Albert Dwayne "Roli" Roloson (born October 12, 1969 in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada) is an NHL goaltender for the Edmonton Oilers. Roloson and his wife, Melissa, have two sons, Brett and Ross.
| Dwayne Roloson | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born |
Oct 12, 1969 Simcoe, ON, CAN | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
| Weight | 178 lb (81 kg; 12 st 10 lb) | ||
| Position | Goaltender | ||
| Catches | Left | ||
| NHL team Former teams |
Edmonton Oilers Calgary Flames Buffalo Sabres Minnesota Wild | ||
| Playing career | 1996–present | ||
Playing career
A Hobey Baker Award nominee and NCAA All-American while tending goal for University of Massachusetts Lowell, Roloson went undrafted after graduating. He was signed as a free agent by the Calgary Flames in 1994. After splitting time between the Flames and their American Hockey League counterpart, the Saint John Flames, he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres to back up Dominik Hasek. Following two years with the Sabres' organization, he was picked up in the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Rather than joining the Blue Jackets, Roloson signed with the AHL team of the St. Louis Blues, the Worcester Ice Cats.
Deciding to give the NHL one more try, Roloson earned a roster spot with the Minnesota Wild in 2001. In the 2002-03 NHL season, Roloson shared netminding duties with Manny Fernandez as the Wild made their first ever appearance in the post-season, defeating the Colorado Avalanche in the first round and the Vancouver Canucks in the second round. Despite splitting goaltending duties with Fernandez, Roloson earned his first All-Star appearance at age 34, appearing in the 2004 NHL All-Star Game with the Western Conference team. He also won the Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award for having the NHL's best save percentage.
During the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Roloson played with the SM-liiga's Lukko. He returned to the Wild once the lockout concluded.
On March 8,2006, Roloson was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a first round pick and a conditional draft pick. Initially, Oilers General Manager Kevin Lowe was harshly criticized for the acquisition when Roloson struggled during the regular season. Lowe was criticized both for not acquiring a better goaltender, and also for surrendering a first round draft pick to a divisional rival.
Criticism was muted following sensational play by Roloson, backstopping the Oilers to the Stanley Cup Final in the 2006. He had a record of 12-5 through the first three rounds, and along with Chris Pronger, was considered a front-runner for the Conn Smythe Trophy if the Oilers were victorious in the finals.
However, during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes, Roloson suffered a third degree MCL sprain of his right knee when Hurricanes forward Andrew Ladd was pushed into Roloson by a back-checking Marc-Andre Bergeron. Oilers coach Craig MacTavish announced that Roloson would not be able to continue in the series. It was also learned that he had hyper-extended his right elbow in the collision as well. Months of intense reabilitation would follow in order to prepare Dwayne for the 2006-2007 season.
After Roloson was deemed finished for Game 1, MacTavish only had one other goalie in the line-up that night, Ty Conklin. During the playoffs the Oilers had been carrying 3 goalies with them while Roloson was the starter, back-ups Conklin and Jussi Markkanen,would rotate games in which they would dress. This tactic seemed odd at the time considering it would have been a better decision to continuely dress the better goalie which in hindsight was in fact Markkanen. Conklin was thrust into action with tremendous pressure on his shoulders, and eventually minutes after his entrance his concentration would waver.
With the game tied 4-4,with less than one minute left in regulation, Conklin proceeded to play the puck behind the net. What seemed to be a routine play was anything but. Conklin was confused by defensemen Jason Smith, whom ironically was the Oilers captain, in a miscommunication between players on who would play the puck. The puck would be turned over to Hurricanes captain Rod Brind'Amour who would eventually score into an partially open net making the score 5-4 with seconds remaining. This particular event may have subconsciencly been the reason for the Oilers ultimate demise the best of seven series. Ty Conklin would see no further minutes in an Oilers uniform again.
Markkanen would start the next six games. Despite impressive performances in Games 5 and 6 in particular from the Oilers backup netminder, who had not played a game for nearly 2 months also due to Roloson's spectacular play , they were unable to capture the Stanley Cup, losing 3-1 in Game 7 (goal 3 was shot into an empty net).
Roloson could have tested the Unrestricted Free-Angency market in the summer of 2006 but opted to re-sign with the Oilers on July 1,2006. The majority of Edmonton fans were expecting Kevin Lowe to sign Roloson to a one or two year contract due to his age, but in the end a three year deal was signed which would see Roloson end his unique career with the Edmonton Oilers franchise.
