| Paul Fricker | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 20 October 1960 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height Ft: | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height In: | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight Lb: | 190 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position: | Goaltender | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Catches: | Left | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Played For: | Michigan Binghamton Whalers Oklahoma City Stars Salt Lake Golden Eagles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career Start: | 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career End: | 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Draft: | 176th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Draft Year: | 1980 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Draft Team: | Hartford Whalers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Paul David Allen Fricker is a Canadian retired ice hockey goaltender who was an All-American for Michigan.
While born in Toronto, Fricker played his junior hockey in British Columbia, reaching the WHL for 1 game 1979. Because it was just a single game, Fricker was able to retain his college eligibility by not receiving payment for his services. That fall he began attending Michigan in the final recruiting class for Dan Farrell. Fricker played 35 games and helped the team recover from a dismal season the year before by winning 20 games and lifting the Wolverines up to 4th in the conference.[1] Though the team was knocked out in the first round of the playoffs, Fricker had made enough of a name for himself to be drafted by the Hartford Whalers.[2]
Entering his second season, Fricker got a new head coach in Wilf Martin, however, the bench boss lasted just 4 games due to ill health and was replaced by John Giordano.[3] [4] The change didn't seem to bother Fricker as he posted very similar marks to what he had the year before and was named an All-American. This time he was able to help the Wolverines win their first round matchup but were helpless against Michigan Tech in the second round and lost 2–9 on aggregate. After the season Fricker passed on his final two years of eligibility and signed a professional contract with the Whalers.
He began the next season in Hartford's minor league system, playing the bulk of the year with the Oklahoma City Stars before transitioning to the AHL in 1982. Fricker showed promise in his first full season with Binghamton, splitting time in net, but his numbers ballooned in 1984 and he was released by Hartford after the year. Fricker played 4 games the following year before calling it a career and returned home.
Fricker became the head coach for the Delta Flyers in 1986 but lasted just a season behind the bench. A few years later he founded 'The Goalie Store' a small business that manufactured custom ice hockey and lacrosse goaltending equipment. On the company website, Fricker would post articles giving tips about how to play the position and he was able to parlay that knowledge into eventually becoming the goaltending coach for the Seattle Thunderbirds. Fricker remained with Seattle for seven years before taking the same job closer to home with the Vancouver Giants.[5] He was let go 11 games into his third season after the team's terrible start.[6] Fricker was only gone from the Giants for a short time and he was brought back to his former post when there was no sign of improvement from the team's two starters. He continues to serve in that capacity as of 2021.
| Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | League | GP | W | L | T | MIN | GA | SV% | GP | W | L | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | |||||
| 1977–78 | PJHL | — | — | — | — | 1800 | 174 | 0 | 5.80 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1978–79 | PJHL | — | — | — | — | 1630 | 100 | 0 | 3.68 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1978–79 | WHL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 3 | 0 | 4.50 | .842 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1979–80 | WCHA | 35 | 20 | 12 | 2 | 2032 | 148 | 0 | 4.37 | .883 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1980–81 | WCHA | 34 | 18 | 15 | 0 | 1955 | 128 | 0 | 3.93 | .891 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1981–82 | CHL | 44 | 12 | 28 | 0 | 2363 | 187 | 0 | 4.75 | .876 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1981–82 | AHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80 | 7 | 0 | 5.25 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1982–83 | AHL | 39 | 13 | 18 | 3 | 2127 | 130 | 1 | 3.67 | .885 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1983–84 | AHL | 30 | 10 | 17 | 2 | 1731 | 149 | 3 | 5.16 | .854 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1984–85 | IHL | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| NCAA totals | 69 | 38 | 27 | 2 | 3987 | 276 | 0 | 4.15 | .887 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| AHL totals | 71 | 23 | 35 | 5 | 3938 | 286 | 4 | 4.36 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| All-WCHA Second Team | 1980–81 | [7] |
| AHCA West All-American | 1980–81 | [8] |