 2000–01 Albany River Rats AHL 4 0 4 0 199 19 0 5.73 .862 — — — — — — — — 2000–01 Washington Capitals NHL 1 1 0 0 20 0 0 0.00 1.000 — — — — — — — — 2000–01 Cincinnati Cyclones IHL 13 11 2 0 783 28 1 2.15 .935 — — — — — — — — 2000–01 Portland Pirates AHL 36 17 17 2 2142 104 1 2.91 .912 2 0 2 118 7 0 3.56 .915 2001–02 Portland Pirates AHL 23 6 12 5 1395 62 1 2.67 .920 — — — — — — — — 2001–02 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 5 2 3 0 299 14 1 2.81 .883 — — — — — — — — 2002–03 Dallas Stars NHL 2 0 1 0 97 4 0 2.47 .897 — — — — — — — — 2002–03 Utah Grizzlies AHL 35 14 16 2 1953 86 0 2.64 .921 1 0 1 60 5 0 5.00 .904 2003–04 Timrå IK SEL 5 2 3 0 312 11 1 1.73 .932 7 3 3 364 11 0 1.81 .934 2004–05 Kassel Huskies DEL 12 — — — 695 31 0 2.68 .920 — — — — — — — — AHL totals 281 142 105 26 16,473 824 5 3.00 — 22 9 13 1306 68 1 3.12 — NHL totals 108 34 45 14 5775 301 4 3.13 .896 6 2 3 338 21 0 3.73 .873 IHL totals 49 29 15 2 2818 119 4 2.53 .913 2 0 2 121 4 0 1.98 —
International Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA 1994 Canada OG 8 5 2 1 495 18 0 2.18 1995 Canada WC 8 4 3 1 488 21 0 2.58 Senior totals 16 9 5 2 983 39 0 2.38
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