Kirk Daubenspeck (born July 21, 1974) is an American retired ice hockey goaltender who was an All-American for Wisconsin.[1]

Kirk Daubenspeck
Born (1974-07-21) July 21, 1974 (age 50)
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for Indianapolis Ice
Jacksonville Lizard Kings
Chesapeake Icebreakers
Rochester Americans
South Carolina Stingrays
Orlando Solar Bears
Colorado Gold Kings
Worcester IceCats
Portland Pirates
Hershey Bears
NHL draft 151st overall, 1992
Philadelphia Flyers
Playing career 1993–2006

Career

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Daubenspeck was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1992 straight out of Culver Military Academy. He spent the following season playing in the USHL before beginning his college career with the Wisconsin Badgers. After playing just seven games in his freshman season, Daubenspeck's rights were traded along with Claude Boivin to the Ottawa Senators for Mark Lamb. Entering his sophomore season, Daubenspeck got into a competition to replace the departed Jim Carey as the Badger's primary starter. He won the job and remained as Wisconsin's top goalie for the rest of his time in Madison. In his first year as the starter, Daubenspeck won 23 games and helped Wisconsin win the WCHA championship for which he was named tournament MVP. Wisconsin declined after 1995 and fell in the standings. Despite the decline, Daubenspeck remained respected and was named an All-American in 1997 even though he possessed a losing record and less-than-stellar numbers.

After graduating, Daubenspeck signed a rookie contract with Ottawa and participated in their training camp that September. Just before the season began, he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for a 6th round draft pick.[2] Daubenspeck began the year as a backup behind Jeff Hackett. He remained with the team for the first month of the season, not seeing any game action, and was then sent down to the Indianapolis Ice. He played a few games at the IHL level before ending up with the Jacksonville Lizard Kings. Daubenspeck spent most of the rest of his career playing AA hockey, making brief appearances with several AHL teams over a nine year span. In 2001, Daubenspeck helped the South Carolina Stingrays win the Kelly Cup, playing in 13 of the team's 18 playoff games. He retired as a player in 2006.

Accident

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On February 17, 2011, Daubenspeck was involved in a car accident on Route 18.[3] While driving in heavy fog near Dodgeville, Wisconsin, Daubenspeck's car ran into a Semi-trailer truck. He suffered a severe brain injury and was in a coma for six days. While to took several months, Daubenspeck did eventually recover from the crash. A year to the day after the accident, he dropped the ceremonial puck before a game between Wisconsin and Denver.[4]

Statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1990–91 Culver Military Academy US-Prep
1991–92 Culver Military Academy US-Prep 2.88 .912
1992–93 Sioux City Musketeers USHL 9 0 7 1 470 49 0 6.26 .837
1992–93 Wisconsin Capitols USHL 28 5 20 1 1542 123 0 4.79 .886
1993–94 Wisconsin WCHA 7 2 2 0 280 19 0 4.07 .880
1994–95 Wisconsin WCHA 42 23 15 4 2503 146 0 3.50 .893
1995–96 Wisconsin WCHA 39 17 20 2 2257 151 0 4.01 .885
1996–97 Wisconsin WCHA 33 13 18 2 1925 124 1 3.86 .896
1997–98 Indianapolis Ice IHL 18 6 9 0 953 58 0 3.65 .887
1997–98 Jacksonville Lizard Kings ECHL 32 20 9 2 1865 92 1 2.96 .904
1998–99 Jacksonville Lizard Kings ECHL 8 5 3 0 424 18 0 2.55 .908
1998–99 Indianapolis Ice IHL 12 2 8 1 650 43 0 3.97 .879
1998–99 Chesapeake Icebreakers ECHL 13 7 2 4 774 31 2 2.40 .920 7
1999–00 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 6 4 2 0 360 17 0 2.83 .902
1999–00 Rochester Americans AHL 22 7 10 4 1235 53 1 2.57 .913 1
2000–01 Rochester Americans AHL 1 0 1 0 60 6 0 6.00 .769
2000–01 Indianapolis Ice IHL 2 0 1 0 77 3 0 2.34 .870
2000–01 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 45 26 13 3 2624 119 3 2.72 .915 13
2001–02 Colorado Gold Kings WCHL 60 36 19 5 3539 164 4 2.78 .906 5
2002–03 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 58 36 16 6 3454 167 0 2.90 .915 4
2003–04 Worcester IceCats AHL 1 0 1 0 59 2 0 2.04 .923
2003–04 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 47 29 15 2 2773 123 3 2.66 .920 7
2004–05 Portland Pirates AHL 28 14 12 1 1507 58 4 2.31 .930
2004–05 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 25 12 10 3 1437 55 2 2.30 .934 1
2005–06 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 2 2 0 0 120 2 0 1.00 .958
2005–06 Hershey Bears AHL 23 10 6 2 1115 58 2 3.12 .895
USHL totals 37 5 27 2 2,012 172 0 5.13 .875
NCAA totals 120 55 55 8 6,965 440 1 3.79 .891
ECHL totals 236 141 70 20 13,831 624 11 2.71 .917 32
IHL totals 32 8 18 1 1,680 104 0 3.71 .883
AHL totals 75 31 30 7 3,976 177 7 2.67 .913 1

Awards and honors

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Award Year
WCHA All-Tournament Team 1995, 1996 [5]
All-WCHA Second Team 1996–97 [6]
AHCA West Second-Team All-American 1996–97 [1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  2. ^ "Kirk Daubenspeck". NHL backups. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  3. ^ "Former UW goalie Daubenspeck seriously injured". Milwaukee Sentinel Journal. February 24, 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  4. ^ "Wisconsin Hockey: Kirk Daubenspeck Tribute". YouTube. February 18, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  5. ^ "WCHA Tourney History". WCHA. Archived from the original on 2014-07-02. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
  6. ^ "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by WCHA Most Valuable Player in Tournament
1995
Succeeded by