View source for Robbie Irons

{{Short description|Canadian ice hockey player}}
{{Infobox ice hockey player
| position = [[Goaltender]]
| catches = Left
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 8
| weight_lb = 150
| played_for = [[St. Louis Blues]]
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1946|11|19|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada
| career_start = 1967
| career_end = 1981
}}
'''Robert Richard Irons''' (born November 19, 1946) is a Canadian former [[ice hockey]] [[goaltender]]. He played one game in the [[National Hockey League]] with the [[St. Louis Blues]] during the [[1968–69 NHL season|1968–69 season]]. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1967 to 1981, was mainly spent in the [[International Hockey League (1945–2001)|International Hockey League]].

==Playing career==
He was born in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]]. He played for two minutes and 59 seconds of one game in the NHL with the [[St. Louis Blues]] during the [[1968–69 NHL season|1968–69 season]]. This occurred only because the Blues' starting goaltender, [[Glenn Hall]], was ejected from a game before his replacement, [[Jacques Plante]], was prepared to enter. Irons tended the net until Plante was able to take over.<ref name="Robbie Irons @ hockeygoalies.org">[http://www.hockeygoalies.org/bio/irons.html Robbie Irons @ hockeygoalies.org]</ref>

Irons shared with [[Christian Soucy]] the NHL record for the fewest career minutes by a goaltender.<ref>{{cite book|last=Weekes|first=Don|title=The Unofficial Guide to Hockey's Most Unusual Records|year=2003|publisher=Greystone Publishing|location=Canada|isbn=9781550549423|pages=[https://archive.org/details/unofficialguidet0000week/page/240 240]|url=https://archive.org/details/unofficialguidet0000week/page/240}}</ref> He was surpassed on December 31, 2016 when [[Jorge Alves (ice hockey)|Jorge Alves]] played 7.6 seconds in his only NHL game.

Irons played 11 seasons in the IHL with the [[Fort Wayne Komets]], earning six selections to the All-Star team. His jersey number 30 is retired by the team.<ref name="Robbie Irons @ hockeygoalies.org"/>

==Broadcasting career==
After he retired as an active player, Irons went on to a long-time career as an analyst with the Komets' legendary play-by-play announcer, [[Bob Chase]].  Chase and Irons were a team that stayed together for 33 years before Chase's death in 2016.<ref name=Deitsch>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.si.com/nhl/2015/06/08/hockey-broadcaster-bob-chase-mike-doc-emrick-inspiration-still-broadcasting-games-for-fort-wayne-komets|title=Bob Chase, Doc Emrick's inspiration, still calling games at 89 and loving it|last=Deitsch, Richard|author-link=Richard Deitsch|date=8 June 2015|magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]]}}</ref>

