MOLINE, Ill. (November 20, 2014) - Goaltender John Curry has been assigned to the Quad City Mallards by the American Hockey League's Iowa Wild and the Mallards have placed goaltender Parker Milner on reserve, the Mallards announced today.
Curry, 30, has posted a 3.72 goals against average and .885 save percentage while going 0-4-0 in five games with Iowa this season.
"John is here for a stint to get some playing time before going back to Iowa," said Mallards coach and general manager Terry Ruskowski. "We look forward to having him here because he's a character guy and an excellent goaltender."
Curry played two National Hockey League games for the Minnesota Wild last season- going 1-0-0 with a 3.00 goals against average and .930 save percentage- and has played six career NHL games for the Wild and Pittsburgh Penguins. The 5' 11", 185-pound Shorewood, Minnesota, native has gone 3-2-0 and turned in a 3.54 goals against average and .893 save percentage in those six games.
Curry last season divided his time among Minnesota, Iowa and the ECHL's Orlando Solar Bears. In 19 AHL games he was 7-9-2 with a 2.62 goals against average, a .920 save percentage and one shutout. He ran up a record of 10-2-0 with Orlando on a 2.66 goals against average and .917 save percentage.
Curry has spent the bulk of his eight-year professional career in the AHL. He has gone 103-63-7 with a 2.51 goals against average, a .907 save percentage and ten shutouts in 183 American League games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Houston Aeros and Wild. As a rookie he backstopped Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to a berth in the 2008 AHL Calder Cup finals.
After spending his first four seasons in the Penguins' organization Curry moved abroad to spend the 2011-12 campaign in Germany with the Hamburg Freezers. He returned to North America in the Wild system the following year. Curry's first season under the Wild umbrella saw him go 17-11-2 with a 2.80 goals against average and .910 save percentage in 32 games with the Solar Bears and also play one game for Houston.
Before turning pro Curry was a standout at Boston University, where he went 59-29-15 with a 2.07 goals against average, a .923 save percentage and 13 shutouts in 107 games over four seasons. As a senior in 2006-07, he was named a finalist for the Hobey Baker award and earned First Team All-American honors after going 17-10-8 with a 2.01 goals against average, a .921 save percentage and seven shutouts. The All-American selection was Curry's second in as many seasons- he was a second team choice as a junior while helping the Terriers to the 2006 Hockey East regular season and tournament titles. Curry also helped propel B.U. to three straight NCAA tournament appearances.
Milner, 24, has gone 3-2-0 with a 2.77 goals against average and a .912 save percentage in five games with the Mallards this season. Last night Milner stopped 22 shots in regulation and overtime and made four saves in the shootout as the Mallards came from behind for a 4-3 shootout win over Tulsa Oilers.
The 6' 1", 197-pound Pittsburgh native returned to the Mallards from Iowa Sunday after serving as the Wild's back-up goaltender in three games following a November 11 call-up.
The Mallards return to action tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. on home ice against the Rapid City Rush. Tomorrow evening also brings the return of $1 Dog/$1 Beer Night presented by 97X and MetroLINK. Fans can enjoy $1 hot dogs and beers from iWireless Center concession stands during all Friday home games. 97X will follow in the spirit of the evening by presenting hot dog-themed intermission entertainment.
Tickets for all remaining Mallards regular season home games- including tomorrow night's tilt- are on sale now at the iWireless Center box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and Ticketmaster charge-by-phone toll free at 1-800-745-3000. The box office is open weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and game days from 10:00 a.m. until the start of the second period. Tickets are available for $10, $16, $20 and $28.
