Around the World of Goaltending, March 30-April 5, 2017 Edition
Despite the multiple laptop issues (it is ~7 years old now) I am happy to have gotten this done because so much is happening, will happen and has happened since I last did this. More awards being given out, debuts being made, U18 teams being finalized, teams being eliminated from the playoffs and goalies making headlines left, right and center. So without further ado I give you the 4th edition of Around the World of Goaltending.
1. I don’t often cover Canadian Junior A hockey because a) I don’t live near it which limits viewings severely and b) I’m already swamped with the NHL Draft & OHL Draft. However I am happy to give a shout-out to Josh Astorino who was named the OJHL Goalie of the Year.
2. Staying in Ontario we’ll go up a level to the OHL who have named the finalists to all of their awards. First up is the Player of the Year finalists who are: Michael DiPietro, Dylan Wells, Tyler Parsons, Michael McNiven, Stephen Dhillon, and Jeremy Brodeur. Half of these goalies don’t belong to a NHL team but I expect that change by the draft.
3. Only one goalie in the entire OHL to be named as a Rookie of the Year finalist is Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds goalie Matthew Villalta. He’s certainly been flying under the radar.
4. The OHL Overager of the Year award only has one goalie as a finalist as well and it’s Jeremy Brodeur of the Oshawa Generals. Happy for him as he more than deserves to be named a finalist and should have a good shot at finishing in the top 3.
5. Last but not least is the OHL Goalie of the Year award and the finalists are: Michael DiPietro, Dylan Wells, Jeremy Brodeur, Jeremy Helvig, Tyler Parsons and Michael McNiven. I wish Stephen Dhillon was a top finalist as he’s just exploded this season as the Niagara IceDogs starting goalie and lead the OHL in GSAA along with being second in GSAA/60.
6. We all love ELC signings right? Well there are three to announce in this edition! First off is Marcus Hogberg who signed a 2-year ELC with Ottawa. Hogberg is a 22yo Swedish goalie who was taken in the 3rd round by Ottawa in 2013. Hogberg will provide a breath of fresh air to a Binghamton team that is having some goalie issues.
7. Second is a NCAA UFA signing and it’s Angus Redmond who played for Michigan Tech this past season. Redmond has been signed by Anaheim out of his freshman year. He’s a 21yo goalie who named to the WCHA All-Rookie team and won the WCHA Championship.
8. Last but not least is Connor Ingram who signed a 3-year ELC with the Tampa Bay Lightning. This was a no-brainer signing for Tampa Bay as Ingram had an amazing final season in the WHL. Ingram finished 2nd in the WHL in GSAA, 1st in GSAA/60, 1st in QS%, and 2nd in SV%.
9. And Ingram didn’t leave the WHL with getting the final word in. The Kamloops Blazers were fined after Ingram made a comment after being eliminated by Kelowna.
“When it’s a goal on the ice, you usually have to have pretty conclusive evidence to turn it over,” said Ingram, who stopped 31 shots in a losing effort. “When you play Kelowna, you’re not going to get that call. The commissioner is in the building. He’s up in that room. You know as soon as he goes up there, you’re not going to get it. It’s disappointing, but that’s what happens when you play those guys and, with who runs their team, they’re going to get those calls. That’s just the way it is.”
10. A couple performances this week have earned recognition. Linus Ullmark made 51/53 saves in a 5-2W over Utica.
11. Ivonne Schroder/Jennifer Harss also deserve shout-outs because they were the main reason for the upsets over Russia, Sweden and the Czech’s at the World Championships taking place in Plymouth.
12. Lastly there is the longest game in CHL history. Griffen Outhouse and Carter Hart went toe-to-toe for five overtime periods which resulted in 151:36 minutes of playing time. Outhouse unfortunately ended up on the wrong side of the 3-2 score while making 72/75 saves. Carter Hart made 64/66 saves for the win. Both goalies deserve to be here together.
13. Next up aren’t performances of the week but debuts being made in the AHL. Chris Nell made his AHL debut making 26/30 saves in a 4-3 loss making Nell the 5th goalie to play minutes for Hartford.
14. The feel good debut is Clarke Saunders. Saunders spent 3 years in the ECHL before making a start in the AHL. He debuted with the San Jose Barracuda making 32/35 saves for a 6-3 win over Manitoba.
15. And speaking of the ECHL they named their All-Rookie Team. Dallas Stars prospect Landon Bow was named to the ECHL All-Rookie team which is a big accomplishment. Next step is the AHL next year.
15. The AHL also named their All-Rookie team for the 2016/17 season and the goalie chosen to the team was Casey DeSmith of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He managed to beat out very tough competition in Charlie Lindgren and Nick Ellis.
16. One more item from the AHL to acknowledge and its San Jose’s Troy Grosenick who hit the 10-shutout milestone this season when the next highest goalie only has 5 shutouts.
17. While the NHL draft is still months away there’s one draft just around the corner that prospect fans can get excited over. It’s the OHL draft which will take place this Saturday. Unfortunately my scouting for the OHL Draft isn’t as thorough as the NHL Draft. Despite that I have 10 Alliance Hockey goalies who have scouting profiles done on them. The top goalies looking to be taken from Alliance are Aidan Pitre, Jet Greaves, Kyle Curtin, and Owen Say.
18. In international news Team Canada has finally named two goalies to fill out the rest of the roster. The first goalie, Jake McGrath, wasn’t much of a surprise. He did well in the playoffs against Oshawa and finished the regular season strongly along with showing the ability to take over games. The other goalie named, Alexis Gravel, was a happy surprise. Gravel is a 2000-born goalie who is eligible for the 2018 NHL draft. He’s certainly deserved it with his series play against Rouyn-Noranda.
19. In Plymouth history has been made and more will be made. Firstly is Noora Raty and Finland giving Canada their first WHC loss to a team not named the USA.
20. Secondly with the Germans beating Russia they will now make team history as before this tournament Germany’s best finish was 5th.
21. Tonight we’ll get to witness a Canada/Finland rematch which will feature the top 2 goalies in women’s hockey, Shannon Szabados and Noora Raty, today at 3:30pm EST.
22. Lastly Germany will be playing the USA who are of course undefeated. This game will be at 7:30pm EST which you can watch either on NHL Network or NHL.com.