Blackhawks Acquire Goaltender Jason LaBarbera

The Chicago Blackhawks have acquired goaltender Jason LaBarbera from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for future considerations. LaBarbera has been assigned to the Rockford IceHogs. With the Blackhawks in Toronto for tonight’s game versus the Maple Leafs, it seems logical that upon their return, Kent Simpson will be reassigned to Rockford and LaBarbera will be called up.

LaBarbera started this season with the Oilers and was assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Oklahoma City Barons, upon Ilya Bryzgalov being acquired and activated. When Bryzgalov was injured, LaBarbera was called up again. As their goalie situation gets healthier, the Oilers were going to have to reassign LaBarbera so this deal seems to make financial sense for them. LaBarbera spent 4 seasons with the Phoenix Coyotes acting as a backup to Ilya Bryzgalov and later Mike Smith.

Over his career, LaBarbera has done some shuffling between the NHL and the AHL for various teams. LaBarbera is a big goalie at 6’3’, 232 pounds and is 33 years old. His more recent stats are listed below and were retrieved from www.hockeydb.com.