Born Jan 11, 1968 · Terrace, British Columbia, Canada — Drafted 1988 · Rd 9, #13 overall
| SEASON | GP | W | GAA | SV% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000-01 | 2 | 0 | 4.07 | .855 | 0 |
| 2001-02 | 4 | 2 | 2.94 | .919 | 0 |
| 2002-03 | 1 | 0 | 4.70 | .852 | 0 |
| CAREER | 120 | 27 | 3.51 | .887 | 5 |
Wade Flaherty
Career Statistics
| Season | Team | GP | W | L | OT | GAA | SV% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002-03 | Predators | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.70 | .852 | 0 |
| 2001-02 | Panthers | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.94 | .919 | 0 |
| 2000-01 | Lightning | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4.07 | .855 | 0 |
| 1999-00 | Islanders | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.31 | .914 | 0 |
| 1998-99 | Islanders | 20 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 3.03 | .892 | 0 |
| 1997-98 | Islanders | 16 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1.99 | .926 | 3 |
| 1996-97 | Sharks | 7 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5.18 | .847 | 0 |
| 1995-96 | Sharks | 24 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 4.85 | .866 | 0 |
| 1994-95 | Sharks | 18 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 3.10 | .903 | 1 |
| 1992-93 | Sharks | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.02 | .891 | 0 |
| 1991-92 | Sharks | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4.38 | .892 | 0 |
| Career | 120 | 27 | 56 | 0 | 3.51 | .887 | 5 |
Playing Career
Wade Flaherty was born on January 11, 1968, in Terrace, British Columbia. Drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the ninth round (181st overall) of the 1988 NHL Draft, the left-catching goaltender never played for Buffalo but went on to appear in 120 NHL games across five franchises — the San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, and Nashville Predators — finishing with a 27–56 record, a 3.51 goals-against average, an .887 save percentage, and 5 shutouts.
Those NHL stops were only part of a 19-year professional career spent largely in the minors, across the IHL, AHL, and ECHL. Flaherty backstopped the Milwaukee Admirals to the 2004 Calder Cup and was named the playoff MVP, spent three seasons with the Manitoba Moose — his first tie to the Winnipeg market — and closed out his playing days with the China Sharks of Asia League Ice Hockey in 2008, where he doubled as a goaltending coach.
NHL Goaltending Coach
That dual role pointed to his second act. In January 2009 he joined the Chicago Blackhawks as a developmental goaltending coach, working with netminders including Antti Niemi, who won the Stanley Cup in 2010, and Corey Crawford. When the Atlanta Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg in 2011, Flaherty came straight from Chicago to take over the crease for the new franchise.
He has been the Winnipeg Jets' goaltending coach ever since. Across 15 consecutive seasons (2011–12 through 2025–26) he has been the only goaltending coach in the relocated franchise's history, making him one of the longest-tenured goalie coaches in the NHL.
His signature work has been the long development of Connor Hellebuyck, who grew under Flaherty from a young prospect into a three-time Vezina Trophy winner (2019–20, 2023–24, and 2024–25) and the 2024–25 Hart Memorial Trophy winner as league MVP — the first goaltender to claim the Hart since Carey Price in 2014–15. Hellebuyck also set a franchise record with 44 wins in 2017–18. Along the way Flaherty guided Ondrej Pavelec through the early Winnipeg years and has overseen a Jets crease that has since included Eric Comrie and Laurent Brossoit.
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