Since 1998-99, he has been the goaltending coach for the
Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. Jim Corsi got his start in
professional hockey with the Maine
Nordiques of the NAHL in the league’s final season, 1976-77.
Jim Corsi – NAHL
In his first year pro, Corsi played in net for 54 of the
Nordiques 74 regular season games. He posted a 3.57 goals against average and
had one shutout. Backing him up and playing in 28 games was Mario Viens. Viens
played pro for just the 1975-76 and 1976-77 season after four years in the
QMJHL with the Cornwall
Royals. In 1975-76, he split his season between the Toronto Toros in the
WHA and the Buffalo Norsemen in the NAHL.
Corsi played in all 12 playoff games for Maine in 1976-77. After
finishing second overall in the eight team league, the Nordiques then swept the
Johnstown Jets in the opening round and downed the Binghamton Dusters in the
semi-finals. In the Lockhart Cup finals, Maine came up against the Syracuse
Blazers in the finals and were swept out of NAHL history.
Jim Corsi – Pro Hockey
Out of Concordia University in the CIAU, Corsi played
professional hockey from 1976-77 to 1979-80 in North America and from 1980-81
to 1991-92 in Italy. In North America, Jim played in the NAHL, WHA, AHL, NHL
and CHL. Over two years in the World Hockey Association, 1977-78 and 1978-79,
he played in 63 games for the Quebec Nordiques. In the second year, he split
duties with another former NAHL goalie, Richard
Brodeur. Behind the bench of that Nordiques team was Jacques Demers.
In 1979-80, Corsi played 26 games with the Edmonton Oilers
in their first year in the National Hockey League after the WHA merged. It
ended up being Jim’s only NHL action and he shared duties with five other
goalies that year. Eddie Mio
played the most games with 34. Other notable goaltenders playing for Edmonton
that year included Ron Low and Dave Dryden.
During his days in Italy, Jim played for club teams while
also appearing with the country’s national team. Corsi appeared at eight IIHF
World Championship tournaments for Italy. He was on the roster for the Italian
squad at the 1984 Winter Olympic games.
Jim Corsi – Coach
Corsi has been goaltending coach with the Buffalo Sabres
since 1998-99. Since, the team has not had a problem keeping pucks out of the
net, rather putting them in. His star pupils have been Ryan Miller and Marty
Biron.
