Caught Left Playing career Role Ice hockey player Weight 83 kg Career end 2007 | NHL Draft Undrafted Name Peteris Skudra Height 1.85 m Career start 1994 Positions Goaltender | |
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Born April 24, 1973 (age 50)
Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union ( 1973-04-24 ) Played for Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins | ||
KHL Faces. Peteris Skudra (English)
Pēteris "Peter" Skudra (born April 24, 1973) is a retired Latvian professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently the head coach of Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for six seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, the Boston Bruins, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Vancouver Canucks.
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Career
Originally signed as a free agent by Pittsburgh in 1997, Skudra went on to play 74 games with the Penguins over three years. After the 1999–2000 season, he was signed by the Boston Bruins. After playing for the Bruins in 2000–01 season, he was signed by the Vancouver Canucks as a backup to Dan Cloutier. Towards the end of the 2002–03 season, Skudra fell out of favor with coach Marc Crawford who instead decided to have Alex Auld backup Dan Cloutier for that season's playoffs.
In 2003, Skudra left North America for the Russian League, where he played for Ak Bars Kazan, Khimik Moscow Oblast, CSKA Moscow, and Metallurg Novokuznetsk. On October 22, 2007, Skudra announced his retirement after 13 professional seasons.
In April 2013 Skudra was announced as the new head coach of Torpedo Nizhniy Novgorod.
Trivia
Skudra also played one season in the Roller Hockey International league for the Oklahoma Coyotes.
Pēteris Skudra lists the fellow Latvian goalie Artūrs Irbe as his hero.
Skudra was mentioned on Saturday Night Live in an episode that was filmed on March 19, 1999. During a skit that parodied ESPN's SportsCenter, Chet Harper (played by guest host Ray Romano) says "Okay! Penguins need a win against the Bruins to get to the 500 mark. Yes, they do! But Penguin goalie Peter Skudra says, 'Hey! Try not to shoot that puck up my pooper! Yeah!'
