Canucks officially hire former Maple Leafs goalie

Former Toronto Maple Leafs 3rd round draft pick Justin Pogge never quite cut it in the National Hockey League, but he's making his way back into the game by being hired as the new goaltending coach of the American Hockey League affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks. 

Pogge was hired by the Abbotsford Canucks earlier today, with the official announcement coming on X (formerly known as Twitter).

General manager Ryan Johnson released the following statement: 

“First of all, I’d like to congratulate Marko Torenius on his well-deserved promotion to Vancouver,” said Johnson. “We thank him for his work and dedication to our team in Abbotsford over the past two seasons. With that being said, I am very excited to have Justin Pogge join our team as Goaltending Coach. He brings a plethora of experience as a player at the NHL, AHL, international and European professional levels and I’m looking forward to seeing him help develop our goaltenders in Abbotsford.”

After helping lead Team Canada to gold in the 2006 World Junior Hockey Championships, Pogge only appeared in a total of seven NHL games with the Leafs and didn't post the best numbers, going 1-4 with a 4.36 goals against average.

He would later spend time in the organizations of the Phoenix Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes before taking his career overseas to Europe. 

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