James Reimer

James Reimer grew up in Morweena, Manitoba, a small community that sits far from the bright lights of the NHL. Selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the fourth round — 99th overall — of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, he worked through the ECHL and AHL before arriving in the league for good. That climb included a Kelly Cup championship with the South Carolina Stingrays in 2009, when Reimer was named the most valuable player of the ECHL playoffs. He followed that with time in the Toronto Marlies organization before breaking through with the Maple Leafs in 2010-11.

That first full NHL season set the tone for a long career: 37 games played, 20 wins, a 2.60 goals-against average, and a .921 save percentage, with 3 shutouts. By the shortened 2012-13 season, Reimer was posting some of the strongest numbers of his career — 19 wins in 33 games, a 2.46 GAA, and a .924 save percentage, with 4 shutouts. He spent parts of five seasons in Toronto before a trade sent him to the San Jose Sharks at the 2015-16 deadline, where he went 6-2 in 8 games with a 1.62 GAA, a .938 save percentage, and 3 shutouts across those final appearances of the season.

Florida was next. The Panthers signed Reimer ahead of the 2016-17 season, and across three years in South Florida he appeared in 123 games. His first season there — 43 games, 18 wins, a 2.53 GAA, and a .920 save percentage with 3 shutouts — was his strongest of the three. He added 22 wins in 44 games the following year with 4 shutouts, and recorded a .913 save percentage. It was also in Florida where Reimer first began working regularly with a sports psychologist, an element of his preparation he has since continued at his own expense — something he discussed in detail on episode 267 of the InGoal Radio podcast ^[1].

Carolina acquired Reimer before the 2019-20 season, and he spent two years with the Hurricanes. Across those two seasons combined, he posted a 2.66 GAA and recorded a .914 save percentage in 2019-20 and a .906 mark in 2020-21, going 15-5 in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign. InGoal sat down with Reimer during that period for an extensive run of Pro Read video sessions, recording footage before he had played a game for Carolina and continuing through his time with the team. That series spans twelve installments in total — five while he was still with the Panthers and seven during and after his time in Carolina and beyond — covering subjects including reading a rush ^[2], 5-on-3 tactics ^[3], dealing with screens and traffic ^[4], shootout preparation ^[5], handling plays from behind the net ^[6], and facing top players on backhand chances ^[7]. The full library is available to InGoal subscribers ^{[8][9][10][11][12][13]}.

Reimer returned to San Jose as a free agent ahead of the 2021-22 season. He appeared in 48 games that year, posting a 2.90 GAA and a .911 save percentage with 1 shutout, then played 43 games in 2022-23 with 3 shutouts. He joined InGoal for a second podcast conversation in August 2022, covering aspects of his career and preparation at episode 182 ^[14], and sat down for additional in-person Pro Reads at the NET360 Goalie Camp in Kelowna that summer, breaking down Sharks footage including a 5-on-3 sequence against Edmonton ^[3], a faceoff-zone situation against Vegas ^[10], and a New York Islanders power play ^[9].

After leaving San Jose, Reimer signed with the Detroit Red Wings for 2023-24, appearing in 25 games with 2 shutouts, then joined the Buffalo Sabres for 2024-25, going 10-8 in 22 games with a 2.90 GAA and a .901 save percentage. He returned to the NHL with the Ottawa Senators for 2025-26, where he has appeared in 14 games, going 7-4 with a 2.42 GAA and 1 shutout.

In the summer of 2024, Reimer sat down with InGoal Radio for episode 267 ^[1], a wide-ranging conversation with Kevin Woodley that touched on what it means to approach 500 NHL games played — a milestone he described as more meaningful once it arrived than he had anticipated. "When you have lots of people congratulating you and whatnot, and then it just forces you to look back over your career and then you realize that, like, what has all happened and taken place in order for you to get there," Reimer said. He also spoke about the role of faith in his preparation, the evolution of his mental performance work — first through team-provided resources in Florida, and later through a performance coaching group called Novus that he joined on his own — and how the modern game's increasing unpredictability shapes the way he prepares. He also appeared on InGoal Radio episode 27, discussing Bauer's Vapor 2X Pro stick ^[15].

Across his NHL career, Reimer has played 539 games, recording 232 wins, 32 shutouts, a career 2.88 GAA, and a .909 save percentage across more than 29,651 minutes of ice time. InGoal Magazine has covered James Reimer in three podcast appearances and twelve Pro Reads.