Juniors behind times on resting goalies
Prince Albert Raiders goaltender Ian Scott found out last season when he started all three games on a weekend road trip through Alberta just how much of a grind the major junior hockey season can be for a starting netminder.
He began on a Friday night in Red Deer, continued to Medicine Hat for a contest Saturday and made a final stop Sunday in Calgary. Two games went to overtime and the one in Calgary was an afternoon start. The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect logged 184 minutes 37 seconds of ice time in less than 48 hours while helping his team pick up five of a possible six points.
“I don’t remember it, but I feel like I’ve done it,” said the 19-yearold Calgary native, who is in his fourth season with the Western Hockey League’s Raiders.
“Three-in-threes are probably one of the toughest things to do, especially if you are on the road. But you learn to take care of yourself.”
In 2017-18, there were 23 goalies across the Canadian Hockey League that played in at least 75 per cent of their teams’ contests. Evan Cormier of the Ontario Hockey League’s Saginaw Spirit led all goalies by appearing in 89 per cent of his team’s 68 games.
The trend in the NHL over the last few seasons has been to ease the workload on starting goaltenders with preservation leading to positive results in the standings.
Splitting duties in back-to-back situations is one of the biggest changes in recent years as stats say never start the same goalie two nights in a row, but the CHL isn’t quite as strategic, especially with development being the No. 1 concern for players and the majority of its schedule crammed into weekends.
Scott started 13 back-to-backs last season among his 50 games. He went 8-4-0 with a .900 save percentage in the front end, while he was 6-5-1 with an .891 save percentage in the back end.
Scott hopes to break the 60game mark this season if allowed.
“No exact number for starts, but I obviously want to play the majority of them,” he said.