Going My Own "Vay" with a Wild Jersey that "Khudobin" A "Kuemper" As Well!

[IrbeFan4Life]

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Though I primarily collect only goalies who have played in the NHL (regular season or playoffs), the only exception I will ever make is for Hungarian goalies who have made it to North America. Being of Hungarian descent myself, I still wait for the day that a native Hungarian-born player makes the NHL (Frank Banham does not count).

Anyways, onto the show. Born in Budapest, Hungary on March 22, 1994, Adam Vay is a tall six-foot-five goaltender who gained international attention while playing for the Hungarian national team in the 2015-16 IIHF World Championships. In 147 minutes of ice time in that tournament, Vay faced 100 shots from Team Canada, Team Finland, and Team USA, stopping 91% of them. This strong series of performances despite being on a vastly less experienced team (at least compared to the three he faced) caught the attention of the Minnesota Wild. The team signed Vay after the conclusion of the tournament. After being in their training camp, he was eventually re-assigned to the Quad City Mallards of the ECHL. There, he appeared in 39 games, recording a 20-17 record with 3 shutouts, a 3.03GAA, and a 0.900% save average. On top of that, he recorded 23 penalty minutes, some of which was the result of a fantastic one hit knockout goalie fight he was involved in. He was also called up to the Iowa Wild, though did not get to play. In 2017-18, Vay also took part in the Wild training camp and performed better than the previous season. He appeared in several pre-season games for the Wild in the pre-season before being assigned to the Iowa Wild of the AHL and the Quad City Mallards of the ECHL. That season, he split time between the two minor league squads! He then played for Hungary in the 2018 IIHF Division 1 Tournament where he won the tournament's Best Goalie Award. In the off-season, Minnesota opted not to re-sign Vay, so he returned to Europe and joined the Miskolci DVTK Polar Bears of the Slovak Extraleague. In 2018-19, he recorded an unreal 1.84GAA and a 0.948% save average in 32 games.

What you are looking at right now is a jersey used by Adam Vay in the 2017 Traverse City rookie tournament. Beyond that, it is very clear that the jersey has been recycled over several tournaments showing the outline of at least one other nameplate. Additionally, the old RBK logo on the rear had been covered up with the newer Reebok logo. So, other than Vay, there is a good chance that the jersey was also used by other former #70 Traverse City Tournament goalies Anton Khudobin (2008 tournament), and Darcy Kuemper (2010 tournament).

Acquired From: Jay Fourr from Minnesota Wild Team Sale

Dates of Game Use: 2017 Traverse City Rookie Tournament and possibly 2010, 2008 as well.

Photomatched: Referenced

[creasecollector]

Great looking sweater!