Where have all the full-right goalies gone?

InGoal Magazine writer Kevin Woodley also writes a weekly column called Unmasked on NHL.com, and last week’s focus was on full-right goaltenders, unique challenges they face finding equipment and why there are fewer of them in the NHL now.

The Unmasked column is focused on a broader audience, however, and is often more focused on educating and enlightening non-goaltenders about some of the intricacies or rituals of the position. Add in a word count limit, and a lot of the finer position-specific details of extended interviews get left on the cutting room floor, so to speak.

With that in mind, InGoal Premium will bring members deeper into those conversations and details by publishing extended versions, and in this case, new interviews with Mathieu Garon and Cal Petersen that came in after the column was filed.

Mathieu Garon doesn’t know why there seems to be significantly fewer full-right goalies playing in the NHL over the past three seasons, but he has one of the best stories we’ve ever heard about the potential hazards of catching pucks with your right hand.

Garon was part of the last full-season, all-lefty tandems in the NHL when he played two seasons with fellow full-right goalie Steve Mason on the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2009 to 2011. But after the Blue Jackets finished 24th in scoring that second season and missed the playoffs by 16 points, then general manager Scott Howson cited having two right-catching goaltenders in practice as part of the problem for his shooters, and declined to offer Garon a contract.

“I remember after that second year in Columbus a few of our players went to see the GM and said, ‘okay, the reason we’re not scoring goals is because we’re used to shooting on these guys during practice,’” Garon said during an interview for an upcoming InGoal Radio Podcast episode. “So actually, when Columbus didn’t re-sign me that year, that’s the excuse they told me. They told me ‘we don’t want two full-rights, guys are saying that’s the reason why they can’t score in a game, so we’re going to have to let you go.’ So, I don’t know if it makes such a difference, or it was just an excuse for players that couldn’t score, but I guess it does.”