The Whale made two roster moves today tie up loose ends on the goaltender position. The Whale recalled Jason Missiaen from the Greenville Road Warriors, who was sent down to the ECHL on December 12 to give goaltender Bryan Hince a shot on his PTO. Hince has been released from his PTO and returned to Greenville. Hince served as the backup goaltender in Connecticut, while Missiaen went 4-1-0 with a 2.75 GAA and a .922 SV% in five games in the ECHL.
The Whale made a pair of roster moves to help shore up the goaltender position. Whale goaltender Jason Missiaen was sent to the Greenville Road Warriors of the ECHL, while the Whale “recalled” Bryan Hince from Greenville. Recalled is in quotes because Hince himself had to be signed to an AHL PTO. For all intents and purposes it’s a recall, but there was some additional paperwork required for Hince to play in the AHL.
In three games with Greenville, Hince has a 1-2-0 record with a 3.36 GAA and a .912 SV%. In his professional career at the ECHL level, Hince is 12-3-0 with a 2.91 GAA and .910 SV%.
Missiaen struggled with the Whale this year and has ugly numbers to match his struggles. His 4.94 GAA and .850 SV% were among the worst in the league, although the Whale managed to go 2-3-0 in his games.
I know Dave wrote an Around the Farm today but as my ego demands it from time to time I wanted to share my thoughts from the Whale win last night as well. Sometimes, a variety of opinions suggest different things. (p.s. I hadn’t yet read Dave’s write up as I wrote this)
As the Whale managed to beat the Flyers affiliate Phantoms 3-1 last night there was plenty of positives to take out of the game from both a Whale and a Rangers perspective. Here are a few thoughts should excite Rangers fans going forward;
In a move that may have passed a lot of people by (including myself) the Rangers appear to have signed Quebec league goalie Jason Missiaen to an entry level contract. Missiaen, who at 6’8 is a huge goalie, recently completed his junior career on a weak Baie-Comeau Drakkar side in the Quebec Juniors where he won just 10 games in his final year. Prior to playing in the Q, Missiaen was at Peterborough of the OHL.
The Goalie Guild, who do a very good job discussing, umm, goalies had some positive words regarding the big goalie indicating that he played a lot better than his stats this season suggested. They also suggested that he does indeed have some potential even though his footwork seems to be an issue that needs development.
Missiaen, at this stage, is clearly a depth signing but with an eye on the future. Barring a shock Martin Biron will still be the backup for the Rangers next year meaning Chad Johnson, Cam Talbot and Dov Grumet-Morris will be fighting it out for the goalie jobs in Connecticut. While you can throw Missiaen’s name into that mix he seems destined for his first taste of the pro’s in the ECHL. Not to be forgotten is also Scott Stajcer who the Rangers will need to make a decision on soon.
Missiaen is clearly a low risk move for the Rangers as he cost nothing but dollars and with goalies sometimes the development can be unexpected or slower at first, so it’s a shot worth taking by the Rangers.
