The Carolina Hurricanes’ Organizational Goaltending Carousel
Within the past two weeks the Carolina Hurricanes’ organization has burned through nine different goaltenders. Let us take a quick look at each goalie part of the recent carousel.
Just two weeks ago the Carolina Hurricanes were preparing to face off against the Maple Leafs in Toronto with a goaltending tandem of Petr Mrazek and James Reimer. But, when the final horn sounded, neither Petr or James would be the goalie of record for the Canes.
Entering the night, the Hurricanes were coming off a 5-2 home loss at the hands of the Rangers and were looking to get back on track on the second half of a back to back. With Petr playing the night before, Reimer was set to make his 25th appearance of the season in net. But, unfortunately for James, his night would be cut short.
Not even four minutes into the contest, Maple Leaf’s forward Zach Hyman shoved Jaccob Slavin into his own goaltender, earning an interference penalty in the process. After the collision Reimer was a little slow to get up. Looked at briefly by the Hurricanes’ medical staff, he opted to stay into the game.
After another uneventful Canes power play, it was time for a tv time out. When the broadcast resumed Petr Mrazek was in net. Evidently Reimer had decided he wasn’t at 100% and removed himself from the game having only played a little over six minutes.
The unthinkable happened midway through the second period when Kyle Clifford laid out Mrazek, who left his crease to play a loose puck. Initially given a 10 minute misconduct penalty, Clifford would end up only receiving a two minute charging minor.
With both Mrazek and Reimer out, the Carolina Hurricanes had to resort to the arena’s emergency back up goaltender, a 42 year old zamboni driver who practices with Toronto on occasion.
The man. The myth. The legend.
— NHL (@NHL) February 23, 2020
Dave Ayres, everyone. pic.twitter.com/XKiW5Jvl5q
Not even in full equipment yet, David Ayres was forced to enter a massive game for Carolina given their position in the standings. Although the Canes had a 4-1 lead, it was an uneasy time for fans. Quickly letting in two goals on the first two shots he faced, Carolina was franticly looking into their options should Ayres be unable to hold down the fort, a one legged Reimer return or the possiblity of Hurricanes’ forward Ryan Dzingel lacing up the pads among them.
Going into the second intermission up 4-3, the players in the room were doing everything they could to settle Ayres in and help him seize the moment. Warren Foegele would find the back of the net 53 seconds into the third in what was quite possibly the best period of hockey Carolina has played all year.
Without Brett Pesce and both goaltenders, every single player on the Hurricanes roster was blocking shots and getting into passing lanes in route to a massive 6-3 road win. After a shaky start, Ayres would go on to stop the final eight shots he faced in his storybook NHL debut, marking the first time an EBUG would be the winning goalie of record.
After the game it was announced the both Petr and James would be out for a while. In a corresponding announcement the next afternoon, both Alex Nedeljkovic and Anton Forsberg got called up from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers on emergency basis.
Charlotte’s Carousel
Losing both of their goalies to call ups, the Checkers were forced to dig deep into the organization’s depth and call up prospects Jeremy Helvig and Callum Booth.
Playing in ECHL Greenville, Helvig had appeared in 30 games for the Swamp Rabbits. Making his first professional start with Charlotte February 25th against Hersey, Helvig didn’t have the best of games. Giving up six goals on 30 shots, the Checkers brass opted to send him back down that night.
In a corresponding move, the Checkers would receive veteran goalie Mike Condon on loan from Tampa Bay. Although he has 129 NHL games to his name, Condon has been dealing with a fair share of injuries over the past couple of seasons, limiting him to only a handful of games.
Splitting the year with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch and ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears, Mike was looking to get back on track after a rough start to the year. With a save percentage sub .877 in both the AHL and ECHL, expectations going in were rather low. Only appearing in one contest with Charlotte, where he gave up four goals on 19 shots, Condon would be recalled by Tampa.
On the 29th, Callum Booth would make his lone appearance for the Checkers this season, marking the fifth goalie used by Charlotte in their past five games. Unlike Helvig and Condon, Booth went on to make 21 saves on 23 shots in a 4-2 bounce back win.
With Condon now gone, Charlotte would receive another NHL experienced goaltender via loan in Keith Kinkaid from the Montreal Canadians. With 157 NHL games to his name, Kinkaid is another guy looking to get back on track after a rough start to the year.
Welcome to the squad @Blockaid1 🚧 pic.twitter.com/Bpy9CHNYBH
— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) March 2, 2020
Signing a one year deal with the Habs this past July, Kinkaid was expected to be the backup to Carey Price. Appearing in six NHL games this year, he boasts a GAA of 4.24 and a save percentage of .875. After being placed on waivers in early December, Keith was assigned to Laval of the AHL.
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Appearing in 13 games with the Rockets, his stats haven’t seen much of an improvement. With a GAA of 3.44 and a save percentage of .876, it is safe to say he’s looking to get himself back on the radar of NHL scouts as a pending UFA. Splitting his two starts with Charlotte so far, it remains to be seen how long his tenure will be with the Checkers.
As the sixth goalie for Charlotte in the past two weeks, it would be nice for them to get some stability for their stretch run. Injuries tend to test an organizations’ depth, but to use nine goaltenders within two weeks is really testing the limits, and that doesn’t even include the impact it’s had on Greenville.
Both Nedeljkovic and Forsberg have seen some time with the Canes this week and will look to split the starts going forward until Petr returns with the amount of back to backs coming up. Although neither of them have yet to earn a win, the losses are more of a result of the terrible play of the team in front of them rather than anything they’re doing.
Hopefully, Mrazek returning to practice this weekend is a sign that he’s close to returning. The Canes’ playoff hopes are quickly slipping away. They need to start stringing together a series of wins and that requires solid play from the backend out.
Once he returns, not only will Carolina get a much needed boost, but the Checkers will also benefit from getting one of their two goaltenders back in the fold.
Question for CC readers: What are your thoughts are the organization’s recent goalie carousel?
Next. Are injuries hurting the season. dark