James Reimer

James Reimer was born on March 15, 1988, in Morweena, Manitoba, and grew up playing minor hockey in his hometown before his path eventually led to one of the longer NHL careers produced by a fourth-round pick. Selected 99th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2006 draft, he spent parts of fifteen seasons in the league, appearing in 539 regular-season games for eight franchises.

Reimer played his early junior hockey in the Manitoba Minor Hockey League with Interlake before being selected in the 2003 WHL bantam draft. He joined the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League for the 2005–06 season and remained with the organization through 2007–08, logging three seasons in the WHL. After his junior career ended, he turned professional and split time between the ECHL and the AHL. With the Reading Royals and South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL in 2008–09, he was named the most valuable player of the ECHL playoffs as the Stingrays won the Kelly Cup. He also appeared briefly with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL that season, then returned to the Marlies full-time in 2009–10.

Reimer made his NHL debut with the Maple Leafs in 2010–11, appearing in 37 games and posting a 2.60 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage with three shutouts. He went on to replace Jean-Sébastien Giguère as the team's starting goaltender. That same season he represented Canada at the World Championship. He spent the next five seasons in Toronto, serving as the primary or shared starter through a period that included the Maple Leafs' return to the playoffs in the lockout-shortened 2012–13 season, when he went 19-8 in the regular season and started all seven of Toronto's playoff games. He also represented Canada at the 2014 World Championship.

At the trade deadline in 2015–16, Reimer joined the San Jose Sharks, going 6-2-0 in eight regular-season starts before appearing in one playoff game as the Sharks advanced. He then signed with the Florida Panthers for 2016–17, beginning a three-season run in Sunrise. Over those three seasons he appeared in 123 games for Florida. It was during his time with the Panthers that he first worked one-on-one with a sports psychologist, an experience he described in a ^[1] as the beginning of a longer investment in the mental side of the game: "I first started working with a guy in Florida, and it's progressed to now where I pay a guy, obviously out of my own pocket, to work individually with myself."

Reimer joined the Carolina Hurricanes for 2019–20 and spent two seasons in Raleigh, appearing in 47 regular-season games combined and adding five playoff appearances. It was during his time with Carolina that InGoal began an extended series of video breakdown sessions with him. Those sessions — recorded before he had played a game for the Hurricanes, during an offseason visit when InGoal was on the ice and in the locker room with him — produced five Pro Reads in Florida Panthers footage. A ^[2] captured his characteristic candour: "I can tell you what I did wrong," he said with a chuckle after watching the play back. A ^[3] examined his depth choices and save selection on a Matt Duchene rush, while ^[4] explored the fine line between anticipation and reacting too early. Two further Carolina-era sessions — ^[5] and ^[6] — drew on his familiarity with the Lightning from three seasons of facing them in Florida.

After signing with the Sharks as a free agent ahead of 2021–22, Reimer returned to San Jose for two seasons, appearing in 91 games. InGoal continued the Pro Reads series during that period, recording sessions at the NET360 Goalie Camp in Kelowna. A ^[7] produced one of his more quoted lines on positioning: "You change your depth on a 5-on-3. You're a little deeper and since you are deeper, you have to really be on angle and tracking pucks to the nth degree." A ^[8] explored his decision-making when an expected 2-on-1 shifted into something else entirely. Three further Sharks sessions — ^[9], ^[10], and ^[11] — are available to InGoal subscribers. A ^[12] gave him room to discuss patience and preparation in that format, and a ^[13] rounded out what became his tenth Pro Read appearance overall.

Reimer joined the Detroit Red Wings for 2023–24, appearing in 25 games. He spoke about that season in the InGoal Radio episode recorded ahead of 2024–25, describing how extended gaps between starts had tested him mentally early in the year and how he worked through them: "What I learned was, early in the year, I had a thing where I went a couple weeks, three plus weeks without a start … mentally, I wasn't in a great mental spot." He credited both his Christian faith and work with a performance coaching group called Novus as tools that helped him reset. He also reflected on reaching 500 NHL games, a milestone he said meant more than he had anticipated once it arrived, in part because of what it represented for his family — particularly his wife, April.

For 2024–25, Reimer appeared in two games with the Anaheim Ducks before joining the Buffalo Sabres, where he went 10-8-0 in 22 starts. He then signed with the Ottawa Senators for 2025–26 and has appeared in 14 games for the club, also making one appearance for the AHL's Belleville Senators. Through 539 NHL regular-season games, he finished with 232 wins, a 2.88 goals-against average, a .909 save percentage, and 32 shutouts. In 11 career playoff games he went 5-5 with a 2.70 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.

InGoal Magazine has covered James Reimer in three podcast appearances and twelve Pro Reads. An ^[14] and ^[15] are also part of that archive.

Sources: ^[16] (statistics and awards); InGoal.