Thomas Greiss

Thomas Greiss (born 29 January 1986) is a German professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). Selected 94th overall in the third round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the San Jose Sharks, he has also played for the Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the New York Islanders during his NHL career.

Thomas Greiss
Greiss with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014
Born (1986-01-29) 29 January 1986
Füssen, West Germany
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 220 lb (100 kg; 15 st 10 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Detroit Red Wings
Kölner Haie
San Jose Sharks
Brynäs IF
Hannover Scorpions
Phoenix Coyotes
Pittsburgh Penguins
New York Islanders
National team  Germany
NHL Draft 94th overall, 2004
San Jose Sharks
Playing career 2004–present

Playing career

Greiss is a native of Füssen, Germany. As a youth, he played in the 1999 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a team from Munich.[1] He developed through the youth ranks of EV Füssen before heading to the Kölner Haie organization in 2002. He made his debut in the German top-flight Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) for the Cologne-based team during the 2003–04 campaign.

The San Jose Sharks selected Greiss in the third round, 94th overall, in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.[2]

Greiss played for San Jose during the Sharks' pre-season games ahead of the 2007–08 season, though he was eventually assigned to the team's then-American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Worcester Sharks. On 8 January 2008, he was recalled to replace German compatriot Dimitri Pätzold as the backup goaltender to Evgeni Nabokov. Greiss started his first career NHL game on 13 January 2008, an eventual 4–3 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks.[3] For the 2009–10 season, he served as the back-up goaltender to starter Nabokov.

Greiss with the San Jose Sharks in 2009

On 12 October 2010, just prior to the commencement of the 2010–11 season, Greiss was put on waivers by San Jose, eventually clearing and reporting to Worcester of the AHL. Greiss' demotion was in large part due to the off-season signings of Finnish goaltenders Antero Niittymäki and Antti Niemi.[4] Nine days later, after failing to see any gameplay as Worcester's third-string goaltender, he was reassigned to Brynäs IF in the Swedish Elitserien to provide him regular playing time.[5][6] In April 2011, Greiss was recalled from Brynäs to San Jose for the team's run in the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs.[7] He later re-signed with the Sharks on 7 July.

For the Sharks' 2011–12 season opener, Greiss was the team's starter in a 6–3 win over the Phoenix Coyotes in San Jose. He went on to start the next two games—losses to the Anaheim Ducks and St. Louis Blues—before Antti Niemi returned from off-season surgery. Later in the season, Greiss recorded his first career NHL shutout on 26 January 2013, recording 24 saves in a 4–0 win over the Colorado Avalanche.[8]

Greiss became a free agent in July 2013 and subsequently signed a one-year contract with the Phoenix Coyotes. In his only season with Phoenix, he played in 25 games, posting a 2.25 goals against average (GAA) and .920 save percentage. At the end of the 2013–14 season, he was not re-signed by the Coyotes, whereupon he signed a one-year, $1 million contract as an unrestricted free agent with the Pittsburgh Penguins on 1 July 2014.[9] After the 2014–15 season in which he appeared in 20 games for the Penguins, Greiss once again switched teams as a free agent, signing with the New York Islanders on a two-year, $3 million contract.[10] In March 2016, Jaroslav Halák, the Islanders' starting goaltender, suffered a lower-body injury sidelining him six weeks, leaving Greiss as the team's temporary starter.[11]

In December 2016, the Islanders waived Halák, leaving Greiss and Jean-François Bérubé as the Islanders' two goaltenders.[12][13] On 30 January 2017, Greiss signed a three-year contract extension with the Islanders.[14] On 15 January 2018, Greiss made a career-high 52 saves in a 5–4 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens.[15]

On 10 October 2020, Greiss signed as a free agent to a two-year, $7.2 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings.[16]

International play

In 2006, Greiss earned a roster spot on the German team for the 2006 Winter Olympics; at just 20 years of age, he was the youngest goaltender in the tournament. During the tournament, Greiss notably recorded an impressive 35-save performance against Canada.[17]

Greiss was again named to the German squad for in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Personal life

Greiss' wife Brittany (née Palmer) was Miss South Dakota USA in 2014. Together, they have a daughter.[18]

Career statistics
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2003–04 Kölner Haie DEL 1 0 0 0 20 4 0 12.00 .600 — — — — — — — —
2004–05 Kölner Haie DEL 8 — — — 459 16 0 2.09 .936 — — — — — — — —
2004–05 Eisbären Regensburg 2.GBun 1 — — — 60 2 0 2.00 — — — — — — — — —
2005–06 Kölner Haie DEL 27 — — — 1560 64 1 2.46 .926 9 6 3 533 27 1 3.03 .898
2006–07 Fresno Falcons ECHL 3 1 2 0 180 7 0 2.34 .929 — — — — — — — —
2006–07 Worcester Sharks AHL 43 26 15 2 2555 111 0 2.61 .912 3 0 3 172 12 0 4.18 .865
2007–08 Worcester Sharks AHL 41 18 21 2 2424 125 0 3.09 .892 — — — — — — — —
2007–08 San Jose Sharks NHL 3 0 1 1 129 7 0 3.26 .860 — — — — — — — —
2008–09 Worcester Sharks AHL 57 34 20 2 3346 138 1 2.47 .910 12 6 6 742 30 2 2.43 .912
2009–10 San Jose Sharks NHL 16 7 4 1 782 35 0 2.68 .912 1 0 0 40 2 0 3.00 .929
2010–11 Brynäs IF SEL 32 — — — 1850 90 2 2.92 .901 — — — — — — — —
2011–12 San Jose Sharks NHL 19 9 7 1 1043 40 0 2.30 .915 — — — — — — — —
2012–13 Hannover Scorpions DEL 9 3 6 0 535 31 0 3.47 .905 — — — — — — — —
2012–13 San Jose Sharks NHL 6 1 4 0 308 13 1 2.53 .915 — — — — — — — —
2012–13 Worcester Sharks AHL 1 0 1 0 60 5 0 5.04 .815 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 25 10 8 5 1312 50 2 2.29 .920 — — — — — — — —
2014–15 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 20 9 6 3 1159 50 0 2.59 .908 — — — — — — — —
2015–16 New York Islanders NHL 41 23 11 4 2288 90 1 2.36 .925 11 5 6 734 30 0 2.46 .923
2016–17 New York Islanders NHL 51 26 18 5 2814 126 3 2.69 .913 — — — — — — — —
2017–18 New York Islanders NHL 27 13 8 2 1492 95 1 3.82 .892 — — — — — — — —
2018–19 New York Islanders NHL 43 23 14 2 2294 87 5 2.28 .927 1 0 0 36 2 0 3.33 .800
2019–20 New York Islanders NHL 31 16 9 4 1596 73 0 2.74 .913 4 2 2 178 6 1 2.02 .929
NHL totals 282 137 90 28 15,216 666 13 2.63 .915 17 7 8 988 40 1 2.43 .922

International
Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2003 Germany WJC18-D1 2 2 0 0 120 2 0 1.00 .955
2004 Germany WJC18-D1 3 2 0 0 140 8 0 3.43 .867
2004 Germany WJC-D1 2 2 0 0 — — — 1.51 .909
2005 Germany WJC 3 0 2 0 104 13 0 7.50 .806
2006 Germany WJC-D1 4 4 0 0 240 2 2 0.50 .978
2006 Germany OG 1 0 1 0 60 5 0 5.00 .875
2006 Germany WC-D1 2 1 0 0 61 2 0 1.97 .882
2010 Germany OG 3 0 3 0 179 15 0 5.03 .815
2016 Germany WC 4 3 1 0 240 10 0 2.50 .904
Junior totals 15 10 2 0 — — — — —
Senior totals 10 4 5 0 540 32 0 3.56 —

Awards and honours
Award Year
NHL
William M. Jennings Trophy 2019

References
  1. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  2. "Thomas Greiss Calmly Comes to the Islanders' Rescue". The New York Times. 13 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  3. "San Jose Sharks – News: Greiss Recalled, Patzold Assigned". San Jose Sharks. 8 January 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  4. "Greiss To Worcester". nhl.com. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  5. "Sharks assign Greiss to Brynas (SEL)". San Jose Sharks. 21 October 2010.
  6. "NHL-målvakt klar för Brynäs" (in Swedish). gd.se. 21 October 2010.
  7. "Worcester Sharks Recent Transactions".
  8. "Sharks 4, Avalanche 0". San Jose Sharks. 26 January 2013.
  9. "Penguins Sign Goaltender Thomas Greiss". Pittsburgh Penguins. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  10. "Greiss agrees to terms". New York Islanders. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  11. Johnston, Chris (9 March 2016). "New York Islanders turn to Thomas Greiss as Halak goes down". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  12. "Jaroslav Halak placed on waivers by Islanders". Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  13. "Jaroslav Halak placed on waivers by Islanders". Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  14. "Greiss Agrees To Three-Year Deal". NHL.com. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  15. Wright, Cory (15 January 2018). "Recap: Tavares, Greiss lead Isles past Canadiens 5-4 in OT". NHL.com. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  16. Kujawa, Kyle (10 October 2020). "Red Wings agree to terms with free agent goaltender Thomas Greiss". NHL.com. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  17. "Thomas Greiss- Hockey's Future profile". Hockeysfuture.com. 20 March 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  18. "'Mehr als Ersatzmänner': Torhüter Greiss und Grubauer etablieren sich in der NHL". Rheinische Post (in German). 22 January 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
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