ARTURS IRBE NEW GOALTENDING COACH FOR WASHINGTON CAPITALS

The Washington Capitals have hired Arturs Irbe as goaltending coach, according to vice president and general manager George McPhee today.

Irbe replaces Dave Prior, a 12-year veteran with the team, who resigned to spend more time with his family. This will be Irbe's first stint as an NHL assistant.

The 42-year-old Irbe, a native of Riga, Latvia, was goaltending coach for his hometown Dinamo Riga last season in the Kontinental Hockey League. He also has experience with the Latvian national team which he represented in the 2002 and 2006 Olympics.

In fact, Irbe has a connection to the Capitals in that he is a former teammate of assistant coach Dean Evason when both were players with the San Jose Sharks from 1991-93.

Irbe is a 13-year NHL veteran, having played for San Jose, Dallas, Vancouver and Carolina. He played in 568 games and compiled a career record of 218-236-79 while appearing in NHL All-Star Games in 1994 and 1999.

His final NHL season came in 2003-04, and he wound up his career with a 2.83 goals-against average and an .899 save percentage.

After leaving the NHL, Irbe played professionally in Europe and retired completely after appearing in six games with Slovakia's HK Nitra in 2006-07.

Irbe, who is fluent in English, Latvian, Russian and also speaks some German, was selected in the 10th round, 196 overall, in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota North Stars. He completed five years with the San Jose organization and made his NHL debut in the 1991-92 season when he appeared in 13 games.

Irbe playedd in 74 games for the Sharks during 1993-94 and set an NHL record, since broken, by playing 4,412 minutes in the regular season. He spent the 1996-97 season with Dallas and the 1997-98 season with Vancouver before joining Carolina for the final six years of his career.

Irbe also played more than 50 games in each of his firsst four seasons with the Hurricanes. He posted career-best marks in GAA (2.22) and in save percentage (.923) during the 1998-99 season, his first with Carolina. He played a career high 77 games during the 2000-01 season, and a year later he helped lead Carolina to the Stanley Cup final. Sphere: Related Content