Mike Greenlay

Mike Greenlay was born on September 15, 1968, in Vitória, Brazil, and raised in Calgary, Alberta — and he holds a distinction no other goaltender can claim: when he stepped into the net for the Edmonton Oilers in February 1990, he became the first Brazilian-born player in NHL history. A left-catching goaltender standing 6'3" and weighing 200 pounds, Greenlay was selected by Edmonton in the ninth round, 189th overall, of the 1986 NHL Draft.

His amateur résumé was a strong one. After a season with the BCHL's Penticton Knights, Greenlay played parts of three seasons at Lake Superior State and was a member of the Lakers' 1988 NCAA championship team. He left school during the 1988–89 season for the WHL's Saskatoon Blades and backstopped them to the 1989 Memorial Cup final, winning the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as the tournament's top goaltender and earning a place on the Memorial Cup All-Star Team.

His two appearances for Edmonton in 1989–90 were the extent of his NHL playing career, but his pro years ran much deeper in the minors: parts of two seasons with the AHL's Cape Breton Oilers, then several with the IHL's Atlanta Knights, where he shared the league's James Norris Memorial Trophy (fewest goals against) with Jean-Claude Bergeron in 1993–94 and won the Turner Cup that same spring. After retiring early in the 1995–96 season, Greenlay moved to the broadcast booth and spent nearly two decades as the Minnesota Wild's television color analyst, from 2002 through the 2019–20 season.