Crease questions in the CHL.
Two potential changes could alter face of goaltending in major junior hockey
The face of the goaltending in the Canadian Hockey League may be soon ready to take a different shape.
In 2013 the CHL, the branch overlooking the QMJHL, OHL, and WHL, decided to eliminate the selection of goaltenders during the annual CHL import draft. The ban didn’t take effect until 2014, but the effect was immediate as the 2013 Import Draft saw just one goaltender — Slovakian Daniel Gibl — chosen, by the Barrie Colts. Of the eight goalies tabbed in the 2012 Import Draft, only Germany’s Marvin Cüpper ended up in the QMJHL (with Shawinigan).
It’s believed that the prohibition on European goaltenders was tied to a perceived lack of quality of Canadian netminders. In 2013 no Canadian goaltenders were up for the NHL’s Vezina Trophy and there was just one Canadian starting goaltender among the four Memorial Cup teams. Interestingly, the CHL came to the decision on the heels of a 2012 NHL draft that saw 10 Canadian goalies picked. Last June only six Canadian netminders were tabbed in the NHL draft, and none were claimed in the first two rounds.
Screaming Eagles fans have fond memories of current New York Ranger Ondřej Pavelec, who spent the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons in Sydney. Pavelec was named the QMJHL’s top goaltender in back-toback seasons after having been chosen by the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers. He was the first of three European goaltenders in Screaming Eagles history, followed by fellow Czech Republic natives Marek Benda and David Honzik.
A recent article in the L’Acadie Nouvelle newspaper
out of New Brunswick highlighted another potential goaltender rule change. There is discussion in the CHL about exempting 20-year-old goaltenders from overage status. This would mean clubs could carry a 20-year-old goaltender in addition to three other 20 year old players.
There is a stark contrast in how junior goalies make the jump from the CHL to the NHL when compared to their skating counterparts.
Not a single goaltender chosen in the last four NHL drafts is a regular player in the NHL this season, and you have to go back to the 2012 NHL draft to find crease cops who are starters in the NHL.
Major junior championships
are usually won by teams with the best 19-year-olds, due to the limits on overage players, but this season in the QMJHL the crop of 19-year-olds is not overly strong. There are 10, 19-year-old goaltenders playing in the league including two squads who employ a tandem of 19 year olds (Sherbrooke and Bathurst). Victoriaville’s Etienne Monpetit, Halifax’s Blade Mann-Dixon, and BaieComeau’s Antoine Samuel are the only three overage goalers in the circuit.
Those in the Moncton Wildcats organization are surely watching any potential changes closely. Along with the Halifax Mooseheads, the Wildcats have put in a bid for the 2019 Memorial Cup and regardless of whether they win the bid, Mark Grametbauer seems pencilled in as next season’s starting goalkeeper. A rule change would allow the Cats to keep Grametbauer and employ three other quality players with the additional overage positions.
Bathurst backup netminder Joseph Murdaca could be a good case study for a change to the 20-year-old rule for goaltenders — a netminder who has strong enough numbers to help a team but is not necessarily proven enough to spend an overage spot on. Murdaca was a 10th-round draft pick in the OHL, and became a regular major junior player at 18 as a quality backup on the OHL champion Erie Otters.
This season Murdaca is playing behind Evan Fitzpatrick, and playing well with a save percentage of 906 and a record of 11-6 over 20 appearances. But without a proven track record as a starter, it’s possible no team would use a 20-year-old slot on him. It’s a similar situation to last season in Bathurst where Anthony Dumont-Bouchard posted a 906 save percentage through 35 games, but couldn’t find a QMJHL spot the next fall.
Dumont-Bouchard did land in the OHL with Kitchener this season but was a victim of the numbers game and was pushed out of major junior hockey in January. Others who posted unspectacular but respectable numbers at 19 in 2016-17 — Victoriaville’s James Povall, Chicoutimi’s Xavier Potvin, and (over limited time) Drummondville’s Émilien Boily — are all playing Jr. A this season.
For those goalies, any rule change would be too late. Meanwhile, fans and teams can only sit back and wait to see if the game changes next season.