Canucks Sign Goaltender Matt Climie

Matt Climie makes a toe-save against the St. Louis Blues in the Spring of 2009. He will backup Eddie Lack in Chicago this upcoming season.

It’s the so called "dog-days" of summer, and Canucks news has been dribbling out at a glacial pace this week.

Luckily for those of us desperate for some hockey news – great or small – Mike Gillis made a move this morning, inking goaltender Matt Climie to a contract. Details were not released as of this writing, but here’s the media release from Canucks.com.

Matt Climie is a big (6,3) 28 year old Alberta kid who has bounced around in the Dallas Stars and Phoenix Coyotes organizations since 2007. In the last four seasons he’s appeared in 42 ECHL games, 104 AHL games, and 5 NHL games. With the exception of one NHL start where he got shellacked for 5 goals on 38 shots (in game where the Stars were thoroughly dominated by the 2009-10 Blackhawks) – he’s acquitted himself reasonably well at every level. In his lone NHL appearance last season, against the streaking Pittsburgh Penguins, he stopped 15 shots in 32 minutes in a relief effort, allowing a single goal against.

Assuming that Cory Schneider remains with the Canucks to begin next season (a safe assumption, I think), you can pencil in Climie to replace Tyler Weiman in a backup-role with the Chicago Wolves.