About Artūrs Irbe
Artūrs Irbe is a Latvian professional ice hockey coach and former goaltender. Born during the Soviet era, Irbe played for various Soviet league teams and the Soviet Union national team before moving to North America in 1991. Irbe played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks, and Carolina Hurricanes. In 2004 Irbe returned to Europe to play until he retired in 2007. He has served as a goaltending coach with Dinamo Riga, the Washington Capitals, and the Buffalo Sabres, as well as internationally with the Latvia men's national ice hockey team. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2010. Irbe was rated number 93 on The Hockey News list of the Top 100 Goalies of All-Time in 2018. Irbe's first professional hockey team was Dinamo Riga of the Soviet Hockey League (from 1987 to 1991). The Soviet team won those two championships and Irbe was honoured as the best goalkeeper of the 1990 tournament. With Irbe playing goaltender, the newly established Sharks made their first playoff appearance in the 1993–94 season and upset the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings. That season, Irbe played an NHL record 4,412 minutes in goal for the Sharks.
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