2019-20 CHL Season in Review: Top Goaltenders
With the 2019-20 campaign concluded, the Canadian Hockey League is reviewing many of the season’s top performers including some great goaltenders.
Shank sets new career high
No netminder found the win column more this season than Alexis Shank of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.
Wrapping up 2019-20 with a career high of 36 victories, the third-year goaltender only surrendered nine regulation losses through 50 total appearances to help the Sagueneens finish second place in the QMJHL’s Eastern Conference with 96 points, the club’s best showing since the 2005-06 campaign. Shank’s best showing this season came through early November that saw him string together seven consecutive victories. The native of Laval, Que., also closes out the season with a pair of shutouts, including a 34-save showing versus the top-ranked Sherbrooke Phoenix in which he came away with 34 saves in addition to first-star recognition in the 5-0 win on home ice. Across three seasons with the Sagueneens, Shank has recorded 78 wins through 136 career contests.
Across the circuit, other league leaders include Calgary Flames prospect Dustin Wolf of the Everett Silvertips who won 34 times in 46 appearances, and St. Louis Blues prospect Joel Hofer of the Portland Winterhawks who tied his U.S. Division counterpart in one additional game. Top honours in the OHL went to Los Angeles Kings draft pick Jacob Ingham of the Kitchener Rangers who came away with 33 wins in 46 games this season. Sherbrooke’s Samuel Hlavaj, a 2020 NHL Draft hopeful, also won 33 times but achieved the feat in just 39 games played.
Wolf shuts down opposition
Everett Silvertips netminder Dustin Wolf is at the top of the leaderboard in the goals-against average category.
Allowing just 85 goals in more than 2,700 minutes of ice time this season, Wolf earned a 1.88 goals-against average to finish atop the circuit as well as best amongst his WHL brethren for the second year running after he came away with a 1.69 goals-against average through 61 appearances a year ago. In all, Wolf wraps up 2019-20 with nine shutouts – including an astounding 41-save performance coming against the Medicine Hat Tigers in early December – in addition to a dozen games in which he limited the opposition to a single goal. A seventh-round selection by the Calgary Flames in the 2019 NHL Draft, Wolf has shined across three seasons with the Silvertips, owning an incredible 1.85 goals-against average through 127 career contests.
A trio of other WHL netminders are next inside the top-five including overager Shane Farkas (2.20) of the Victoria Royals, NHL Draft prospect Dylan Garand (2.21) of the Kamloops Blazers, and rookie Sebastian Cossa (2.23) of the Edmonton Oil Kings. Around the CHL, best efforts came courtesy of Samuel Hlavaj of the Sherbrooke Phoenix who owned a QMJHL-leading 2.25 goals-against average through 39 appearances followed by London Knights rookie and 2020 NHL Draft hopeful Brett Brochu who came away with a 2.40 goals-against average across 42 games.
Wolf back on top
Dustin Wolf once again led the pack in the save percentage column after stopping 1,231 of 1,316 shots this season, good for a .935 save percentage.
Earning the best save percentage in the WHL for the second year running – and nearly mirroring last season’s .936 save rate that came after 61 appearances – Wolf continued to shut down the opposition in his third season as he surrendered two or fewer goals in 31 of his 46 contests in 2019-20. On 19 occasions this season, Wolf posted 30 or more saves, including two nights where he stopped at least 40 shots, punctuated by a 3-2 win against the Kamloops Blazers coming in early November in which he stopped a season high of 42 shots en route to a 3-2 win and first-star honours.
Elsewhere, top save percentages came from Ottawa Senators prospect Kevin Mandolese of the Cape Breton Eagles who posted a .925 save rate through 37 appearances followed by Nico Daws of the Guelph Storm who earned a .924 save percentage across 38 games this season helping him become the top ranked North American goaltender for the NHL Draft despite being in his second year of eligibility.
Wolf’s perfect games
After recording seven shutouts last season to finish second highest in the WHL, Everett Silvertips netminder Dustin Wolf took it one step farther this year in topping the charts with nine perfect games.
Wolf then picked up in where he left off, pitching his first shutout of 2019-20 in only the second game of the season as he turned aside 26 shots en route to a 6-0 victory versus the Victoria Royals in a late September contest. But perhaps Wolf’s most dominant stretch came in mid-January when he posted back-to-back shutouts against the rival Seattle Thunderbirds, stopping all 14 shots in the initial contest before turning aside another 29 shots the following night, a contest in which he earned second-star honours.
Beyond Wolf, other shutout leaders from across the CHL included Edmonton Oilers prospect Olivier Rodrigue of the Moncton Wildcats who came away with six shutouts in only 39 appearances followed by OHL leader Nico Daws of the Guelph Storm who recorded five perfect games across 38 showings.