Former National Hockey League goaltender Curtis McElhinney decided to call it a career in 2021 after 13 seasons and a pair of back to back Stanley Cup victories with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He earned the reputation of being a journeyman, having suited up for the Lightning as well as the Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets, Phoenix Coyotes, Ottawa Senators, Anaheim Ducks and Calgary Flames.
But it was his tenure with Toronto that he was especially fond of during the 2017-18 season. He racked up a record of 11-5-1 along with a 2.15 goals-against average, .934 save percentage and three shutouts in the 18 games he played.
And that made it all the more disappointing when the team and general manager Kyle Dubas decided to move on from him by placing him on waivers in 2018.
"I was so bitter, so bitter," he explained while making an appearance on 'The JD Bunkis Podcast'. "I loved it there. It was the first time I found a home and felt like I'd had success that I'd been looking for a lot of my career. It seemed like it was a perfect fit...It all came together, but it was a tough pill to swallow.
It's one of those things you have to accept some things that don't really add up in your mind, it's just the way it works... In reality I don't think the expectations were that long for me or that high for me at the time, but it obviously worked out well for me in the short time I was there."
He would be claimed by the Carolina Hurricanes and would become a valuable member of their team, subbing for the injured Petr Mrazek in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs and helping them to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they would eventually bow out to the Boston Bruins.
