James Reimer becomes oldest goalie to record AHL shutout in nearly 20 years

A veteran netminder is making a little bit of history in the minors.

On Friday night, the Hartford Wolf Pack, the American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Rangers, picked up a 2-0 win over the Boston Bruins’ top farm team, the Providence Bruins. In net for the Wolf Pack was James Reimer, who became the oldest goaltender to pitch a shutout in league history in almost two decades.

At 38 years and 222 days old, Reimer became the eldest backstop to post a donut on the scoreboard since Wade Flaherty (40 years, 62 days old) posted a shutout while a member of the Rockford IceHogs on March 13, 2008. It was Reimer’s first AHL victory since Jan. 22, 2011, while he was with the Toronto Marlies, which just happened to be a shutout as well. Reimer now has five shutouts in his AHL career.

It was Reimer’s first game of the season, as he had recently signed with the Wolf Pack on a professional tryout. The Winnipeg native came to the Rangers organization after the Blueshirts were hit with the injury bug in a big way, with Igor Shesterkin going down for the rest of the 2026-27 season and Joonas Korpisalo still being out of action.

Reimer is trying to make another midseason comeback for the second year in a row. In 2025-26, he signed with the Ottawa Senators in January due to extended absences from Linus Ullmark and lackluster play from then-backup Leevi Merilainen. That came after he played one game for the Sens’ primary affiliate, the Belleville Senators, on a PTO.

It’s not yet clear whether the Rangers will need to sign the 38-year-old, as Dylan Garand and Spencer Martin are holding down the fort in Manhattan.