Ben Bishop

Benjamin Manning Bishop III (born November 21, 1986) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender under contract to the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Bishop previously played for the St. Louis Blues, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings, and Dallas Stars of the NHL.

Nicknamed "Big Ben", Bishop is the tallest goaltender ever to play in the NHL, along with Mikko Koskinen and Mads Søgaard at a height of 6ft 7in.

He was a three-time Vezina Trophy finalist as the NHL's top goaltender.

Although he was born in Denver, Colorado, Bishop grew up in suburban St. Louis where he played minor ice hockey for the Kirkwood Stars, as well as for the St. Louis Junior Blues.

He played in the 2000 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the St. Louis Junior Blues.

Bishop played forward until age eight, when he was converted to a goaltender.

He attended Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis, where he played high school hockey on the same team with Chris Butler and Paul Stastny.

He later moved to Frisco, Texas, where he graduated from high school before attending the University of Maine.

Bishop played for the Texas Tornado of the North American Hockey League (NAHL) during the 2004–05 season.

He appeared in 45 games and posted a league-best record of 35 wins (including 5 shutouts) and 8 losses.

His goals against average (GAA) of 1.93 was second in the NAHL.

Most notably, he led the Texas Tornado to their second consecutive National Championship.

Bishop was named to the first team of the NAHL All-Rookie Team at the end of the season.

As a freshman for the University of Maine during the 2005–06 season, Bishop finished the regular season with a record of 21 wins, 8 losses and 2 ties with a 2.28 GAA.

In his first game as a collegiate player, he lost in overtime to Colorado College in Colorado.

The following weekend, Bishop led Maine to a sweep of the back-to-back national champions, the University of Denver.

In October 2005 and February 2006, he was awarded Rookie of the Month as well as Goaltender of the Month by the NCAA's Hockey East conference.

He was also named Rookie of the Week four separate times.

Bishop was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the third round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, 85th overall, and became one of their top prospects.

Bishop led the Black Bears to the 2006 Frozen Four, losing to the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the semi-finals, despite playing strongly.

Bishop led the Black Bears to the Frozen Four once again in 2007, but lost to Michigan State University in the semi-finals, 4–2.

As a junior in the 2007–08 NCAA Men's Division Hockey competition, Bishop played behind a less-than-stellar team, but had an impressive personal season performance, posting a 2.43 GAA and a .920 save percentage.

On March 11, 2008, it was announced he had signed with the Blues, where he would play the remainder of the season for their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen.

In five games with Peoria, he posted a 2.39 GAA and received a fighting major in his second career game.

On October 19, 2008, it was announced Bishop was recalled from Peoria to join the Blues.

On October 24, he made his NHL debut, coming off the bench in relief of the injured Manny Legace to start the second period, giving up two goals over the final 40 minutes in a 4–0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings.

Bishop ultimately appeared in six games with the Blues in 2008–09 and was the back-up goaltender for all four of the team's playoff games that season.

After starting goaltender Jaroslav Halák was injured in the 2010–11 season, Bishop was called up from Peoria.

In his third game played of the season, he would record his first NHL shutout, which came against the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place on February 25, 2011, stopping all 39 shots in a 5–0 win.

On July 5, 2011, Bishop signed a one-year contract with the Blues.

On February 26, 2012, Bishop was traded to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

A kitchen accident resulted in Senators' starting goaltender Craig Anderson being injured indefinitely with a hand laceration, a situation that may have hastened Bishop's move to Ottawa.

At the time of the trade, Bishop was the AHL's top goaltender with a 24–14–0 record, a 2.26 GAA, a .928 save percentage and an AHL-leading six shutouts through 38 games.

Bishop made his Senators debut against the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 6, 2012, in a game which Ottawa won 7–3.

He earned his second win in as many starts in a 4–1 win over the New York Rangers.

He finished the season with a 3–3–2 record and 2.48 GAA in ten games played with Ottawa.

Due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Bishop began the season in the AHL with the Binghamton Senators, where he posted an 8–3–2 record and 2.59 GAA in 13 games.

Once the lockout was resolved, he was called up to Ottawa to serve as backup to Craig Anderson.

His first game of the NHL season was less than memorable for Bishop, as he surrendered five goals on 30 shots in a loss to Tampa Bay.