The Abbotsford Canucks have officially filled their vacant Goaltending Coaching position by hiring former Toronto Maple Leafs draftee Justin Pogge.
At 38, Pogge joins Abbotsford after serving as a Goaltending Consultant with the Columbus Blue Jackets during the 2023-24 season. Additionally, he served as the Goaltending Coach for Team Canada at the World Championships and the Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
“First of all, I’d like to congratulate Marko Torenius on his well-deserved promotion to Vancouver,” said Abbotsford Canucks General Manager Patrick Johnson in the team’s press release. “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. I’m looking forward to seeing him help develop our goaltenders in Abbotsford.”
Pogge, who played his final professional season in 2022-23 with Grizzlys Wolfsburg in Germany’s DEL league, brings extensive playing experience to his new role. After concluding his North American career, which included 254 regular-season AHL games and 13 Calder Cup Playoff games split between the Toronto Marlies, San Antonio Rampage, Albany River Cats, Charlotte Checkers and the Portland Pirates, Pogge enjoyed stints in the SHL, Allsvenskan, KHL, DEL and Italian leagues.
Drafted in the third round (90th overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, Pogge’s NHL career was short-lived and held to just seven games with Toronto, Anaheim, and Phoenix. His game is best known for his standout performance at the 2006 World Junior Championships, where he posted a perfect 6-0-0 record, backstopping Canada to a gold medal with a 1.00 GAA, a .952 save percentage, and three shutouts.
Pogge’s hiring follows the promotion of Abbotsford’s previous Goaltending Coach, Marko Torenius, to Vancouver after Ian Clark took on a new role as Goaltending Scout and Development Coach for the Canucks.
