His National Hockey League career was injury shortened and, for the most part, mediocre. Yet, Mike Palmateer established himself as a cult hero and ranks up with Johnny Bower, Turk Broda and Curtis Joseph as one of the most popular all-time goaltenders in the eyes of Toronto Maple Leafs fans.
Mike Palmateer – Junior and Minor Pro
Palmateer played two years of junior hockey in the OHA with the Toronto Marlboros, 1972-73 and 1973-74. In his first year, the George Armstrong coached Marlboros finished first overall in the ten team league and went on to become Robertson Cup champions in the playoffs. At the Memorial Cup tournament, Toronto came up against the Quebec Remparts in the final game and trounced their QMJHL counterparts, 9-1. Mike was a First Team All-Star goalie that year. His teammates on the Marlboros included Bruce Boudreau and Mark Howe.
Toronto was the victim of the junior hockey cycle in 1973-74 and were nowhere near their championship form from the year before. Palmateer was just a fifth round pick by the Maple Leafs after the season was over, at the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft. It took two years of minor pro hockey before he would get his chance with the NHL club.
In 1974-75, Palmateer split his season between the Saginaw Gears of the IHL and the Oklahoma City Blazers of the CHL. The following year, his time was exclusively spent with the Blazers. Teammates on that team included Blaine Stoughton and Doug Favell.
Mike Palmateer – NHL
As mentioned, Mike was a fifth round pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft, going 85th overall. He was also a second round pick by the Cincinnati Stingers at the 1974 WHA Secret Amateur Draft, 24th overall.
In 1976-77, Palmateer jumped into the starting role with the Maple Leafs, playing 50 games as a rookie goaltender. That year, Mike posted four shutouts and a 3.21 goals against average.
However, 1977-78 was the pinnacle of his short National Hockey League career. Mike played 63 games for Toronto, recording five shutouts and a 2.74 GAA. The team was coached by the legendary Roger Neilson with the equally legendary Johnny Bower as his assistant. Toronto reached the Stanley Cup semi-finals but were swept away in four games by the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal was in the midst of their great late 1970’s dynasty. Gord McRae saw minimal action as backup goalie during the regular season while Palmateer played each one of Toronto’s playoff games.
After a contract dispute with Toronto, Mike was traded to the Washington Capitals in June, 1980 for Tim Coulis and Robert Picard. In his first year with the Capitals, 1980-81, he recorded eight assists on the season. That mark stood as a NHL record for just a few short years. Grant Fuhr shattered the record with 14 assists with the Edmonton Oilers in 1983-84, a mark that stands untouched today.
When injuries started to hamper Palmateer during the 1981-82 season, Washington decided to sell him back to Toronto. He played two more years in the NHL, both the with the Maple Leafs but the team, and Mike’s goaltending were dismal. In 1982-83, he played in 53 games, recording a 3.99 GAA and .872 save percentage. In his final year, Palmateer played 34 games with a simply dreadful 4.88 GAA and .849 save percentage.
Mike Palmateer – Rookie Card
The sports collector card world is a funny one, at times. When valuing cards, it comes down to a supply and demand issue. Sometimes, great players are undervalued because they just weren’t a big personality. Sometimes, less than great players or players with careers shortened by injuries, can still be valued quite high because they became idols and touched the hearts of their fans.
The Mike Palmateer rookie card is valued at 16 times that of a common card and is the highest valued rookie card in its set. The card appears as number 211 in the 1977-78 set and is equal in value to the rookie card of Mike Milbury of the Boston Bruins.
Maybe I’m a little critical of Palmateer’s fame. He does bring back fond memories. I was playing peewee at the height of his career and I remember our goalie playing ‘Palmateer style’. It was exciting and I think it would make the game a whole lot less boring today if goalies skated out to challenge shooters near the blue line.