AHL Goalie News — Tuesday, Oct. 13
Features
- Mike McKenna is only on a tryout with the Lowell Devils, but he pitched a shutout on Sunday and leads the AHL in save percentage at the moment. (New England Hockey Journal)
- Rochester Amerks goalie Alexander Salak got his first North American start Monday night. (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle) He ended up stopping 30 of 31 and did so in apparently dramatic fashion, according the Let’s Go Amerks game report.
- Braden Holtby is making a strong case for the force the team to keep him around in Hershey once Neuvirth is healthy. (Lebanon Daily News)
Transactions
- After spending training camp with parent club Atlanta, Manny Legace has signed a PTO with the Chicago Wolves. Drew MacIntyre and Peter Mannino are already on the roster with the Wolves, so we’ll see if Manny bumps one of those guys. At this point there’s not even much room in the ECHL and CHL for all these extra goalies. (Chicago Wolves)
Legace with the Peoria Rivermen last season – Photo by Fred Trask
It’s surprising to me to not hear any news of Manny getting a professional tryout prior to this season with any of the NHL clubs. It seems like most of the clubs struggling early on could marginally use someone of his talent and experience at backup at best!
Yep, though I suspect part of it is that he’s wanting to go to an organization known for being high quality, which the Wolves certainly are. They’re probably one of the most autonomous AHL clubs along with the Manitoba Moose and aren’t afraid to spend money because they get the crowds to support it. Lots of AHL clubs can’t/won’t afford a Manny Legace.
It’s a very crowded market for goalies (all players really) and I can name several goalies who are easily AHL quality playing in the CHL/ECHL/Russia because roster spots are simply jam packed at every level. Of course, as one of my Twitter follows tonight pointed out, this is improving the quality of the game at the lower levels, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.