Comrie back in familiar crease

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This article was published 10/12/2019 (2100 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Eric Comrie’s been here, there and everywhere this season but was back in the familiar blue paint of Bell MTS Place on Tuesday night.

The 24-year-old goaltender, donning the long-revered Red Wings jersey, received his first NHL start of the season against the team that drafted him six years ago, the Winnipeg Jets.

The serendipity of the moment wasn’t lost on Winnipeg’s 2013 second-round draft pick, who earned five career starts (2-3-0) with the big club.

“That’s kind of cool. It’s fitting (facing the Jets), with the kind of year I’ve had,” Comrie told reporters following the Red Wings’ morning skate. “I loved every single second I was in Winnipeg. I love the guys. I love the coaches. I love the management. They were awesome from Day 1. They made me the player I am today, the person that I am today.”

Comrie fared pretty well against the Jets until the roof caved in on a deplorable Detroit squad late in the second period. The Jets scored three goals in two minutes to close the middle frame with a 4-1 lead, and scored once more in the third to win 5-1. Comrie finished the game with 25 saves.

Comrie signed a two-year pact with Winnipeg in the summer worth a guaranteed US$700,000 annually. After starting two preseason games on the road for the Jets, he was expected to split the netminding duties for the Manitoba Moose with second-year pro Mikhail Berdin while providing depth behind Jets netminders Connor Hellebuyck and Laurent Brossoit. But when Winnipeg reassigned him to the AHL on Oct. 1, the Arizona Coyotes promptly grabbed him.

Comrie was the third-stringer behind Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta in the desert, eventually getting four starts with the Coyotes’ minor-league franchise in Tucson. But the Red Wings struck a deal to acquire him in late November, swapping out minor-league defenceman Vili Saarijarvi.

Comrie has quickly embraced competing in one of hockey’s marquee markets.

“That’s pretty cool, an Original Six team. The first thing I thought was, ‘Ah, I don’t get my number. I lose my number.’ But that’s kind of cool. It was a lot of fun seeing it in the rafters, Terry Sawchuk, one of the greatest goalies of all time,” said Comrie, now No. 34 after years of having numero uno on his back.

“Putting on the Red Wings jersey is something special. And (executive vice-president and general manager) Steve Yzerman calling you, that’s pretty cool as well.”

Comrie posted his first NHL triumph April 6, 2017 in Columbus, turning aside 35 shots by the Blue Jackets as Winnipeg prevailed 5-4. His only other win in Jets colours came March 20, 2018 in his only regular-season starting assignment at the downtown rink from head coach Paul Maurice. He blocked 16 shots as the Jets slipped past the Los Angeles Kings 2-1.

He was better known for his brilliant work with Jets’ farm teams, participating in 183 regular-season games (five with the St. John’s IceCaps and 178 over five seasons in a Moose sweater). About 90 of those came at the downtown Winnipeg arena.

“I know this building pretty well, I played a lot of minutes in this building and always enjoyed playing in front of the crowd. It’s going to be different playing against the crowd,” said Comrie, who received an enthusiastic ovation during a video tribute in the first period. “There’s a lot of great memories here. Even just being a healthy scratch during playoffs… it’s hard to beat how much the crowd’s into it.”

The Edmonton product has a lot of buddies in the Winnipeg organization pulling for him — as long as the good times commence once the home-and-home series this week is in the books.

“He might be the nicest guy on the face of the Earth. Hard-working. He’ll stay out on the ice all day, he’ll face 2,000 shots…,” Maurice said. “He’s just a wonderful, wonderful personality and I’m really happy he’s getting a chance back in the NHL. I wish the best for him — after a couple days from now. There’s a guy we should all be pulling for.”

Comrie took an eight-minute turn between the pipes last Saturday in relief of Jonathan Bernier. He was tested four times by the Pittsburgh Penguins and stopped them all, although Detroit fell 5-3.

Speaking after the Red Wings’ morning skate, head coach Jeff Blashill said the timing was right to give Comrie a look.

“He works hard, he’s a good person. Those two things for sure. I don’t have an unbelievable feel for him as a player yet, that comes with getting opportunities,” Blashill said. “Is there a positive to playing against a former team or a place that you’re comfortable with? There are some positives. There are probably some negatives. But at the end of the day, we wanted to get him a game. We’re playing Winnipeg back-to-back, so let’s get him a game and see how he does.”

There were times when Comrie single-handedly propped up some awful Moose squads, and if his NHL career fires up in the Motor City, he’ll need to be all-wordly during a Red Wings rebuild. But his future is far from certain, slotted behind Bernier and Jimmy Howard, who is nearing a return to the lineup after being shelved the past two weeks with a knee injury.

“I’ve learned in my lifetime, especially in my hockey life, to just take it day by day, especially this year,” Comrie said. “I was used to playing in one organization my whole career, in Winnipeg for four years and I loved my time there, and then this year you really learn, ‘Hey, it’s a day-by-day thing in hockey and you gotta learn to be ready to move every single second and enjoy the time where you are because you never know where you might end up.’”

 

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell