Written by Alex Carrollin NHL
10 Aug 2009
Three years ago, a 20-year-old Justin Pogge backstopped Team Canada to a gold medal at the World Junior Championships. Since then, he’s struggled to live up to the hype as the savior of the Toronto Maple Leafs. In seven NHL starts last season, he managed one victory while posting a 4.35 GAA and .844 save percentage.
But reports have surfaced that the 23-year-old netminder will be dealt to Anahaim, and Toronto will sign Joey MacDonald for AHL depth after signing the much-coveted Jonas Gustavsson this offseason.
While in Toronto, Pogge struggled with several goaltending coaches — one of which compared him to a child actor — while critics questioned his mental toughness. His former goaltending coach, Steve McKichan, spoke of Pogge’s unfortunate situation several weeks ago.
“There’s nothing bad I can say about him. He’s just a young kid who got put into a difficult situation. He came in as the saviour — and not to take anything away from him — but he’s got to earn his stripes.”
Now Pogge will get the chance to prove himself in a far less pressure situation in Anaheim, where most of the fans have probably never heard of him before. With Jonas Hiller already slated as the goaltender of the future, and with two more years remaining on JS Giguere’s contract, Pogge will be given plenty of time to earn his orange and black stripes.
Hockey news, rumors, and insight from
a college student and lifelong hockey fan.
A Pittsburgh native, Alex attends the
University of South
Carolina where he majors in Visual Communications with a minor in Sport
and Entertainment Management. He has interned for the
Columbia Inferno of the ECHL and the Penn Enforcers of the NAJHL.
Contact: shbreakaway@gmail.com
