Zachary Fucale

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Zachary Fucale
Zachary Fucale Halifax Mooseheads 2013.jpg
Fucale with the Halifax Mooseheads in 2013
Born (1995-05-28) May 28, 1995 (age 26)
Laval, Quebec, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 187 lb (85 kg; 13 st 5 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
NHL team (P)
Cur. team		 Washington Capitals
Hershey Bears (AHL)
NHL Draft 36th overall, 2013
Montreal Canadiens
Playing career 2015–present

Zachary "Zach" Fucale (born May 28, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing with the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract with the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round (36th overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career[]

Junior[]

Fucale was born in Laval, Quebec, but grew up in Rosemère, Quebec.[1]

Before being drafted into major junior hockey, Fucale played for the Saint-Eustache Vikings of the Quebec AAA Midget Hockey League. The Halifax Mooseheads selected Fucale eleventh overall in the 2011 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) Entry Draft.[2]

In his first season with the Mooseheads, Fucale set a QMJHL record for most wins by a rookie with 32.[3] For his performance, he was named to the QMJHL all-rookie team[4] and awarded the Raymond Lagacé Trophy as defensive rookie of the year.

In 2012, Fucale was named to the Subway Super Series as a QMJHL representative. On November 8, 2012, Fucale made the start for team QMJHL in the series and stopped all 10 shots he faced before being replaced halfway through the game.[5] In November 2012, Fucale was named the #1 North American Goaltender in the NHL Central Scouting rankings for the upcoming 2013 NHL Draft.

The 2012–2013 campaign saw Fucale become the Mooseheads' all-time leader in wins with 79, surpassing the mark previously held by Jean-Sébastien Giguère.[6] During the 2012–13 playoffs, he maintained a goals-against average (GAA) of 2.02 and a save percentage of 0.918, recording 16 wins with the Mooseheads against only one loss as they captured their first President's Cup (QMJHL).

In the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament held at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Fucale maintained a 0.902 save percentage while maintaining a 3.52 GAA to help the Halifax Mooseheads capture their first-ever Memorial Cup. Playing with a talented Mooseheads club that included future NHL rookie of the year Nathan MacKinnon and Canadian Hockey League player of the year Jonathan Drouin, Fucale turned aside 40 shots to beat the Portland Winterhawks 6–4 in the championship game. He was named to the tournament all-star team.[7]

On January 21, 2014, Fucale became the youngest goalie to reach 100 wins in QMJHL history, at 18 years, 7.8 months. At the same time he set a new record for achieving that mark in the fewest games, winning his hundredth game in 145 starts. The record was previously held by Jacques Cloutier of the Trois-Rivières Draveurs who was 19 when he reached 100 wins in 150 games in 1979.[8]

On November 28, 2014, Fucale recorded his 124th regular season win, passing Olivier Roy for second place among QMJHL goaltenders for most career wins and putting him within 18 wins of Cloutier's all-time record.[9]

Fucale was traded to the Quebec Remparts on December 19, 2014.[10] On his departure from Halifax, he was the club's all-time leader in regular season wins (126), playoff wins (35), and shutouts (15).[11] In an unusual step for an active player, Fucale returned to his former club 22 days after he was traded to be honoured with an emotional eight-minute pre-game tribute.[12][13]

In May 2015, Fucale led the Quebec Remparts to the President Cup finals after defeating the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, Charlottetown Islanders, and Moncton Wildcats. The team lost to the Rimouski Océanic in double overtime of the seventh and final game of the series.[14] Fucale was still able to make a return to the national MasterCard Memorial Cup championship, by virtue of Quebec's status as host; however, the team was eliminated by the Western Hockey League's Kelowna Rockets, 9–3, in the semi-final.[15]

Professional[]

During the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Fucale was the top goalie taken, selected 36th overall by the Montreal Canadiens.[16] Following training camp in 2014, the Canadiens returned Fucale to the Halifax Mooseheads for his final junior year. In 2015, Fucale played his first pre-season game in a Habs uniform, giving up two goals, including the overtime winner, in a 2–1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on September 22.[17]

On September 26, 2015, the Canadiens announced that Fucale was being reassigned for the 2015–16 season to the St. John's IceCaps of the American Hockey League, where he shared netminder duties with Dustin Tokarski.[18] On November 30, the team recalled Fucale from the AHL to become Mike Condon's back-up goalie during Carey Price's recovery from an injury.[19]

During the 2016–17 season, Fucale played for the Brampton Beast (ECHL). Entering the playoffs, he had already established a number of franchise records including games played, wins (25) and goals against average. He also took time out in December to lead Canada to a Spengler Cup Champion as the team's only ECHL representative and the youngest player on the roster.

On July 1, 2018, after he was not tendered a qualifying offer to remain with the Canadiens, Fucale signed as a free agent to a one-year, two-way deal with the Vegas Golden Knights.[20] After attending the Golden Knights and Wolves training camp, Fucale was assigned for the majority of the 2018–19 season to ECHL affiliate, the Fort Wayne Komets. Collecting 20 wins in 34 regular season games, Fucale also made 5 appearances with the Chicago Wolves in the AHL. On June 25, 2019, Fucale was not tendered a qualifying offer with the Golden Knights, releasing him to free agency.[21]

On July 2, 2019, Fucale agreed to a one-year AHL contract with the Syracuse Crunch, affiliate to the Tampa Bay Lightning.[22] Signed to add depth to the Crunch, Fucale played primarily with ECHL affiliate club the Orlando Solar Bears. After 24 games with the Solar Bears and a single appearance with the Crunch, Fucale was released from his contract midway into the 2019–20 season, in order to sign a contract with his first European club, EHC Red Bull München of the DEL on February 18, 2020.[23] Due to injury, Fucale failed to feature in the DEL before the cancellation of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On August 19, 2020, the Washington Capitals signed Fucale as a free agent to a one-year, two-way contract worth $700,000.[24]

International play[]

Medal record
Representing  Canada
Ice hockey
Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament
Gold medal – first place 2012 Piešťany
IIHF World U20 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2015 Canada
Spengler Cup
Gold medal – first place 2016 Davos
Gold medal – first place 2019 Davos

Fucale won gold at the 2012 Ivan Hlinka U18 Memorial Tournament as a member of Team Canada. Fucale played in four of the five tournament games, shutting out Finland 4–0 in the gold medal game.[25]

Fucale was named to Canada's roster for the 2014 and 2015 World Junior Championship.[26] After Canada finished a disappointing fourth at the 2014 event in Sweden, Fucale led Team Canada to a gold medal, their first in five years, at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship. In so doing, Fucale improved his save percentage to .949 over five games in 2015, up from .902 in the previous tournament; his goals-against average improved to 1.20 from 2.42.[27] With eight wins, Fucale ties Stéphane Fiset (1989/1990) and Marc-André Fleury (2003/2004) for most wins by a Canadian goaltender at the IIHF U20 tournament.[28]

Fucale has represented Canada three times at the annual invitational Spengler Cup tournament, leading Team Canada to gold medals in 2016 and 2019 and to a silver medal in 2018. In the 2019 tournament, Fucale was named to the tournament all star team after allowing only one goal in three starts, recording two shutouts and a 0.33 goals-against average. [29]

Career statistics[]

Regular season and playoffs[]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2010–11 Saint-Eustache Vikings QMAAA 28 — — — — — — 3.09 .901 10 — — — — — 3.61 .901
2011–12 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 58 32 18 6 3249 171 2 3.16 .892 17 10 7 1022 49 0 2.88 .904
2012–13 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 55 45 5 3 3162 124 2 2.35 .909 17 16 1 1042 35 3 2.02 .918
2013–14 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 50 36 9 3 2917 110 6 2.26 .907 15 9 4 797 37 0 2.79 .882
2014–15 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 24 13 9 2 1426 76 2 3.20 .890 — — — — — — — —
2014–15 Quebec Remparts QMJHL 17 8 8 0 933 50 1 3.22 .877 20 14 6 1194 51 1 2.56 .913
2015–16 St. John's IceCaps AHL 42 16 19 4 2376 124 1 3.13 .903 — — — — — — — —
2016–17 St. John's IceCaps AHL 3 1 2 0 178 7 1 2.36 .919 — — — — — — — —
2016–17 Brampton Beast ECHL 46 25 12 2 2359 134 4 3.17 .898 11 6 5 704 25 0 2.13 .932
2017–18 Laval Rocket AHL 18 10 7 0 993 54 0 3.26 .890 — — — — — — — —
2017–18 Brampton Beast ECHL 11 5 4 2 657 31 0 2.83 .913 — — — — — — — —
2018–19 Fort Wayne Komets ECHL 34 20 9 1 1983 105 0 3.18 .894 6 2 4 371 20 0 3.23 .910
2018–19 Chicago Wolves AHL 5 1 3 0 262 11 0 2.51 .909 — — — — — — — —
2019–20 Orlando Solar Bears ECHL 24 10 8 4 1322 52 4 2.36 .928 — — — — — — — —
2019–20 Syracuse Crunch AHL 1 0 1 0 56 3 0 3.20 .800 — — — — — — — —
2020–21 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 1 1 0 0 60 1 0 1.00 .972 — — — — — — — —
2020–21 Hershey Bears AHL 11 9 2 0 666 20 1 1.80 .932 — — — — — — — —
AHL totals 80 37 34 4 4,531 219 3 2.90 .904 — — — — — — — —

International[]

Year Team Event Result GP W L OTL SOL MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2012 Canada Quebec U17 6th 5 2 1 0 0 185 10 0 3.25 .906
2012 Canada IH18 1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 4 0 0 0 — 8 1 2.00 .927
2014 Canada WJC 4th 5 3 2 0 0 298 12 0 2.42 .902
2015 Canada WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 5 0 0 0 300 6 2 1.20 .939
2016 Canada SC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 3 1 0 0 — 14 0 2.00 .934
2018 Canada SC 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 3 0 0 1 — 7 0 1.71 .920
2019 Canada SC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 4 0 0 0 — 2 2 0.33 .996
International totals 31 24 4 0 1 — 59 5 1.84 .932

