Thursday’s edition of “Goalie News” will take a look at an underrated goaltender out west, a cool new mask design, a rare shutout and one of the greatest goaltenders to ever lace up a pair of skates.
Kuemper Makes His Mark in Arizona
The Arizona Coyotes have had plenty of good goaltenders throughout their franchise history. Guys like Sean Burke, Ilya Bryzgalov, Bob Essena, Curtis Joseph, Nikolai Khabibulin and Mike Smith have all had success while manning the crease for the team.
The Coyotes’ current goaltender, Darcy Kuemper, is making his mark on the team’s record book. On Tuesday night, he made 38 saves in a 4-2 road victory at the Winnipeg Jets. The win ended a 10-game road losing streak to the Jets that dated back to March 14, 2010, when they were still the Atlanta Thrashers.
On a personal level, Kuemper has now allowed two goals or fewer in 11 straight starts, tying Khabibulin for the longest such run in franchise history. He has given up just 14 goals during this stretch, which began on March 23. This is the exact type of play that recently earned Kuemper a two-year contract extension from the Coyotes. He can go for the record when the Coyotes host the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.
Binnington Pays Tribute to a St. Louis Legend
Jordan Binnington might be the most popular goaltender in St. Louis Blues history after his amazing run, from out of nowhere, to win the Stanley Cup last June. Team history has not been lost on the young netminder as he plans to honor one of the best goalies who ever wore a Blues sweater.
When the Blues wear their retro uniforms from the 90s this season, Binnigton will wear a mask that will look very familiar to fans. It is the same design Curtis Joseph wore on his mask for years in St. Louis, which features his iconic “Cujo” logo.
“It’s cool,” Binnington said in a recent interview. “‘Cujo’ was a big part of my childhood motivation. It’s cool to be in a position where I’m able to wear a mask resembling his and give a small gratitude to the influence he had on not only me but cities of people.”
Binnington will debut mask on Nov. 21 and wear it again on Feb. 27 and March 31.
Mrazek Accomplishes a Rare Feat
Yesterday, we told you about Petr Mrazek’s shutout against the Los Angeles Kings. His 31-save performance was his first shutout of the season and 19th of his NHL career. However, a Carolina Hurricanes goaltender keeping the Kings off the board is not something that happens very often.
In the entire Hartford Whalers/Hurricanes franchise history, which dates back to 1979, only four goaltenders have blanked the Kings. Current NHL Network analyst Kevin Weekes was the last to do it, way back in 2013.
Roy Makes NHL History
19 years ago, today, Patrick Roy broke an NHL record that remained in the books for 30 years. On Oct. 17, 2000, Roy beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 for the 448th victory of his Hall of Fame career. The victory moved him ahead of the great Terry Sawchuk, whose 447 career wins was the high-water mark in the league since 1970.
Roy finished his career with 551 victories, the second-most in NHL history. Martin Brodeur, who retired in 2015, currently holds the record with an incredible 691 wins.
To give you an idea of how many great goaltenders we have been blessed with over the past 30 years, Sawchuk now sits seventh on the all-time win list. Brodeur, Roy, Roberto Luongo, Ed Belfour, Joseph and Henrik Lundqvist have all since passed him. Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights needs three more wins to jump ahead of him for seventh place.
