Boom to Bust: A "Finley" Veiled Threat to NHL Shooters

[IrbeFan4Life]

HereI am, back again, with the latest addition to the museum. As usual, if you arecool, like hockey, and the history of goaltenders both of the greats and thelesser known talents, don't forget to give Bruce C. Goaltending Museum a likeon the 'ole book of faces (not feces)!

Bornon July 3, 1981 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, Brian Finley was anextremely highly touted prospect from the Barrie Colts of the OHL. A two timeOHL all-star, and one time Canadian Hockey League all-star, Brian Finley wasalso a two time Canadian national athlete backing up for Canada at the WorldJunior Championships in 1999 and 2000. With all of this, Finley was drafted 6thoverall in 1999 by Nashville. He was the first goaltender drafted that year. Sowith all of those accolades in juniors and his high draft position, thepressure was on. After closing out his OHL career in 2000-01, he was ready tomake the transition to the pros, however, he missed the whole 2001-02 seasonwith injury. A rocky start. He made his return in 2002-03 and spent the majorityof the season with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL and also some of theseason with Toledo in the ECHL. He put up very average numbers. Then, ithappened. On January 1, 2003, after Tomas Vokoun let in four goals in only 13minutes, Brian Finley was given the rest of the game to prove himself. Facingdown the Colorado Avalanche, Finley stopped 10 of the 13 shots he faced in theremainder of the game in the team's 7-3 defeat. The next season, he was thestarter for the Admirals and while relegated to the backup role when theplayoffs rolled around, he did help lead them to the Calder Cup Championship.During the lock-out year he continued his rise in the AHL with career bests inmost major goaltending categories. In 2005-06, he was given another shot withthe Predators. He stopped 34 of 41 shots in yet another 7-3 defeat. For2006-07, the Boston Bruins signed Finley as a free agent. He appeared in 10games with Providence, but he did get into two additional NHL games, recordingan 0-1-0 record in that time. Another major injury, similar to the one thatkilled his 2001-02 season eventually forced Finley into retirement at theconclusion of the season. Fun fact, last I heard, Brian Finley is currently apolice officer in Toronto.

Inhis short NHL career, Finley appeared in four games and recorded an 0-2-0record with a 4.70GAA, and a 0.851% save average. He appeared in no playoffgames.

Thesweater you are looking at right now is a 2003-04 Nashville Predators sweaterworn by Brian Finley in the pre-season. Compared to this, there is a fair bitof wear comprised of black puck/stick marks, post transfer, and even a blooddroplet on the front. A great piece of a highly touted goaltender who justdidn't quite make it long term in the NHL.

Acquiredfrom: Meigray Group

Datesof Game Use: Pre-season only

Photomatched:No

[jameslacarte]

Another nice addition!! Congrats,

[creasecollector]

Always loved those Preds jerseys for some reason. Very nice colours. Congrats on the new addition! :)

[dafoefan34]

Nice pick-up!

I remember buying a box of 98-99 SP Authentic hoping to pull a Brian Finley SOTT. He was supposed to be 'THE' goalie from his draft year. It's unfortunate that injuries derailed his career before it even started.