Awards
- NHL Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award - 2004
- NHL All-Star Game - 2004
- AHL Baz Bastien Memorial Trophy (Best Goaltender) - 2001
- AHL First All-Star Team - 2001
- HE First All-Star Team - 1994
- HE Player of the Year - 1994
- HE William Flynn Tournament MVP Award - 1994
- NCAA East First All-American Team - 1994
Career statistics
Regular season
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | S/P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990-91 | Mass.-Lowell | HE | 15 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 823 | 63 | 0 | 4.59 | n/a |
| 1991-92 | Mass.-Lowell | HE | 12 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 660 | 52 | 0 | 4.73 | n/a |
| 1992-93 | Mass.-Lowell | HE | 39 | 20 | 17 | 2 | 2342 | 150 | 0 | 3.84 | n/a |
| 1993-94 | Mass.-Lowell | HE | 40 | 23 | 10 | 7 | 2305 | 106 | 0 | 2.76 | n/a |
| 1994-95 | Saint John | AHL | 46 | 16 | 21 | 8 | 2734 | 156 | 1 | 3.42 | .900 |
| 1995-96 | Saint John | AHL | 67 | 33 | 22 | 11 | 4026 | 190 | 1 | 2.83 | .905 |
| 1996-97 | Saint John | AHL | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 480 | 22 | 1 | 2.75 | .910 |
| 1996-97 | Calgary | NHL | 31 | 9 | 14 | 3 | 1618 | 78 | 0 | 2.89 | .897 |
| 1997-98 | Saint John | AHL | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 245 | 8 | 0 | 1.96 | .939 |
| 1997-98 | Calgary | NHL | 39 | 11 | 16 | 8 | 2205 | 110 | 0 | 2.89 | .897 |
| 1998-99 | Rochester | AHL | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 120 | 4 | 0 | 2.00 | .922 |
| 1998-99 | Buffalo | NHL | 18 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 911 | 42 | 1 | 2.77 | .909 |
| 1999-00 | Buffalo | NHL | 14 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 677 | 32 | 0 | 2.84 | .884 |
| 2000-01 | Worcester | AHL | 52 | 32 | 15 | 5 | 3127 | 113 | 6 | 2.17 | .929 |
| 2001-02 | Minnesota | NHL | 45 | 14 | 20 | 7 | 2506 | 112 | 5 | 2.68 | .901 |
| 2002-03 | Minnesota | NHL | 50 | 23 | 16 | 8 | 2945 | 98 | 4 | 2.00 | .927 |
| 2003-04 | Minnesota | NHL | 48 | 19 | 18 | 11 | 2847 | 89 | 5 | 1.88 | .933 |
| 2004-05 | Lukko Rauma | Fin | 34 | 20 | 10 | 4 | 2048 | 70 | 4 | 2.05 | .931 |
| 2005-06 | Minnesota | NHL | 24 | 6 | 17 | 1 | 1361 | 68 | 1 | 3.00 | .910 |
| 2005-06 | Edmonton | NHL | 19 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 1163 | 47 | 1 | 2.42 | .912 |
| NHL CAREER TOTALS | 288 | 97 | 123 | 47 | 16,233 | 676 | 18 | 2.50 | .910 | ||
Stats as of April 23rd 2006
Playoffs
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | S/P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994-95 | Saint John | AHL | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 299 | 13 | 0 | 2.60 | .897 |
| 1995-96 | Saint John | AHL | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 1027 | 49 | 1 | 2.86 | n/a |
| 1998-99 | Buffalo | NHL | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 139 | 10 | 0 | 4.31 | .870 |
| 2000-01 | Worcester | AHL | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 697 | 23 | 1 | 1.97 | .931 |
| 2002-03 | Minnesota | NHL | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 579 | 25 | 0 | 2.59 | .903 |
| 2004-05 | Lukko Rauma | Fin | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 512 | 18 | 2 | 2.10 | .941 |
| 2005-06 | Edmonton | NHL | 18 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 1160 | 45 | 1 | 2.33 | .927 |
| NHL CAREER TOTALS | 32 | 18 | 12 | 0 | 1824 | 76 | 1 | 2.50 | .918 | ||
Stats as of June 6th 2006