Absurd Goalie Monday: Peter Ing

There's a lot to be said about a goalie who thinks a lot. When your teammates in junior hockey nickname you "Confucius," it could be a harmless rib or an enlightening look at things to come. What it did bring for this week's inductee was being an enigma wrapped in a riddle with his style of play. Many couldn't tell if he was abnormally strange or ahead of his time. His short career tenure will tell the tale itself. This week, we present the career of Peter Ing.

After putting up decent numbers in midget hockey with the Markham Waxers and Toronto Marlboros, the OHL came calling when he started his journey to the NHL with the Windsor Spitfires. In the 1986-87 season, Ing played behind former AGM Pat Jablonski and got his bearings about him with a 13-11-3 record as a back-up, before taking over the reigns in 1987-88. As the starter, Ing's play helped the Spitfires through the OHL season with a 30-7-1 record and helping the Spitfires go through the OHL playoffs with ease, sweeping their three match-ups and got them within one win of the Memorial Cup, but lost to Medicine Hat in the finals. His play was well enough off to get him selected 48th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1988 Entry Draft.

The 1988-89 season saw the start of a crazed career, starting off with Windsor before being traded to the London Knights. Ing went 25-18-5 for the season with both teams, but many scouts saw him as an aloof goalie who seemed to not be paying attention to the game. That brought the nickname "Confucius" by his teammate for the deep thought aspect.

Ing started out the 1989-90 season with the London Knights for a handful of games (6-2-0), getting his game back, before moving onto trying to get a spot with the Canadian National Squad. Ing played ten games with the National Team, going 2-2-4, but was beat out by Ed Belfour and Warren Skorodenski for a position on the team. That lead Ing to turn pro, heading to the Maple Leafs and played three games (0-2-1) before being sent to the AHL's Newmarket Saints for the remainder of the season. With the Saints, Ing played 48 games and went a subpar 16-19-12 for his games played. The 1990-91 season saw Ing rise to the top of the Maple Leaf's depth chart in a hurry, as he would usurp Allan Bester's position and beat out Jeff Reese for the role. It didn't mean much, as Ing went 16-29-8 for the season, which could be considered a rebuilding year...at best.

Just before the 1991-92 season started, Ing was traded with Vincent Damphousse, Scott Thornton, and Luke Richardson to Edmonton for Grant Fuhr, Glenn Anderson, and Craig Berube. Ing's contract was up, too-- so along with being traded, Ing had to deal with getting a new deal with a new GM. He and Glen Sather, Edmonton's GM at the time, didn't see eye-to-eye, which caused a long impasse. Once it was resolved, Ing only played 12 games that season in Edmonton (3-4-0) and played 24 in the AHL with the Cape Breton Oilers (9-10-4). The 1992-93 season saw Ing buried deeper in the minors with the IHL's San Diego Gulls (11-4-1) and Colonial Hockey League's Detroit Falcons (2-1-0), as the Oilers were looking to deal Ing.

An offer the Oilers liked came about as Ing was sent to the Detroit Red Wings for a draft pick and future considerations. The tenure in Detroit wouldn't last long for Ing, as he played only three games for the Wings in the 1993-94 season (1-2-0), while playing only seven games for the AHL's Adirondack Red Wings (3-3-1). The bulk of the '93-'94 season was spent with the IHL's Las Vegas Thunder, were Ing went 16-7-4.

After that season, Ing continued his plight in the IHL in the 1994-95 season playing for the Fort Wayne Komets along with Mike O'Neill and Peter Sidorkiewicz. Ing got the bulk of the playing time, going 15-18-2. Ing returned to the Komets for the 1995-96 season and went 12-16-0 before moving to the Cincinnati Cyclones for only one game, a loss. After that season, Ing called it a career.

After retiring, Ing went into the Casino game for a bit, working for assorted casinos in Las Vegas and then being named Director of Slots Marketing for Casino Niagara in Niagara Falls. Currently, Ing is the CEO of Fan-Tastic Sports, a source for hockey training systems and interactive hockey events. It seems his deep thought got him a decent career after his career.

Even though he was a big guy with reflexes, it seems that Ing was ahead of his time in terms of the style of play he had-- especially with the likes of Olaf Kolzig that came right as his career ended. Though his deep thinking could have caused him some trouble, the happenstances that came off the ice did him as much damage as the aloofness on the ice. At least now, he can help get people to the right places in terms of training to get them to the next level.