Does the lack of experience of Canadian defenders haunt you? The 2021-22 Arizona Coyotes invite you to hold their beer.
Posted at 6:29 p.m.
Last season, no less than six rookie fullbacks played 16 to 67 games under the desert sun. Discloser: It didn’t go so well.
Shots allowed: 32e rank in the NHL. Chances to Score Granted: 31e rank.
Pucks were coming from everywhere. Patiently, in front of his net, Karel Vejmelka faced them.
At the end of the summer of 2021, the 26-year-old Czech was, as well put it, a total unknown on NHL rinks. Less than a year later, he had played 52 games and signed a three-year contract. Suddenly, in Arizona, we can’t — and don’t want — to do without it.
Originally, “absolutely no one knew him, we didn’t know what to expect,” recalls striker Christian Fischer.
“He’s the only starting goaltender in the league who arrives at a press briefing with a development camp t-shirt,” head coach André Tourigny joked last March.
PHOTO NICK TURCHIARO, USA TODAY SPORTS
Arizona Coyotes head coach André Tourigny
In the corridor of the Bell Complex in Brossard, where the Coyotes trained on Wednesday on the eve of their duel against the Canadiens, Fischer is now confused in praise for his teammate.
“NHL players, we know when someone is good,” continued the forward. Within a week, everyone knew we had a good player on hand. He was told, and his confidence grew. And he’s only progressing. »
We must not stop at Vejmelka’s statistics. His .898 save percentage and 3.68 goals-against average last season aren’t those of an elite goaltender. However, he is the one in the entire league who has received the most dangerous shots per 60 minutes of play at five against five, according to the specialized site Natural Stat Trick. His save rate in front of those quality shots placed him at 23e ranked among the league’s 55 busiest goaltenders.
This season, he was, before Wednesday night’s games, downright the goalkeeper who had already received the most shots in the NHL – 123 in three games. And the advanced statistics, despite a limited sample, confirm that he is still the most battered goalkeeper on the circuit.
Adaptation
In interviews, the 6’4″ colossus is strikingly calm. The voice is soft, confident despite some hesitation in English.
I like getting a lot of pitches. All goalkeepers like it, it helps to stay focused.
Karel Vejmelka
His greatest adaptation, then, was not the barrage of shots, but the size of the ice and the North American style of play, as well as the long NHL schedule. became difficult for him, testifies the head coach André Tourigny. We talked about it, he worked hard. At training camp 2022, he arrived in exemplary physical condition.
Last year, the Quebecer discovered “someone always ready to work, very stable” and in control of his emotions. A happy surprise, in that sense, coming from an athlete who was under pretty much all the radar.
Heading into the 2014 draft, Vejmelka was ranked 14e rank (out of 14) among international goalies evaluated by NHL Central Scouting. Ignored by all teams, he was eventually selected in the fifth round the following year by the Nashville Predators. They never signed him.
After navigating between the first and second division of the Czech championship, the young man told his agent that he would like to try his luck in the NHL again. The Coyotes signed him in May 2021 and, two months later, they had traded or let go of their organization’s top three goalies.
Vejmelka showed up to camp, humbly, hoping to land a spot in the American League. It was ultimately the main club that kept him.
“It was a dream come true,” he recalls. A surreal, indescribable feeling. I love everything that’s happened to me since. »
Pillar
From unknown, he quickly rose to pillar status, even more since the Coyotes traded his partner Scott Wedgewood last March. He’s not just the default keeper, though.
Christian Fischer, one of the Coyotes’ longest-serving players, raves about the positive impact he’s had on the team’s (many) young defensemen.
PHOTO NICK TURCHIARO, USA TODAY SPORTS
Arizona Coyotes winger Christian Fischer
“When you know that the goalkeeper behind you can make stops with consistency, it calms you down a lot,” he explains. It allows young people to be more comfortable. Creating a turnover that costs a goal is the worst feeling. “Vedj” gives them a lot of confidence. »
“We talk to each other a lot,” confirms JJ Moser, 22. It makes things much easier. It’s a project we’re starting here. So we have to communicate. »
This “project” is obviously the reconstruction of the Coyotes which finally seems about to bear fruit. And which, in fact, packs Karel Vejmelka.
“We have a very young team, which needs experience,” he said. There are a lot of positives, but we have to keep improving. One step at a time. »
In short
JJ Moser in the foreground
Ignored three years in a row in the repechage before being selected in the second round in 2021, Janis Jérôme Moser has learned to be patient. His NHL career, however, is advancing at high speed. In his second year in the NHL, and with less than 50 games experience, the 22-year-old Swiss is his team’s most-used defenseman this season — almost 25 minutes per game. After waiting his turn for so long, he’s not going to complain. “It’s really very cool to feel the confidence of the coaches,” he said on Wednesday, in impeccable French tinged with a German accent. “I try to contribute as best I can and in the most beneficial way possible for the team,” he added.
Flowers for Kaiden Guhle
Arizona Coyotes head coach André Tourigny doesn’t have to be shy about complimenting Kaiden Guhle, who played under him on the national junior team. “I’m not surprised at all” by his success, said the Quebecer on Wednesday about the Canadiens defender. “He’s a well-prepared guy, a good professional, who doesn’t make a lot of mistakes,” continued Tourigny. I said at the time that over the next 15 years, he would be the guy with the most ice time in Montreal. It’s off to a good start, it’s already at 22 minutes, it won’t go down! » Checking, it’s closer to 21, but the spirit is the same.
Power Play Threat
One of the NHL’s worst powerplay teams last year, the Arizona Coyotes turned the tide drastically at the start of the season. With a success rate of 38.5% (5 in 13), André Tourigny’s men were third in the NHL heading into Wednesday night’s games. Defender Shayne Gostisbehere and forward Nick Ritchie already have four points each under these circumstances. Tourigny especially praised the work of his assistant Cory Stillman, who contributed to “changing the philosophy and the ways of doing things” as well as “clarifying and simplifying things”. “Often we try to make things more complicated than they should be,” added the coach.