With the season winding down and no point in exacerbating Jonas Hiller’s back injury, the Ducks have called up Jean-Philippe Levasseur as back-up for Curtis McElhinney.
Yeah, I know, I hear all the Hiller fans asking “who are these guys?” I’ll have more on C.McE tomorrow, but for now, a little about the strapping young lad, JPL (get it?).
When the Iowa Chops went buh-bye, Levasseur was loaned to the then Edmonton Oilers AHL affiliate team, the Springfield Falcons in December 2009 (The Falcons recently joined forces with the Columbus Blue Jackets). Since his debut with the Falcons, Levasseur has played in 25 games, posting a record of 8-16-1 with a 3.59 goals against average and .896 save percentage. His most impressive game was on February 14, 2010 against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers when he stopped 49 shots in a 4-0 shutout.
A native of Victoriaville, Quebec, Levasseur was a 7th round pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft and prior to the Falcons and the Chops, he backstopped ECHL Bakersfield as well as CHL Loredo. The 23-year-old will don number 36, but with McElhinney’s win against Dallas, it’s a pretty sure thing we’ll see Levasseur sporting a baseball cap instead of a helmet.