Pat Riggin

Born in Kincardine, Ontario, Riggin was a goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Atlanta Flames, Calgary Flames, Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins, as well as the Birmingham Bulls of the World Hockey Association.[1] He was originally drafted from the London Knights, and was selected as the goalie for the London Knights all-time team. His father, Dennis, briefly played in the NHL as a net minder for the Detroit Red Wings, and his brother Larry also spent time with the Knights organization in the 1970s.

After an outstanding Junior career with the London Knights, Riggin began his professional career while still a teenager with the Birmingham Bulls of the World Hockey Association. The Bulls loaded up on teenage talent exploiting the fact that the NHL, at that time, drafted players at age 20, meaning the WHA could sign players before they were even draft eligible. Joining Riggin in Birmingham were teenage blue liners Gaston Gingras, Rob Ramage and Craig Hartsburg and Michel Goulet and Rick Vaive up front. Riggin, at just 19-years of age, won the starting job in Birmingham over veteran Ernie Wakely and posted a 16-20-5 record. At the end of the season, the WHA suspended operations making Riggin and the rest of his "Baby Bulls" teenage teammates draft eligible for the National Hockey League. On the strength of his solid Junior career and impressive first pro campaign in Birmingham, Riggin was the top ranked goaltender available in the draft.[2]

Riggin was selected in the 2nd round, 33rd overall by the Atlanta Flames and began his time in the organization in a very familiar spot: Birmingham, Alabama. The Bulls, after the WHA folded, joined the Central Hockey League and the team was affiliated with the Flames, who loaned them Riggin. He spent just 12 games in the CHL before getting called up to Atlanta where he would backup veteran Dan Bouchard. Prior to the start of his second NHL season, the franchise relocated to Calgary and his workload increased greatly when Bouchard was dealt to the Quebec Nordiques in January. Riggin assumed the starting job and rookie Rejean Lemelin backed him up. That spring, he got his first taste of the Stanley Cup Playoffs though Lemelin was in goal in the first round when the Flames swept the Blackhawks in three straight. But after Lemelin dropped the first game of the second round, against the Philadelphia Flyers, Riggin made his playoff debut in game two and kicked out 42 shots for the victory.[3] Riggin was even better in game three, making 47 saves in a 2-1 victory then posted another victory in game four to give the Flames a 3-1 series lead. Game five was a disaster with Riggin surrendering nine goals, but when Lemelin lost game six, Riggin was back between the pipes for the decisive seventh game and backstopped the Flames to a 4-1 victory sending them to the Semi-Finals where they ulimtately lost to the Minnesota North Stars.

The Flames failed to build on their successful 1980-81 season and the team - and Riggin - took a step back the next year. Riggin played 52-games for Calgary but posted a career-worst 4.23 goals against average. In an effort to shake things up in the off-season, the Flames traded Riggin along with defenceman Ken Houston to the Washington Capitals for a package of players and draft picks.

With Washington, Riggin would platoon in the Capitals goal splitting duties with Al Jensen and both netminders excelled. They had a history before being teammates with both of them duelling during their Junior days to be the top goaltender in the OHA. Riggin was a First-Team All-Star with the London Knights in 1876-77 and Jensen a Second Team All-Star for Hamilton. The following year, the roles were reversed with Jensen taking top honours and Riggin on the Second Team.[4] Riggin suited up for 38 games his first year in Washington and the following year played 41-games, winning 21 one of them against just 14 losses and he posted a 2.66 goals against average. For their efforts, Riggin and Jensen shared the William M. Jennings Trophy in 1983–84 as the Capitals' goaltending duo allowed the fewest goals in the NHL. He was also named to the NHL Second All-Star Team that season.[5] His third year with Washington saw him play a career-high 57 games (in part, because of a knee injury sustained by Jensen) and placed among the league leaders for wins and goals against but playoff success eluded him and the Caps. After being eliminated by the New York Islanders from the 1985 playoffs, Riggin joined Team Canada at the World Championships and won a silver medal. However, his brief stint with the National Team also created some controversy when Riggin cited, as motivation for beating Team USA, the fact that he was tired of seeing American players taking jobs from Canadians in the NHL.[6] These comments obviously created some controversy playing for the Capitals because the team is situated in the US Capital, but also because the roster was led by American players like Bobby Carpenter, Dave Christian and team captain Rod Langway. Prior to the start of the 1985-86 season, Riggin addressed the comments: "There was a bad choice of words on my part and I think a lot of it was taken out of context... I can't really blame people for being upset, though. I'm going to have to get off to an excellent start to get the fans behind me again."[7]

Unfortunately for Riggin, that's not what happened. He got off to a slow start with just two wins in his first seven games and a lowly .827 save percentage and found himself packing his stuff after a mid November trade to the Boston Bruins.

Riggin was swapped straight up for goaltender Pete Peeters and he once again found himself in a platoon situation with veteran Doug Keans. Riggin got the lion's share of the work though with 39 games and led the team in wins and goals against, but come playoff time, Riggin was only given one game. When he dropped game one of the playoffs to the Montreal Canadiens, the Bruins turned to 19-year old Bill Ranford for the next two games, but the team was swept in three-straight.

It would, however, be a sign of things to come. Ranford assumed the starting job in Boston the following year and Doug Keans assumed the backup role leaving Riggin as the odd-man-out. Riggin got into ten games with the Bruins before being assigned to their American Hockey League affiliate in Moncton. He spent 14-games in the American League before a trade on February 6, 1987 got him back to the NHL.

The Pittsburgh Penguins traded goaltender Roberto Romano to Boston for Riggin and he joined a Penguins team that was relying on 36-year old veteran Gilles Meloche to hold down the fort behind a young and inexperienced blue line. Riggin, happy to be given another chance at the NHL level made an immediate impact for the Penguins. Riggin suited up for 17-games to complete the 1986-87 campaign and was able to record eight victories against six losses and three ties along with a team-best goals against and save percentage.

While it looked like Pittsburgh might provide an excellent opportunity for Riggin to re-establish himself, the opposite proved true. The 1987-88 edition of the club struggled defensively and Riggin saw his goals against swell to 3.90 and managed just seven wins in 22 appearances. Ultimately the emergence of rookie Frank Pietrangelo pushed Riggin out the crease and he was assigned to the Penguins International Hockey League affiliate the Muskegon Lumberjacks. Riggin was outstanding with the Lumberjacks going 13-2 for the club and posting a 2.70 goals against, but at seasons end, at just 28-years old, he retired from pro hockey.

• Pat Riggin career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
• Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com