I recently attended a men’s dinner at First Baptist Church in Welland. Our speaker was Dr. Bob Froese, a retired NHL goalie. Question: how many NHL goalies do you know who have a doctorate? Answer: not many (if any). The closest I can recall is Ken Dryden who became a lawyer and politician after his goalie career. And then I heard that Froese was from Niagara. I wanted to hear his story.
Junior Hockey
Robert (good name) Glenn Froese was born in 1958 in St. Catharines. He began his professional career at age 16 back-stopping for his home team – the St. Catharines Blackhawks (forerunners to the Ice Dogs). Two years later, Hap Emms moved the team to Niagara Falls where Bob finished his junior hockey career with the Niagara Falls Flyers. He then played a half season in Milwaukee and 2 ½ years in Saginaw (Michigan) helping the team in 1981 win the Turner Cup, the top trophy of the International Hockey League. After 1 ½ years in Maine with the top farm team of the Philadelphia Flyers (then known as the “Broad Street Bullies”), he got his break. Lead Flyers goalie, Pelle Lindbergh, injured his wrist and Froese was called up to replace him. It was his time to shine.
National Hockey League
Froese played his first game in early January 1983 against the Hartford Whalers. The Flyers won 7 to 4 (good start). He went undefeated for the next 13 games which was a record for rookie goalies at that time. In his third game, he recorded a shutout (excellent start). The next year, Froese was the Flyers’ lead goalie but injuries in the 1984 season limited his play. That year, he shared the net with Lindbergh and the Flyers went to the Stanley Cup finals. They lost to Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers.
As the 1985 season began, tragedy struck when Swedish goalie Lindbergh was killed in a car crash. Froese became the Flyers’ starting goalie and was selected that year to the All-Star team.
He won the Jennings trophy (for lowest goals against) and came second for the Vezina trophy (for top NHL goalie). That year, he led the NHL in save percentage, shutouts and wins. In 1986 (after four years in Philadelphia), Froese was traded to the New York Rangers where he played four seasons. During that time, he was also selected to play for Team Canada at the World Championships in Vienna, Austria.
Altogether, Froese played eight NHL seasons winning 128 games of the 242 he played. He also collected 13 shutouts and 10 assists (not bad for a goalie). His face has collected over 225 stitches from the neck up (and that’s while wearing a goalie mask!). For the next five years, he was the goalie coach for the Rangers and then the New York Islanders before retiring from hockey.
Life Lessons
Two of Bob’s stories stand out in my mind from the men’s dinner. Bob began his hockey career as a young believer. One day his team-mate (Pelle Lindbergh) asked him what it meant to be a Christian. Bob didn’t really know how to answer. A short time later, his goaltending partner died in an auto accident. Bob realized he wasn’t ready to die himself and needed to get serious about his faith. He went to his pastor for help and from then on knew what a true believer was – someone who had sincerely confessed their sins before God and put their trust in Jesus as their Savior.
Bob never liked carrying his heavy duffle bag around (and goalies have a lot more equipment than other players). In junior hockey, each player carried their own duffle bag from the bus to the arena (and vice versa). After his first NHL game, he prepared to do the same. However, a team assistant stopped him and explained that was his job to carry the bags for the players. Bob saw a spiritual parallel. We all carry a heavy load of sin and shame in life. But Jesus came to take that load from us if we let him. That’s what happens when we come to faith and follow Him.
After his hockey career, Bob went back to school and earned his M.A. in Pastoral Counseling and his Ph. D. in Biblical Counseling. He served as the senior pastor of Faith Fellowship Church near Buffalo, NY for 24 years. He also served as the director of the National Biblical Counseling Association. He is married to his high school sweetheart (Ruth) and together have been blessed with four sons, two daughters-in-law, four granddaughters and most recently a grandson.
Bob Froese (66) is now retired and looks back on his hockey career and Christian journey with much gratitude. And he is especially thankful for the day when he “gave his duffle bag” to Jesus.
Rob Weatherby is a retired pastor and wannabe NHL hockey player.
