Winning isn’t everything

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/03/2016 (3484 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

North of the 49th parallel, if there’s an NHL team nearby then it’ll only take you a minute or two to stumble upon a conversation about goaltending.

Around the present-day Winnipeg Jets, the chatter is wide-ranging in opinion and sometimes far-fetched.

In terms of the Jets in the future, those conversations surely include the names Connor Hellebuyck and Eric Comrie. And prominently.

The dynamic prospects are back as the tandem of the AHL’s Manitoba Moose since Hellebuyck’s return from a role as Ondrej Pavelec’s injury replacement in mid-February.

The Moose, like the Jets, are not going to the post-season this spring, but the goaltending developments and plot twists this season have been mandatory stories for fans.

Development, in particular, has been charging forward for both Hellebuyck and Comrie.

“I look at the speed of my game, how far ahead of the play and how I’m reading the play,” Hellebuyck said Wednesday at the MTS Centre, prior to his start against the Stockton Heat and coming off back-to-back shutouts. “That’s a huge indicator of how much you’ve developed over the year. Then more little things like being able to play 50 games and not tire yourself out, keeping the speed the same level every single game.

“I look at how well I stay in position, how long I’m in control. I don’t like to lose control. I like to see how I’m reacting to the stuff in front of me, so if I’m following a puck, how well I stop in position and how soon I get there and how well I stay in position.

“Then I just kind of look at my reactions, how patient I am. That’s huge, too. Patience comes with comfort level.”

Comrie said much the same thing about speed, and his progress there.

“I feel the (progress) because the game slows down for you,” said Comrie, a rookie pro. “When you get used to something, it slows down. It’s like your brain is always going to adjust to the speed you’re going.

“If you go out and face 30 mile-per-hour pitches and then go up to MLB and stay there long enough, eventually you’ll adjust to them. Same thing going from junior to here. If you’re there long enough, your brain will adjust to the speed.

“So the game slows down.”

The two goalies have been growing and maturing but one worry seems to be that because the Moose (and Jets, for that matter) have lost quite alot more than they’ve won this season, would that hinder their development?

The young Moose have certainly found the road difficult through the AHL in Year 1 back in Winnipeg, 21-36-4-5 so far this season.

Moose coach Keith McCambridge pondered that concern for a few moments. He’s certain both goalies have made large strides forward this season but wasn’t sure if a winning squad would have provided more.

“Do I know the answer to that?” he said. “I don’t want to ride the fence. The thing I’m thinking is that I’m not able to know what Eric Comrie would look like if he was in the net with a team that’s having more success. I just don’t know that.

“With Connor, I have a better idea because I had him last year. Where we weren’t able to get him some playoff time, and where players like Michael Hutchinson, Adam Lowry and Ben Chiarot have benefited from that, is we couldn’t get our foot into playoffs… because our other goalie, who’s the best goalie in the AHL by numbers this year (Peter Budaj in Ontario) was unable to get us at least half of the wins. (Budaj, in fact, didn’t win a single game in St. John’s.) That was unusual.”

Hellebuyck, 22, said he sees no negatives this season.

His time with the Jets, nearly three months, confirmed some of his ability and confidence questions.

“I didn’t know until I finally got there and then I think was ready for it,” he said. “I think I improved fast. I got a lot better quickly, was getting settled in. And just as I was settling in, I got sent down, just as a I was getting comfortable that I could be here for the year.”

He’s 7-6-0 (.921 save percentage) with the Moose since he returned and has had three shutouts in that time.

“Maybe it helps getting thrown into some bad situations, that you need to learn how to control those in case it ever happens in the future,” he said about playing for a last-place AHL team. “As a professional athlete, you don’t want to lose, you play to win. That’s the nature of the sport. So I don’t think it’s changed anything.

“There’s a lot to be said, to be learned about a team that wins 50 games in a season, rolls into playoffs. Here, it’s more, ‘Did I get better today? How will I get better tomorrow?’ ”

Comrie, just 20, was the AHL’s leader in saves this season (1,357) as of Wednesday, and had played the league’s seventh-most minutes (2,400) overall and most by any rookie.

“I think it’s been awesome,” Comrie said. “Not many goalies in the AHL have been able to play as many games as I’ve played. For me, it’s been unbelievable, and not only that, to see as many pucks as I’ve seen this year, in all situations, gaining that knowledge and gaining that insight to get used to the speed and tendency of the game here.

“(The losing record) is unfortunate. I’m a competitive guy. I want to win any time I’m doing anything. But as I talk to Rick (St. Croix, Moose goalie coach), it’s all about taking yourself… you can’t become outcome-based. You have to be focused on the process. That’s what will make you better.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca