Cheverie

[GoalieGuild]

Cheverie stopped 34 shots for his nation-leading fourth shutout tonight for DU after missing the last three games with a left calf injury. Cheverie outdueled North Dakota’s Brad Eidsness (33 saves) and keyed DU’s penalty kill to a perfect 6-for-6 effort.

Here is a pretty amazing stat, for any goalie at any level:

Cheverie has not allowed a power-play goal in 33 chances this season. He improved to 5-0 and also leads the nation with a 1.05 goals against average and .966 saves percentage.

Cheverie is turning into a very quality long-term prospect. He is in the WCHA, where the best collegiate goalies come from (not always, but mainly).

With all the talk about Washington's goalies (Neuvy, Varly, Holtby, 'Cash), I'd have to say that the Panthers have them beat with Markstrom, Salak and now Cheverie. Sheesh that's a lot of good goalies right there.

[ericdaoust]

Not to mention the Panthers are pretty sound at the NHL level with Vokoun and Clemmensen, allowing their young goalies to develop properly and not get rushed into the NHL.

[GoalieGuild]

During my weekly drop-in with a hockey club called Mallard's, one of the skaters is Mike Chambers from the Denver Post. He sometimes covers the Avs but also covers the Pioneers. We got a chance to talk about Cheverie today. It doesn't sound to him like Cheverie is going to stay in school next year, he is pretty much expected to go pro. Obviously it's still pretty early in his junior year, I wonder where he ends up and fits in with the Panthers' system. I really like the way he plays goal and has been beastly for the Pioneers. Four shutouts in his last seven games and that included a three-game injury.

This weekend they go up against Mike Lee and St. Cloud State ... Lee is playing well so far this season too, so it should be an awesome matchup.

[GoalieGuild]

Cheverie was huge again Friday night made 26 saves in a 2-1 win over CC.

[GoalieGuild]

I just posted an article on Cheverie that I wrote just kind of for fun today.

http://www.thegoalieguild.com/?p=3396

"CHEVERIE DOMINATES THE WCHA"

[ultrawhiteness]

good article GG. go Pioneers!

edit: by the way, I'm going to be looking at picking up another goalie in the summer draft for the team in my signature. when the dust settles on this season I'm going to fire you a list of guys picked from your Top Prospects list... do you think you could give your advice on that? might make for some good reading material for other people in reallly, really deep leagues.

[GoalieGuild]

Yep just post it in here as a new thread and I'll get to it!

[ultrawhiteness]

Yep just post it in here as a new thread and I'll get to it!

lol, it may have to be an email first, :P. gotta be careful not to help the competition before i get the first pass! ahah.

[GoalieGuild]

You heard it here first....just dropped in my e-mail box from DU Press.

MARC CHEVERIE HAS SIGNED WITH THE PANTHERS. Smart move. Get in while you can.

[4horsemen]

Care to offer up any predictions on how you see the goaltending situation playing out in Florida over the next few years? They've certainly stockpiled an enviable list of prospects and I'm in the fortunate/difficult position of having two choose two of; Salak, Enroth and Cheverie to protect this year. I've been leaning towards exposing Cheverie but do you think a case can be made for holding onto him over one of the other two?

I just don't see where he fits into their future when you consider that Markstrom is 'the franchise' asset and Salak is no slouch either.

Thanks Justin

[GoalieGuild]

I have been thinking about Cheverie's future a lot since he signed with the Panthers. I really think his development path is going to look a lot like Richard Bachman's.

They are both top-flight WCHA goalies that left after their junior year. I am hoping that the Panthers will put him in the ECHL and give him a ton of games and let him be successful while also playing many games. A lot of people wonder why Bachman is ranked as high as he is for an ECHL goalie, but now that he's had such a good season, it's starting to make sense. I think the same will happen with Cheverie. He will take a few years to develop in a lower league but I know he's got NHL abilities. The only knock on Cheverie will be his lack of success in the playoffs. And they are legitimate knocks...he didn't perform at his best either his sophomore or junior year.

But so much depends on whether or not Markstrom signs or not. A lot of rumors are flying around but it's tough being over here and trying to translate Swedish articles and knowing what the latest developments are.

I'll have a lot more insight on Florida's situation around the draft. They are stacked to the brim and BOTH Vokoun and Clemmensen are signed to deals. Clemmensen needs to be shoved out of there somehow, but that will depend on how much trust the organization has in guys like Salak, Plante, Cheverie/Markstrom and how they want to manage salary. It's a convoluted mess right now, so I don't want to speculate too much.

But if it were me, I'd move Clemmensen or buy him out or waive him and get him in the minors and then pull Salak up. Put some pressure on Vokoun, make him play more consistently, especially in the start of the season. Either Salak will entice other teams to snag him or his value will rise, either way it's a positive because Markstrom and Cheverie are top-flight prospects.

[4horsemen]

Thanks for the great breakdown Justin!

I completely agree with your assessment of Clemmenson, I hope Florida has the guts to start preparing for the future and not riding the safe bet although it just feels wrong calling Clemmenson a 'safe bet'. So it sounds like your gut feeling is that Cheverie is a few years away from NHL action but Salak has a legit shot to step in as a backup next year at some point? Maybe it'll take a Clemmenson meltdown first.....here's to hoping!

[Rad64]

Do you see them moving Vokoun? They certainly could use defense, offense, special teams...etc.
Moving Vokoun allows them to start Clemmenson and bring up Salak. If I'm confident in my tending prospects that is a move I'd be looking into...

[GoalieGuild]

I see them moving Clemmensen before Vokoun. But at this point any guess is as good as mine. It depends on the market, what other teams are looking for, what kind of calls Florida is getting regarding either goalie. I hate trying to guess who is going to move because it usually all comes down to dollars and cents and most organizations have an open mind when any other GM comes calling and says "We want this guy..."

So it's a tough read right now. All I can do is explain the facts. Clemmensen is dead weight in Florida, they are clogged up with too many quality prospects and some are NHL ready right now. Markstrom should come over to play in NA this year. Plante is like the AHL equivalent to Clemmensen ... good but WTF is he doing or WTF is Florida's plan for him?

Salak cooled down in the 2nd half, but not to the point where I think he's any less of a goalie. He should battle with someone for a spot on Florida. I think Vokoun/Salak is one hell of a tandem and gives Salak a mentor to model his game after because Salak wastes WAYYYY too much energy over the course of a game. He's too animated and he needs a goalie like Vokoun to show him what it means to be efficient with energy. Otherwise Salak will always start strong and wear down fast.

Move Clemmer. Put Salak behind Vokoun. Bring Markstrom over to play with Plante. Put Cheverie in the Everblades. That's my call. Let's see how it turns out.