[30]

Awards and honours[]

Award Year
Raymond Lagacé Trophy – QMJHL Defensive Rookie of the Year 2011–12
2012 Ivan Hlinka U18 Memorial Tournament – Gold Medal 2012
QMJHL First Team All-Star 2012–13[31]
QMJHL President's Cup Championship 2013
Memorial Cup Championship 2013
CHL Memorial Cup All-Star Team 2013[32]
Paul Dumont Trophy – QMJHL Personality of the Year 2013–14[33]
Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy – QMJHL Best GAA 2013–14[34]
IIHF World U20 Championships – Gold Medal 2015
Spengler Cup – All-Star Team 2019
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award 2020–21[35]

References[]

  1. ^ "Fucale, Zachary". nhl.com. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  2. ^ "QMJHL". theqmjhl.ca. Archived from the original on January 18, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  3. ^ "QMJHL: Mooseheads' iron man Fucale sets record for wins by a rookie goalie". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  4. ^ "Mooseheads hardware hopefuls fall short at QMJHL awards". metronews.ca. April 4, 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  5. ^ "Huberdeau leads QMJHL to win over Russians in Super Series". cbc.ca. November 7, 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  6. ^ "CHL Network". Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  7. ^ "Halifax Mooseheads win MasterCard Memorial Cup". Canadian Hockey League. May 4, 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
  8. ^ "Zach Fucale breaks goalie record as Mooseheads top Sea Dogs". CBC News. January 21, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  9. ^ "Timo Time: Moose smoke Shawinigan". Halifax Mooseheads. November 28, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  10. ^ The Canadian Press. December 19, 2014. Rebuilding Halifax Mooseheads trade goalie Zach Fucale to Quebec Remparts. Retrieved from: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=744854
  11. ^ QMJHL. Goalie statistics: http://theqmjhl.ca/stats/show/type/goalies/ls_season/178/ls_team/5 Archived January 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ The Chronicle Herald. January 10, 2015. Pumped up Mooseheads win on night Fucale honoured. Retrieved from: http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/mooseheads/1262192-pumped-up-mooseheads-win-on-night-fucale-honoured
  13. ^ Halifax Mooseheads. Zach Fucale tribute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW1XC3EzQOQ
  14. ^ "So close..." remparts.ca. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  15. ^ "Rockets blast into finals with 9–3 win". mastercardmemorialcup.ca. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  16. ^ "404". TSN. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  17. ^ "Toronto Maple Leafs at Montreal Canadiens – 09/22/2015". nhl.com. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  18. ^ "Goalie Fucale among 17 players Canadiens send down to AHL's IceCaps". Hockey Inside/Out. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  19. ^ MacMillan, Ken (November 30, 2015). "Zach Fucale Called Up By Montreal Canadiens". A Winning Habit. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  20. ^ "Golden Knights' Zach Fucale: Gets deal with Vegas". CBS Sports. July 1, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  21. ^ "Zach Fucale: Bound for open market". CBS Sports. June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  22. ^ "Crunch sign Goaltender Zachary Fucale to AHL contract". Syracuse Crunch. July 2, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  23. ^ "Red Bull sign Goaltender Zach Fucale" (in German). EHC Red Bull München. February 18, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  24. ^ "Capitals Sign Zach Fucale". Washington Capitals. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  25. ^ "Canada wins 2012 Ivan Hlinka Memorial". European Ice Hockey Online. August 18, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  26. ^ "National Junior Team". TSN.ca. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  27. ^ International Ice Hockey Federation. World Junior Championship: Player statistics by team. Retrieved from: https://reports.iihf.hockey/Hydra/359/IHM359000_83_63_0_CAN.pdf[permanent dead link] and https://reports.iihf.hockey/Hydra/417/IHM417000_83_65_0_CAN.pdf[permanent dead link]
  28. ^ Hockey Canada National Junior Team statistics at: http://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/Team-Canada/Men/Junior/
  29. ^ "Canada captures 16th Spengler Cup title". tsn.ca. December 31, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  30. ^ "QMJHL Statistics". Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. July 1, 2013. Archived from the original on May 31, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  31. ^ "Jonathan Drouin wins big at Quebec Major Junior Hockey League awards". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  32. ^ "Memorial Cup". mastercardmemorialcup.ca. Archived from the original on January 7, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  33. ^ "Valdors' Anthony Mantha named QMJHL MVP". Lethbridge Herald. April 2, 2014. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  34. ^ "The Golden Puck Awards: an unforgettable evening". oursportscentral.com. April 2, 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  35. ^ "Hershey's Copley, Fucale Win AHL's Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award". OurSports Central. May 18, 2021.

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