Roloson didn't make his NHL debut until about a month after his 27th birthday but played more than 600 games for six teams during a 14-season career in the League, playing until he was 42.
No NHL team drafted Roloson, who was 20 when he entered the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. The Calgary Flames signed him as a free agent after he graduated in 1994, and after two seasons in the American Hockey League, Roloson made his NHL debut for the Flames on Nov. 13, 1996, making 35 saves in a 3-3 tie against the Dallas Stars.
Roloson didn't make his NHL debut until about a month after his 27th birthday but played more than 600 games for six teams during a 14-season career in the League, playing until he was 42.
No NHL team drafted Roloson, who was 20 when he entered the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. The Calgary Flames signed him as a free agent after he graduated in 1994, and after two seasons in the American Hockey League, Roloson made his NHL debut for the Flames on Nov. 13, 1996, making 35 saves in a 3-3 tie against the Dallas Stars.
Roloson played two seasons with the Flames before signing with the Buffalo Sabres as a free agent July 15, 1998. After two seasons backing up Dominik Hasek and one with Worcester of the AHL, Roloson signed with the second-year Minnesota Wild on July 2, 2001.
The move gave Roloson his first chance at substantial NHL playing time. He won 23 games in 2002-03 and helped the Wild reach the Western Conference Final, where they lost to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. But he dropped to 19 wins in 2003-04 and was 6-17-1 in 2005-06 when he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers on March 8, 2006.
Roloson went 8-7-4 down the stretch with the Oilers, then played perhaps the best hockey of his career during the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He went 12-5 and powered the underdog Oilers into the Stanley Cup Final against the Carolina Hurricanes. But he sprained the MCL in his right knee in Game 1 and was unable to play for the rest of the series, which the Oilers lost in seven games.
After Roloson lost an NHL-high 34 games in 2006-07 and went 15-17-5 in 2007-08, he bounced back with an NHL career-high 28 wins in 2008-09, attracting the interest of the New York Islanders, who signed him July 1, 2009. He was 23-18-7 with the Islanders in 2009-10, but New York traded him to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 2, 2011.
For the second time in his career, Roloson excelled after a midseason trade. He had four shutouts in his first 11 games with the Lightning, finished 18-12-4 with a 2.56 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage, and helped the Lightning get to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final, where they lost 1-0 to the Boston Bruins.
Roloson played one more season with the Lightning before retiring. He finished his NHL career 227-257-40 with 42 ties, a 2.72 GAA, a .908 save percentage and 29 shutouts. He was 28-18 in the playoffs with a 2.54 GAA, a .918 save percentage and two shutouts.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- Hockey East First All-Star Team (1994)
- Hockey East Player of the Year (1994)
- NCAA East First All-American Team (1994)
- AHL First All-Star Team (2001)
- Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award (AHL - Outstanding Goaltender) (2001)
- Played in NHL All-Star Game (2004)
- Signed as a free agent by Calgary, July 4, 1994.
- Signed as a free agent by Buffalo, July 15, 1998.
- Claimed by Columbus from Buffalo in Expansion Draft, June 23, 2000.
- Signed as a free agent by St. Louis, July 14, 2000.
- Signed as a free agent by Minnesota, July 2, 2001.
- Signed as a free agent by Rauma (Finland), October 18, 2004.
- Traded to Edmonton by Minnesota for Edmonton's 1st round pick (later traded to Los Angeles, Los Angeles selected Trevor Lewis) in 2006 NHL Draft and Edmonton's 3rd round chocie (later traded to Atlanta, Atlanta selected Spencer Machacek) in 2007 NHL Draft, March 8, 2006.
- Signed as a free agent by NY Islanders, July 1, 2009.
- Traded to Tampa Bay by NY Islanders for Ty Wishart, January 2, 2011.