Daren Puppa
Daren James Puppa is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender in the NHL. During his career, he played for the Buffalo Sabres, Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. He won the Calder Cup with the Rochester Americans in 1987. He won the 1985 NCAA Championship with the RPI Engineers. He is the cousin of NHL hockey player Ralph Backstrom.
Career biography
Born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Beginning the start of the 1982-83 Season Daren Played for the Kirkland Blue Devils after the season finished he was drafted in the summer of 1983 by the Buffalo Sabres. Puppa started his professional career in 1985, splitting time between the Buffalo Sabres and the AHL's Rochester Americans. Aged 20 years, 223 days, he made his NHL debut on November 1, 1985, and posted a 2-0 shutout win over the Edmonton Oilers.He was the starting goalie for the Amerks in the 1986-1987 season when the team won the Calder Cup.
Following the trade of Buffalo's all-star goaltender Tom Barrasso to the Pittsburgh Penguins early in the 1988–89 season, Puppa battled Jacques Cloutier to establish himself as the Sabres' number one goalie, and the following season Puppa led the league with 31 wins in 56 games. In the 1992–93 season he was traded to the Maple Leafs, but played only eight games for them before being claimed by the Lightning via the Panthers in the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft. In 1995–96. Puppa's stellar goaltending was a major factor in the Lightning earning their first playoff berth in team history. The team took the heavily favoured Philadelphia Flyers to six games before losing in the first round. Puppa's solid goaltending in the 1995-96 season earned him his second Vezina nomination; he was second runner-up behind the ultimate winner, Jim Carey.
However, the next season Puppa developed chronic back trouble, and only played six games for the entire season. He only played 44 more games over the next four years, and he was forced to retire midway through the 1999–2000 season.
In addition to his 1996 nomination, Puppa also was the runner up to Patrick Roy for the 1989–1990 Vezina Trophy, awarded to the best NHL goaltender each year.
Puppa and his wife Meg have three children. The family resides in Tampa, Florida.
In 2019, Puppa returned to the ice in a game for the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Hockey Team while on a visit to Buffalo. Puppa, whose back problems and lingering effects from a 1989 shoulder injury still limit his mobility, led the Sabres alumni to a win.