I met James Reimer today. Well, sort of met.
If you’ve been watching my videos for awhile, you know that I’m a pretty shameless Reimer fan. I was a Reimer fan when he was in the Leafs’ farm system. I was a fan when he played his first game for the Leafs in relief of Jonas Gustavsson. I was a fan when he won his first start in a dominant performance against the Ottawa Senators. I was a fan when he dragged the Leafs to their unlikely (and ultimately unsuccessful) playoff push in 2011. I was a fan when the Leafs made the playoffs in 2013. I was a fan after that, after his trade to the San Jose Sharks, and I’m a fan now that he’s with the Florida Panthers, too.
Not every Leafs fan is or was a huge fan of Reimer. Many bought what was said about him in the media. Guy Boucher said he had the book on him. Many said he had a bad glove hand or that he gave up too many rebounds. My favourite one was probably that he “can’t” play through injuries, like you’re just supposed to magically bounce back from multiple traumatic blows to the head. And, let’s face it, he went through some rough stretches where the numbers, and wins, just weren’t there.
When he was good though he was Optimus Reim. Announcers seemed to have a new nickname every broadcast and for the first time in a long time the Leafs were getting consistent wins out of a goaltender. Heck, Reimer was easily the best goalie the Leafs had drafted and developed themselves since Felix Potvin, who was drafted in 1990, when Reimer was two years old.
Beyond all that excitement, Reimer was a cool guy for me to watch develop personally. During the 2008-09 season, the Toronto Marlies gave me a press pass. Why, I’ll never know. I only had a year and a half of YouTube experience and not much of a following. Those were the days you would go to a Marlies game and expect to see chosen one Justin Pogge in net.
One day I happened to go to a game where a fresh-out-of-junior goalie by the name of James Reimer was making his AHL debut. He made 22 saves and was named the first star as Toronto beat the Manitoba Moose 3-2. Jiri Tlusty scored the shootout-winner. Time flies.
I walked into the Marlies dressing room after the game with the other reporters, which I couldn’t call myself then (I can barely call myself a reporter today), armed with my MP3 recorder. Back then recording with your phone was considered unprofessional – now everyone does it.
That’s when I first met James Reimer. I still remember what I asked him and it sucked. A lot. I asked if he had anything to say to the guys in Reading, where he had just been called up from the Royals of the ECHL. This is my video about that game, if you can stomach it.
Buhhh that’s so terrible. If you made it all the way through that, you’re stronger than I.
As Reimer climbed the Leafs goaltending ranks, I was able to say “Y’know, I saw that guy’s first AHL win.” That’s a pretty big feather in your hat for a YouTuber who has no idea what he’s doing.
After the 2010-11 season, a magazine hired me to write an article for them. This was the first time I had ever been paid to write anything!
The magazine coordinated phone interviews with two of the brightest young hopefuls the Leafs had: Reimer and Keith Aulie. Again – time flies.
I promised Reimer the interview would be 10 minutes. About 45 minutes later, I finally ran out of questions for him to answer. After all that time, he told me he recognized my voice part way through and that he and his wife April sometimes even watched my videos.
This was the first time an active Leaf had told me he watched my Leafs videos on YouTube. After three whole seasons of making videos, that was pretty awesome for me.
The legend of Reimer continued to grow over the seasons. You know the highs, you know the lows, and you know where he is now – backing up Roberto Luongo in Florida.
Ignoring my own personal reasons for admiring Reimer, he’s probably the most fascinating goalie the Leafs have had in recent memory. He made the team as a longshot, became the starter, got injured a few times, made the playoffs, lost his job, and got it back just in time to get traded.
The Leafs have clearly turned the reigns over as part of a new era. For myself and many other Leafs fans, Reimer represented one of the lone bright spots of what has otherwise been a pretty dark decade.
That’s all I really have to say. I’m not sure there’s a “So what?” to it. It’s fanboying, for sure. It’s certainly not professional.
As a Leafs fan, I’m excited for the future of the team.
But I’ll always have a soft spot for Optimus Reim.
