December 22, 2024
lastwordonhockey.com-0715-ray-emergy-getty-3

Photo Credit: Getty Images

On this Second edition for the “Salute to honor Black History month,” The Flyers Nitty Gritty will focus on a solid goaltender, and one tough guy- The late great, Ray Emery. On June 10, 2009, the Flyers signed Ray Emery to a one-year deal worth $1.5 million- which ended in injury and his tenure with the Flyers- For now. Emery would return for a backup role behind Steve Mason in 2013, and during this tenure it included a brawl with the Washington Capitals, in which, he went after opposing Goaltender Braden Holtby, who was uninterested
in fighting. Emery signed on for another one-year deal with the Flyers for the same backup role.

Emery spent a total of three seasons with the Flyers compiling a record of 35-34-10 in 88 games played. On July 15, 2018, Emery was out swimming with friends in Hamilton, Ontario. He jumped off a boat, and his friends began to call emergency services when he did not resurface. His body was found at about 2:50pm that same day. Emery had passed away from drowning, and the police concluded their investigation as “non-Criminal.”

We Salute you Ray Emery and all you have done for the NHL, the role as enforcer from a Goaltender, to being a fan favorite everywhere you went. Raymond Robert Emery (born Raymond Robert Nichols) September 28, 1982- July 15, 2018.