67’s tandem of Fetterolf, Nelson sharing both crease and glory this season
Every coach will preach about how wins are often team efforts, and while that may be true, there’s no denying that a good goaltender can bring stability in the crease.
This season, the Ottawa 67’s have been blessed with two: the returner Jaeden Nelson and the rookie Ryder Fetterolf.
“We’re lucky enough here to have two starting calibre goaltenders,” said Ottawa 67’s goaltending coach Andrew Mercer. “Any given night, we can make decisions for what’s best for the team.”
That mentality has translated into the two goalies’ workloads, as both Fetterolf and Nelson have been consistently racking up starts and wins against the best of the best in the league.
Fetterolf has had a ridiculous season so far, taking up the lead role in the tandem, posting a league-high .923 save percentage through 41 games.
That figure is the highest save percentage among rookie starting netminders in franchise history, one of the many records he had set this season. The Pittsburgh, PA native also now holds the franchise record for shutouts as well as the OHL record among rookies with six.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Fetterolf of the accomplishment.
“The Ottawa 67’s have been around for a long time; they are very established,” he said. “So it feels great to put myself on a record here.”
“I didn’t know either of the records before or even after the game until I was told,” he said. “I just try to play my game and aim for a shutout every game.”
Alongside the records, Fetterolf has also claimed some hardware: winning the F.W. “Dinty” Moore Trophy for first-year goaltender with the lowest goals-against average and winning the Dave Pinkney Trophy with Jaeden Nelson for tandem with the fewest goals against.
“It’s a nice award for the boys, because there was a ton of work that went into it,” said Mercer. “Zero missed practices, zero late practices; the standard, which was set very early, was carried all the way through.”
“Those are the results you get out of that,” he said.
“It feels great to win the award; both individually and collectively, between the goaltending group with Ryder and as a team,” said Jaeden Nelson. “I know our names are the ones that get announced for it, but the way the team has bought into playing defence and bringing it every single game.”
He credits the season’s success to his mental preparations starting in the summer.
“Maybe it’s a little clichée but once you turn 18, something changes in your brain,” he laughed. “I just think this past off-season, there was a lot of maturity I’ve gained towards my approach to my game.”
“I took that into training camp, still being myself, but taking things seriously and knowing what is required day in and day out to find the success I wanted.”
“Reading and reflecting over the summer has been a way for me to learn more,” he said. “You start to learn, and it reflects who you are as a person and as an athlete.”
Both goaltenders have also landed themselves on NHL Central Scouting’s North American goalie rankings. For Nelson, this is the second time.
“There’s a lot of little details Nelson has worked on,” said Mercer. “Getting higher in the crease, smoother transitions, making reads, trusting his patience, managing his pucks better, all of these things come together to make a smoother game for him and limit the amount of second chances.”
“Fetterolf sees pucks and reads shooters very well,” he said. “So when you have that type of goaltender in front of you, you can really work on the patience.”
“His six-feet, that’s no secret, but what we worked on making him look like he’s bigger, whether that’s getting him to stay on his feet a little longer, playing more aggressively, managing his depth and keeping pucks underneath him.”
On top of that, Fetterolf has an X-factor that has really helped him run away this season.
“His athleticism is huge because he can repeatedly make the saves that he otherwise shouldn’t have been able to make,” he said. “It all goes back to his patience; with Ryder, he’ll outwait you and force you to make a play.”
“He’s so powerful and athletic that if that puck goes east-to-west, he can match that speed,” he said. “Even when he’s in the splits cross-crease, his eyes are still attached to the puck, and he’s still able to make the little adjustments on the way over, too.”
“Their impact is every night,” said Mercer. “There are a lot of games that went in our favour because of those two.”
“If you look at Nelson’s play over the last 10 games or so, it’s been statistically at the top of the league,” he said. “The results from that are that NHL teams start to stand up and take notice, and those guys like consistency, and that’s what both of them were able to do the whole year.”
Moving ahead, the 67’s will have some tough decisions in the crease this playoffs, as neither goalie boasts OHL post-season experience, and both goalies have shown the capability to withstand any team’s offence.
However, as this season has shown, the team has confidence in either one, and for good reason, to get the job done.
