Alex Auld

Did You Know?

• Auld made his senior competitive debut for Team Canada at the 2004 Spengler Cup, finishing in third place.
• He played for Canada at the 2006 World Championships, losing the bronze medal game to place fourth.
• Auld was born in Cold Lake, Alberta, while his father was stationed at CFB Cold Lake, but grew up mostly in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Playing career

Auld played minor hockey in Thunder Bay, Ontario, with the Thunder Bay Kings program, where future NHLers Taylor Pyatt, Patrick Sharp, Jason Jaspers, and Aaron MacKenzie were teammates. He began his junior career with the North Bay Centennials of the Ontario Hockey League late in the 1997–98 season, appearing in six games without a win. After 38 games the next season, the Florida Panthers selected Auld in the second round, 40th overall, of the 1999 NHL entry draft.

He remained with the Centennials as starting goaltender for two more seasons, then was traded to the Vancouver Canucks for a third-round pick in the 2002 draft and a compensatory pick in the 2001 draft. Auld turned professional in 2001–02 with the Canucks' American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, but an ankle sprain during training camp delayed his start. He was assigned to the Columbia Inferno of the East Coast Hockey League, where solid play in six games returned him to the AHL.

After injuries to Canucks goaltenders Dan Cloutier and Peter Skudra, Auld earned his first NHL start on January 23, 2002, a 4–2 victory over the Dallas Stars, then returned to the AHL. In 2002–03 he split AHL time with Tyler Moss and appeared in seven NHL games as an injury replacement, playing one Stanley Cup playoff game in relief. His first career shutout came in his fourth NHL start, against the Washington Capitals on March 23, 2003.