==Career statistics==
===Regular season and playoffs===
{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="width:90%; text-align:center;"
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" |  
! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |  
! colspan="9" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" | [[Regular season]]
! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |  
! colspan="8" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" | [[Playoffs]]
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! [[Season (sports)|Season]]
! Team
! League
! GP !! W !! L !! T !! MIN !! GA !! [[Shutout#Ice hockey|SO]] !! [[Goals against average|GAA]] !! [[save percentage|SV%]]
! GP !! W !! L !! MIN !! GA !! SO !! GAA !! SV%
|-
| 1964–65
| [[Etobicoke Indians]]
| [[Metro Junior A Hockey League|MetJBHL]]
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1965–66
| Etobicoke Indians
| MetJBHL
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —
|-
| [[1966–67 OHA season|1966–67]]
| [[Kitchener Rangers]]
| [[Ontario Hockey Association|OHA]]
| 33 || — || — || — || 1940 || 95 || 3 || 2.94 || —
| 13 || — || — || 780 || 49 || 0 || 3.77 || —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1967–68 IHL season|1967–68]]
| [[Fort Wayne Komets]]
| [[International Hockey League (1945–2001)|IHL]]
| 43 || — || — || — || 2398 || 134 || 1 || 3.35 || —
| 5 || 1 || 3 || 262 || 19 || 0 || 4.35 || —
|-
| [[1968–69 NHL season|1968–69]]
| [[St. Louis Blues]]
| [[National Hockey League|NHL]]
| 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 0.00 || 1.000
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1968–69 CHL season|1968–69]]
| [[Kansas City Blues (ice hockey)|Kansas City Blues]]
| [[Central Professional Hockey League|CHL]]
| 24 || — || — || — || 1309 || 83 || 0 || 3.80 || —
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —
|-
| [[1969–70 CHL season|1969–70]]
| Kansas City Blues
| CHL
| 30 || 10 || 16 || 4 || 1800 || 104 || 2 || 3.47 || —
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1970–71 CHL season|1970–71]]
| Kansas City Blues
| CHL
| 6 || — || — || — || 360 || 23 || 0 || 3.83 || —
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —
|-
| [[1970–71 IHL season|1970–71]]
| Fort Wayne Komets
| IHL
| 31 || — || — || — || 1811 || 80 || 1 || 2.25 || —
| 4 || 0 || 4 || 240 || 22 || 0 || 5.50 || —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1971–72 IHL season|1971–72]]
| Fort Wayne Komets
| IHL
| 21 || — || — || — || 1251 || 83 || 1 || 4.00 || —
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —
|-
| [[1972–73 IHL season|1972–73]]
| Fort Wayne Komets
| IHL
| 46 || — || — || — || 2737 || 132 || 2 || 2.89 || —
| 1 || 1 || 0 || 60 || 0 || 1 || 0.00 || —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1973–74 IHL season|1973–74]]
| Fort Wayne Komets
| IHL
| 47 || — || — || — || 2701 || 148 || 2 || 3.29 || —
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —
|-
| [[1974–75 IHL season|1974–75]]
| Fort Wayne Komets
| IHL
| 46 || — || — || — || 2713 || 146 || 2 || 3.27 || —
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1975–76 IHL season|1975–76]]
| Fort Wayne Komets
| IHL
| 63 || — || — || — || 3321 || 199 || 1 || 3.60 || —
| 9 || 5 || 4 || 530 || 39 || 0 || 5.44 || —
|-
| [[1976–77 IHL season|1976–77]]
| Fort Wayne Komets
| IHL
| 41 || — || — || — || 2248 || 141 || 1 || 3.70 || —
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1977–78 IHL season|1977–78]]
| Fort Wayne Komets
| IHL
| 39 || — || — || — || 2152 || 129 || 0 || 3.60 || —
| 7 || — || — || 319 || 20 || 0 || 3.76 || —
|-
| [[1978–79 IHL season|1978–79]]
| Fort Wayne Komets
| IHL
| 54 || — || — || — || 2490 || 193 || 1 || 3.90 || —
| 13 || 7 || 6 || 780 || 56 || 0 || 4.29 || —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1979–80 IHL season|1979–80]]
| Fort Wayne Komets
| IHL
| 41 || — || — || — || 2188 || 147 || 1 || 4.03 || —
| 14 || — || — || 806 || 44 || 1 || 3.28 || —
|-
| [[1980–81 IHL season|1980–81]]
| Fort Wayne Komets
| IHL
| 51 || — || — || — || 2719 || 168 || 0 || 3.71 || —
| 11 || — || — || 633 || 47 || 0 || 4.45 || —
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan=3 | NHL totals
! 1 !! 0 !! 0 !! 0 !! 3 !! 0 !! 0 !! 0.00 !! 1.000
! — !! — !! — !! — !! — !! — !! — !! —
|}

==See also==
* [[List of players who played only one game in the NHL]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Ice hockey stats}}
* [http://www.hockeygoalies.org/bio/irons.html Robbie Irons @ hockeygoalies.org]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irons, Robbie}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Canadian ice hockey goaltenders]]
[[Category:Fort Wayne Komets players]]
[[Category:Ice hockey people from Toronto]]
[[Category:Kansas City Blues (ice hockey) players]]
[[Category:Kitchener Rangers players]]
[[Category:St. Louis Blues players]]
[[Category:Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States]]


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