Confident in the crease

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This article was published 04/10/2023 (733 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was a high-stakes game of musical chairs, though Laurent Brossoit was never really in danger of being without a seat.

Coming off his best season as a professional hockey player, Brossoit knew the goalie market was flooded — with free agents and those potentially on the trade market — when July 1 arrived.

Looking for a new deal in a flat-cap world wasn’t an ideal circumstance.

Even after capturing a Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights just a few weeks earlier, there weren’t a ton of places with starting jobs open in the NHL.

That’s part of the reason Brossoit chose to reunite with the Winnipeg Jets, inking a one-year deal on July 1 worth US$1.75 million.

“It was a chaotic free agency,” Brossoit said recently. “There were a lot of goalies up for grabs and a lot of experienced goalies up for grabs and not a lot of money to go around.

“It was very competitive to find jobs. But all of the options I had, we just looked and Winnipeg from the get-go made it clear that they were interested. We looked at all the options and it just felt like the best fit. Opportunity wise and familiarity and all that.”

The familiarity is apparent on a number of levels.

Most recently, Brossoit was the guy standing at the other end of the rink from Connor Hellebuyck when the Jets were bounced from the first round of the playoffs by the Golden Knights.

But the two forged a strong relationship when Brossoit spent three seasons as Hellebuyck’s backup, dating back to the summer of 2018, when Brossoit arrived as a prospect looking for regular work.

These days, Brossoit recognizes his job is to push Hellebuyck, while also battling to earn as many starts as he can. That can occasionally be a delicate balancing act, though the fact both goalies are experienced and established should help matters.

Jets head coach Rick Bowness, who has often said he leaves most of the netminding decisions to goalie coach Wade Flaherty, realizes the importance of a symbiotic relationship between those who share the crease and the healthy competition that often accompanies it.

“Your starter and your backup have got to be on the same page. They’ve got to be good friends,” said Bowness. “They’ve got to get along and they’ve both got to know that they’re there to help the team win whenever they’re asked to play. (Brossoit) has a great attitude. Yeah, he still wants to be a No. 1 and when we give him the chance to play, you know he’s going to give us 100 per cent and he’s going to give us a really good game. So, that helps the team moving forward.”

The number of starts Brossoit gets this season is tough to determine at this time, given Hellebuyck’s contract status and the uncertain future that comes with that.

What the Jets know is that as long as Hellebuyck is here, Brossoit’s return should allow the team to have an excellent one-two punch, meaning Hellebuyck won’t have to carry as taxing a workload, compared to the past several seasons after Brossoit’s departure in the summer of 2021.

Brossoit was comfortable betting on himself with a one-year deal.

Given what he’s been through — both in terms of injuries he’s worked through and his ability to go from being in the American Hockey League with the Henderson Silver Knights to winning the starting job with the Golden Knights during the stretch run and into the second round of the playoffs — he recognizes the future will take care of itself.

“That was a huge pivotal moment or set of moments in my career. To go from rock bottom, starting in the minors and being the guy starting Game 1, is a big vote of confidence for myself,” said Brossoit. “It was a big step forward in my career and in my psychology. Knowing I can be there and knowing I can do that. Not that I ever thought I couldn’t, but it’s a very competitive atmosphere. To have done it is huge for the confidence. I know what it now takes to play at that level. Having done it now before, it’s a hell of a lot easier to recreate something than to do it for the first time.

As appreciative as Brossoit is for the opportunity to have his name engraved on Lord Stanley’s mug, that he was knocked out of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a groin injury during the second round against the Edmonton Oilers only heightened his will to get another crack at it.

The next time around, he wants to be standing in the crease when the final buzzer sounds.

“Moving forward, it could become a blessing in disguise. I don’t think I’ve ever been more motivated — one: to know that I can play at a level that can win a Stanley Cup; and two, see and experience what it could be like to win a Stanley Cup. It kind of felt like I was dipping my toe in that experience and I really wanted to dive right in. I’ve never been more motivated to recreate that (feeling) and be a bigger part of it and a bit more sustained part of it.”

Brossoit would love for that opportunity with the Jets, who could be looking for a No. 1 guy in the not-too-distant future, depending on how things get sorted out with Hellebuyck.

“Whether Helly’s here all year or not or whether I’m here all year or not, the game takes care of itself,” said Brossoit, 30. “I’ll get exposure here and I know a lot of teammates trust me here. Hopefully I can have a big role on this team. I care about this organization quite a bit. I’d love to have a big role on success this year.

“Opportunities will come knocking. It would be even more rewarding if I can play as good or outplay someone who is at the calibre that (Hellebuyck) is. Not only that, on an individual level I’m looking to perfect the craft as much as I can. When the results come, the games come. (When) you stop pucks more consistently, the more fine-tuned you can make your game and that’s what I’m doing right now.”

The process of that fine tuning has been evident through training camp and the preseason and now it’s about carrying that forward and being ready whenever his number is called.

“You want to have to come out of that structure as little as possible and that can make things easy. It certainly seems to drain the other team when you’re making saves look easy,” said Brossoit. “I’ve always had high potential and been blessed physiologically. The more and more I have control of it, the more success I’m going to have.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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