Goaltender Curtis McElhinney, the lanky lefty from London, ON, was solid in his third straight win last night against the Avs – a wonderful romp of a game that featured Scott Niedermayer proving the old dog still knows a few tricks, Mr. 600 becoming Mr. 601 and bringing the Ducks to seven points behind Colorado for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Picked up in a trade with Calgary for netminder Vesa Toskala in early March 2010, McElhinney seemed at first glance to be an odd selection considering in the 2008-2009 season he failed to win in his first 13 starts. It wasn’t until April 11, 2009 that he notched his first win against the Edmonton Oilers, 4-1.
During the CBC postgame interview, an ecstatic teammate gleefully shaving creamed him and scurried off giggling like a school girl. Later, when a reporter pointed out there was still some in his ear, McElhinney responded “I’m sure it’s in a lot of other places, too. It feels good. Well, other than my eyes are burning a bit. It felt great, and I’m so happy to get it.”
Calgary teammate Craig Conroy once said McElhinney would make huge saves during practice, but no one was really aware of his talent because he didn’t play many games. Well, someone on the Ducks staff apparently heeded those praises and we’ve been richly rewarded by the addition of Big Mac between the pipes.
McElhinney has stated that he’s eager to secure the Ducks back-up spot and that he was glad to get out from under Miikka Kiprusoff. “It’s a tough job playing the backup role anywhere you are, but especially in Calgary with the amount of games that Kiprusoff likes to play,” McElhinney said in a recent interview.
ESPN.com fantasy sports analyst Tim Kavanaugh recently listed some of the hot goalies to watch out for and listed McElhinney alongside the more expected Jonathan Bernier, Cam Ward, Miikka Kiprusoff and Marc-Andre Fleury, commenting right off the bat “This is really an odd one.” It’s nice to see the guy who flew under the radar getting some much deserved props.
So how much more of Mac will we see this season? Well, with the way the Avs have been collapsing and the Ducks hopes revitalized, maybe more than expected. Not that anyone wants to see Hiller out for longer than necessary, but the waterfowl are on a roll, so why mess with success?