The American Hockey League today announced its 2025 Hall of Fame inductees.
The selection committee chose four people, one of which was former Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Michael Leighton.
Leighton, 43, was drafted in 1999 and ended up spending parts of four seasons within the Hurricanes organization from 2007-2010 and then again in 2016-17.
The Ontario native played just 110 games in the NHL, 33 of those with Carolina, and posted a career record of 37-43-14-4, with a 0.900 save percentage.
With the Canes, Leighton was 10-14-2 with a 0.887 save percentage.
Leighton also found himself as the Philadelphia Flyers’ starting goaltender as part of their 2010 Stanley Cup Final run when starting goaltender Brian Boucher went down with injury.
He appeared in 14 games that postseason (posting a 0.916 save percentage and three shutouts) and helped the Flyers complete the reverse sweep of the Boston Bruins and knock off the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Final before ultimately falling to the Chicago Blackhawks.
While his NHL career never took off beyond that, Leighton was a very successful netminder in the AHL.
In 15 seasons, Leighton played 507 games for 11 organizations (the seventh most games in league history for a goaltender) posting a 250-186-55 record with a 0.916 save percentage.
Leighton’s 250 wins are also the fifth most in AHL history.
He was a five-time AHL All-Star game selection and won the Baz Bastien Memorial Award in 2007-08 as the AHL’s best goaltender.
The netminder also holds the AHL record for most saves in a game, making 98 stops on 101 shots in a five-overtime contest in 2008.
After retiring in 2019, Leighton now serves as the goaltending coach for the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL, where he himself played in juniors.
Other 2025 inductees include Rene Drolet, Dunc Fisher and Michel Picard.
