Third-string the charm for Forsberg

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This article was published 06/02/2021 (1674 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Anton Forsberg hasn’t created any memories guarding the net for the Jets and won’t as long as Winnipeg’s main goaltenders stay healthy.

But the third-stringer certainly recalls suiting up against them.

“Yeah, I got pulled here when I was with Chicago,” Forsberg said with a chuckle, earlier this week. “That was the only time against them in the NHL. I played the (Manitoba) Moose a few times, too.”

The 28-year-old goalie is correct in his recollection of his only start against the Jets, and full marks for acknowledging a night he’d probably prefer to erase from his memory bank.

Forsberg surrendered three goals (Paul Stastny, Joel Armia and Jack Roslovic) on six shots and was given the hook by Blackhawks’ then-coach Joel Quenneville just 9:26 into the opening frame, March 15, 2018 at Bell MTS Place. The Jets fired a couple more pucks past Forsberg’s replacement, Jean-Francois Berube, and cruised to a 6-2 victory.

The product of Harnosand, Sweden now finds himself back in the Manitoba capital, this time in the employ of the Jets, after a rather bizarre set of circumstances a few weeks ago.

Winnipeg claimed Forsberg, listed at 6-3, 192 pounds, off the waiver wire from the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 15 and has kept him on the active roster, an insurance policy should starter Connor Hellebuyck or backup Laurent Brossoit get injured.

The Hurricanes had claimed Forsberg off waivers from the Edmonton Oilers just days before. The Oilers signed him to a one-year, US$700,000 contract in October but exposed him before the season-opener.

Forsberg said he didn’t even leave his Alberta hotel room before the Jets swooped in.

He had to quarantine here for seven days before officially joining the organization, practising with a smaller group of Jets personnel.

“Obviously, it wasn’t a normal situation. Right now, I’m getting used to it. It feels good to be here,” Forsberg said. “I knew there was a very good chance I would get picked up, because with everything going on with (the COVID-19 pandemic) you need a deeper team.

“From Day 1 here, it’s been great. My attitude’s no different than any other time. I’m not playing right now, so all I can do is work hard, be prepared and make sure I’m staying sharp and working on my game. Hopefully, even though I’m not playing, I can get better every day.”

Forsberg was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the seventh round (188th overall) of the 2011 Draft and has made 48 NHL appearances, including 42 starts, with a 12-25-4 record, 3.22 goals-against average and .901 save percentage.

He’s spent much of his career in the American Hockey League, helping Lake Erie capture the Calder Cup in 2016.

The Jets can’t risk assigning Forsberg to the taxi squad or the Moose, because that would mean potentially losing him to waivers. For now, he’s the guy carrying the metaphorical clipboard, observing Hellebuyck — the reigning Vezina Trophy winner as the league’s best puckstopper of the 2019-20 season — and making mental notes.

“I have a really good relationship with the goalie coach (Wade Flaherty) and I get to be around the best goalie last year, just try to watch him play and learn a few things,” he said. “I have to wait to see what happens and make sure I’m ready.”

Jets head coach Paul Maurice said he appreciates that balanced approach.

“You’re never cheering for your third goalie to get in the net. He’s on our roster, so you’ve got to keep those guys ready to go and, if we need him to get into the game, that he’s sharp. He’s trying to put himself in position that if he gets that opportunity, he looks real good and it fires up his career,” said Maurice.

Forsberg made only nine starts over three seasons with the Blue Jackets before he was traded in June 2017 to Chicago along with Brandon Saad for star winger Artemi Panarin. Just two months into the ‘17-18 season, he took over the crease when two-time Stanley Cup winner Corey Crawford suffered a concussion.

He won 10 of 30 starts for a squad that missed the playoffs for the first time in five years.

“That was my only full year in the league. I had a lot of fun playing a lot. I wish we had a better result,” Forsberg said. “But I for sure felt like I controlled my game better at the NHL level than I did the previous years.”

He was swapped to the Hurricanes during the 2019 off-season and made just three starts, spending most of the ‘19-20 campaign with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers.

Forsberg has an even better story to share about a second career start against the Jets that, ultimately, failed to materialize — this time at United Center, only two weeks after his early exit in Winnipeg.

Chicago financial planner Scott Foster stole his thunder, instead.

“I was supposed to play that night (March 29, 2018) but I got hurt in warmup, doing my routine that I’ve been doing for I don’t know how many years. I got a calf strain and couldn’t play,” Forsberg said. “Then another guy started but he cramped up bad.”

The “other guy” was minor-league goalie Collin Delia, making his NHL debut. Chicago jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first period and led the Jets 5-2 after the second, but six minutes into the final frame Delia’s night was done.

Enter Foster, originally from Sarnia, Ont., who played a few seasons at Western Michigan University in the early 2000s before becoming a beer-league star.

The Blackhawks emergency goaltender stopped all seven shots directed his way, including a pair of point drives from Tyler Myers, a hard shot from Dustin Byfuglien and a quick release from Patrik Laine.

“It was a crazy night. I was watching the game with (Foster) in the locker room when he got the call that he had to go in,” said Forsberg. “No one will forget that one.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell