An Item From This Goalie's ONLY NHL Game? Count Me In!

IrbeFan4Life

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NEW PIECE ALERT!

Our first ever San Jose Sharks jersey to grace our museum archives at Heroes of the Crease: Goaltending Museum and Memorabilia Ltd. is here and it is awesome! This also represents the 245th (and kind of the 246th) goalie in our collection of history.

What you are looking at right now is a 1998-99 San Jose Sharks Home Set jersey utilized by Sean Gauthier (and possibly also Bruce Racine, but we’ll get to that part later). It was most notably used by Gauthier in his NHL debut/only NHL game played of his career on March 6, 1999. He also likely saw four additional backup only appearances in it. Now how does Bruce Racine also factor into this, I hear you ask? Well, Gauthier’s nameplate was very obviously attached overtop of Bruce Racine’s nameplate which was already on the jersey. Racine was signed as a free agent by San Jose on September 8, 1998, so it is quite possible that Racine either used this jersey in the pre-season, or it was issued to him, but recycled for use by Gauthier. Wear is very light and comprised of some small marks on the arms. It is NOT for sale, trade, or donation.

Born on March 28, 1971 in Sudbury, Ontario, Sean Gauthier was the number one netminder for Kingston in the OHL when he was drafted 181st overall by the Winnipeg Jets in 1991. He turned pro in the 1991-92 season, splitting the season with Fort Wayne in the IHL and with Moncton in the AHL. Spending the majority of the next season in the minors as well, Gauthier got his first NHL recall when the Jets brought him up to be the backup vs Pittsburgh on January 10, 1993. The 1993-94 saw him spend the season in the minors. In 1994-95, he started the season in the minors, though ultimately spent the year playing for the Canadian National Team, seeing action in 24 games for them including in the Spengler Cup. He bounced around the minor leagues thereafter, even scoring a goal for South Carolina in the ECHL in 1996. He was signed by the San Jose Sharks in 1998 and though he spent much of the year in the AHL, Gauthier was recalled by the Sharks in March 1999. He backed up in five total games, however on March 6, 1999 he made his NHL debut. After Steve Shields was pulled for allowing 4 goals, Gauthier entered the net and played the final 3:29 of the game and stopped 2 of 2 shots that he faced. He played the 1999-00 season in the minors, though appeared for Florida in the 2000-01 pre-season, where he even fought Dan Cloutier. Gauthier was recalled twice by the Panthers in December 2000, however, he never saw another NHL game again. He headed overseas in 2001-02 and remained there until he retired from play in 2005. His son Cutter is a forward that was drafted 5th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers who currently plays for the Anaheim Ducks in the NHL.

Among Sean Gauthier’s career accolades includes winning the OHL’s Dave Pinkney Trophy (1990), representing Team Canada (1994-1995), scoring a goal in the ECHL (1996), and helping Leksands get promoted to Sweden’s Elitserien (2002).

In his NHL career, Sean Gauthier appeared in one NHL game, going 0-0-0 with a 0.00GAA, and a 1.00% save average. He appeared in no NHL playoff games.

Acquired from: World Hockey Jerseys, includes LOA and DVD of Gauthier’s only game.

Dates of Game Use:
*Possible 1998 NHL Pre-season (Bruce Racine)
March 6, 1999 vs Chicago (2-2, 4-0)
March 9, 1999 vs Phoenix (backup only)
March 12, 1999 vs Detroit (backup only)
March 13, 1999 vs Ottawa (backup only)
March 17, 1999 vs Florida (backup only)

Photomatched: No, referenced.

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Now that is cool. Nice to see an item from a single NHL game.
Thank you, I agree! Gamers used by goalies in their only NHL game are always among my highest priority adds to the museum.

Can’t imagine two nameplates pops up too often. Very cool addition
It isn't particularly frequent in the NHL. While removal and replacement of nameplates to recycle jerseys is quite common and has been since the nameplate became a thing, stacking nameplates has definitely not been as common.

One common reason for stacking is that often-times team will anticipate calling up two goalies and would allocate them the same number. If the names are stacked, then it is 50% easier to prep the jersey for each player. For example if Bruce Racine was called up by the Sharks, they would just have to remove the Gauthier plate and the jersey is ready. Then if Gauthier was recalled, they would only have to sew his name over top again and not spend time removing the other plate. It's crude, but it works when teams are being thrifty. Nowadays, jersey budgets are such that stacking is practically unheard of, and while removal of nameplates happen, that is also much less frequent than it once was, even for one game call-ups.
 

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