Claimed:The Rookie Goalie Breakdown

[CowboyinAmerica 2,889]

The Rookie Goalie Breakdown

 

Roughly one-sixth into his rookie season, it’s safe to call Hans Wingate’s output a mixed bag. On the positive end, you have a .922 save percentage in nine games, good for third-best in the VHL, despite playing the Bears twice and the Meute and Vikings once. But then, on the other end, you have an ugly 2-6-1 record and a 2.89 goals against average, thanks to very little help from the offensive side of the team.

Hans Wingate – Calgary Wranglers
(S43) 9 GP / 2-6-1 / 0.922 SV% / 2.89 GAA / 0 SO

It’s expected that many rookie goalies will struggle coming out of the gate. However, just how much do they struggle? Seven of the league’s other starting goaltenders, excluding Jax Barnstormer, started at least half of his team’s games as a rookie. Here’s how they did, as a comparison, from most recent to earliest.

 

 

Season 42: Callum Sinclair, HC Davos Dynamo

Regular Season
(S42) 64 GP / 26-32-6 / 0.903 SV% / 2.88 GAA / 3 SO

The second overall pick in the S42 Draft, the Dynamo are perhaps unique on this list in that they were making a distinct playoff run with a rookie goaltender. While it might not have turned out the way they hoped, that increased skill level gave him 26 wins and three shutouts, both the highest figures among all rookie goalies on this list. Sinclair started the season with just over 200 TPE, however, which is reflected in a save percentage that is the lowest for any rookie goalie on this list.

 

 

Season 42: Fedir Okranitz, Toronto Legion

Regular Season
 (S42) 41 GP / 18-21-2 / 0.905 SV% / 2.52 GAA / 2 SO

Originally a Season 41 draft pick, Toronto elected to keep their since-traded “goaltender of the future” down for an extra season in the VHLM. With his results, it’s not hard to see why. Okranitz’s .905 save percentage and 2.52 goals against average look solid when compared to fellow rookie Callum Sinclair, but those statistics pale in comparison to much-maligned Kimmo Salo’s 24-7-0 record, .923 save percentage and 2.01 goals against average with the exact same Toronto lineup. And, given Okranitz’s recent lack of growth, it’s not tough to see why Toronto shipped him off to Helsinki before the season.

 

 

Season 41: Niklaus Mikaelson, Seattle Bears

Regular Season
(S41) 64 GP / 12-45-7 / 0.913 SV% / 3.69 GAA / 2 SO

Mikaelson’s situation is perhaps the polar opposite of Sinclair’s. The first overall pick in the draft, Mikaelson entered Seattle with a large amount of TPE in the bank. That pure skill allowed him to earn a .913 save percentage, a solid total for a first-year goaltender. Without much help on the rest of the team, however, Mikaelson totaled just 12 wins and a 3.69 goals against average. If Wingate were to compare his first season’s totals to any other player, Mikaelson is a likely place to look.

 

 

Season 39: Brock Waldron, Quebec City Meute

Regular Season
 (S39) 64 GP / 10-51-3 / 0.914 SV% / 3.31 GAA / 0 SO

Waldron came into Quebec City in perhaps the best position imaginable for a young goalie; David Poulin and his .884 save percentage the previous season had been so bad, anything was going to look like an upgrade. It’s safe to say Waldron delivered, as his .914 save percentage, while still only seventh in the league, ranks higher than any of the rookie goaltenders who came in the three years after him. And while his 10 wins and no shutouts may look ugly, you can see the pieces being laid for his future Season 42 playoff domination. Waldron is another that Wingate can look to as inspiration.

 

 

Season 37: Martin Brookside, Calgary Wranglers

Regular Season
 (S37) 47 GP / 5-39-3 / 0.919 SV% / 4.15 GAA / 1 SO

His beginnings seem to have been lost to the ether since emerging as an absolute force in the past season-plus with Calgary, so it’s tough to remember that Brookside actually did not fully supplant Rock Star as Calgary’s full-time goalie until Season 38, two seasons after his “draft” date. In part-time play in Season 37, it seems that his agent/GM Jason Glasser was right to hold him out, lest he become even more beat up. Brookside’s stats are an even more exaggerated version of Waldron – his .919 save percentage is strong, but an absolute lack of talent around him resulted in five wins and a 4.15 GAA. While Wingate would cherish the high save percentage, being beat up on this scale may be a bit much.

 

 

Season 36: Mike Szatkowski Jr., Riga Reign

Regular Season
 (S36) 64 GP / 14-49-1 / 0.909 SV% / 3.62 GAA / 1 SO

The first real season of the Grand Riga Rebuilding Plan, Szatkowski was just one of multiple rookies who would take the ice for the first time with Riga this season. It’s safe to say, too, that he played like it. Even among rookies, Szatkowski’s .909 save percentage was just middling, and his 14 wins and 3.62 goals against average inspired no confidence either. Taken out of context, it’s tough to see the player that would later win the Aidan Shaw Trophy for top goaltender in Season 41.

 

 

Season 36: Brick Wahl, New York Americans

Regular Season
 (S36) 64 GP / 25-34-5 / 0.911 SV% / 3.23 GAA / 3 SO

Similar to Davos in the Sinclair example, New York featured a team capable of actually winning a few games, finishing just five points behind Seattle for the final North American playoff spot. But it wasn’t just solid surroundings that gave Wahl a better rookie season than contemporary Szatkowski; he finished with a higher save percentage and more shutouts as well. Wahl is perhaps the opposite of Szatkowski in that he started strong and has had much team success, but he has never won a Shaw Trophy and is struggling early in this, his final season.

[eaglesfan036 4,602]

Well done well done

 

we all know the best rookie goalie is wingate doe :3

[Kylrad 178]

Content 3/3 Great, in depth article, way above the required amount of content 

 

Grammar 2/2 Nothing to find

 

Appearance 1/1 Looks great

 

Overall 6/6 

[Victor 10,940]

I honestly had no idea Brookside split time with Rock Star. Jason too classy.

[CoachReilly 688]

Claimed