Dany Sabourin
Played for 13 professional teams across 4 leagues in 16 seasons, embodying the relentless transit of the modern hockey journeyman.
Born 1980 (age 46)·Canadian ice hockey player and coach·Birthday: September 2·Generation X
Biography
Dany Sabourin logged 61 NHL games, but his career unfolded over 482 appearances in the American Hockey League. The Pittsburgh Penguins selected him 108th overall in the 1998 draft. He backstopped the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to the 2001 Calder Cup Finals. Sabourin secured his sole NHL starting role with the 2007-08 Vancouver Canucks, posting a 2.83 goals-against average in 21 games. His most active NHL season came in 2008-09 with the Pittsburgh Penguins, serving as Marc-Andre Fleury's primary backup for 19 games. He recorded his first NHL shutout on February 4, 2009, stopping 24 shots against the New York Rangers. Sabourin's final professional contract was with the ECHL's Colorado Eagles in 2014. He transitioned directly into coaching, joining the Eagles' staff as a goaltending consultant. His career map includes franchises from Portland, Maine to Riga, Latvia. Sabourin's path demonstrates the sustained precision required to remain a professional athlete without star status.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Dany was born in 1980, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Dany Was Born
The biggest hits of 1980
#1 Movie
The Empire Strikes Back
Best Picture
Ordinary People
#1 TV Show
Dallas
Dany's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1980Born
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1985Started school
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1993Became a teenager
European Union officially established
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $86,600Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"I Will Always Love You" — Whitney HoustonBest Picture: Schindler's List
1996Could drive
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
1998Could vote
Google founded; Clinton impeachment
Gas: $1.06/galHome: $107,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Too Close" — NextBest Picture: Shakespeare in Love
2001Turned 21
September 11 attacks transform the world
Gas: $1.46/galHome: $126,400Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Hanging by a Moment" — LifehouseBest Picture: A Beautiful Mind
2010Turned 30
Deepwater Horizon oil spill; iPad launched
Gas: $2.79/galHome: $147,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Tik Tok" — KeshaBest Picture: The King's Speech
2020Turned 40
COVID-19 pandemic shuts down the world
Gas: $2.17/galHome: $248,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Blinding Lights" — The WeekndBest Picture: Nomadland
2026Age 46 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Named to the QMJHL Second All-Star Team in 1999 after a season with the Sherbrooke Castors.
- Won the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award in 2001 for the AHL's lowest team goals-against average (2.08).
- Recorded a .921 save percentage over 9 playoff games for the AHL's Providence Bruins in 2010.
Did You Know?
He wore number 35 for the majority of his career as a tribute to his childhood idol, Mike Richter.
Sabourin is a certified electrician, having completed his apprenticeship during off-seasons in Quebec.
He played one season (2012-13) for HK Dinamo Riga in the KHL, appearing in 27 games.
“My job was to be ready when the phone rang, nothing more.”
