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dynamite · 08-29-2019, 03:34 AM

Quote:1,306 Words - First Article

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Tobias Lindeman, a heavy set goaltender no team seemed to want, was not supposed to get here.

Yet there he was mid season in Anaheim, suddenly making a jump up the professional roster. In all, Lindeman, an undrafted rookie, has made an impressive 96 saves among 4 starts this season, helping the Outlaws to a solid 2-2 record in his first ever SMJHL game which caught national airtime on his seventeenth birthday. Despite facing nearly 25 shots a game on average, Lindeman is anything but upset with his teammates over all the rubber he's faced.

"No. No. No." Lindeman said in a recent interview. "It's been a great time to be a goalie for the Anaheim Outlaws. It's been fun."

It has been a season of trying to look on the bright side for the rebuilding Outlaws who remained quiet through the trade deadline and will likely finish with one of the bottom seeds in the league heading into playoffs. Despite having various youthful assets and being amidst the process of evaluating and developing their young core, the pieces just haven't clicked quite yet in California.

After winning the backup goaltender competition in training camp, Lindeman has posted a total record of 2-2-0 among five games (four of which he started), along with a strong 2.77 GAA and a rather underwhelming .875 save percentage. Last week he got to beat the Vancouver Whalers and his friendly rival in Marcus Ohlsson, making 22 saves in a 3-1 victory against a team that has proficient scoring talent. Prior to that he took a hard loss at the hands of the Anchorage Armada who beat him, 3-2, but only a few short games before that he had caught his first win of his career in a hard fought battle against the Whalers once again where he pulled out a steely 4-3 victory with some excellent goal tending late in the third period.

He has managed to learn a lot from watching Patrick Niederreiter, the current reigning starter for the franchise. Backups to Niederreiter have shuffled about this season, but lately the two have been sharing time between the pipes. Niederreiter has posted a disappointing .877 save percentage since the start of the season, only just eclipsing his rookie counter part.

"His work ethic is at Patrick's level, but he's also fast and quick like Patrick," Anthony Gaten, the Outlaws director of European scouting, said in a reference to Niederreiter. Gaten is primarily responsible for the Outlaws' eventually landing Lindeman. "He's got the character and desire to be great."

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Outlaws fans have taken notice of Lindeman's skills.

While he made the 10-minute walk to the arena before a game from his nearby residence one day, a car stopped in the middle of the street and began beeping at Lindeman. An Outlaws fan - who was also going to the game - jumped out of the vehicle, introduced himself, and asked if Lindeman would take a picture with his son.

"I wasn't startled or anything, but it was a bit unusual," said Lindeman, who obliged.

Lindeman took an odd path to get to the level he's at as an SMJHL goaltender. Coming in at 6'4" and 225lbs, the prevailing stigma is that heftier goalies move slower around the net, and therefor must use their size and frame to prevent pucks from beating them. That left Lindeman on the outside looking in.

"I wasn't really disappointed about not getting drafted, and I wanted to prove people wrong," he said. "That's kind of been my career so far, proving to people that I can be more than they expect."

Lindeman's parents, Henrik and Olga, moved to London from Sweden when their son was a year old, giving him dual citizenship. Lindeman began playing hockey when he was 5, but could not quite find his footing as a youngster in the UK. In search of improvement and opportunity, he left to attend a goaltender camp in his hometown of Stockholm, Sweden run by the former NHL goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

Lindeman eventually earned a recommendation to join HC Davos, a club in the top Swedish league, and continued his development. Still, playing time was hard to come by early on, with older netminders ahead of him on the depth chart.

"I was sitting in the stands every game dreaming about the NHL and feeling like I should be playing," Lindeman said. "But I realized I had no control over it. So I practiced harder and tried to grind through the season."

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Backups don't usually find much time in Anaheim, but Lindeman
has had an impressive four starts since his signing not long ago.

The Outlaws front office got it's first real look at Lindeman during the S49 world junior championships. He wound up making the UK team in a tryout camp, beating out some stellar competition and future first round draft picks for the starting job. He backstopped the team to a silver medal after a heartbreaking 3-2 overtime loss to a dominant Finnish team that sweeped the tournament.

Gaten said he was watching the tournament with the Outlaws' assistant general manager. "We were saying among ourselves that it's too bad he doesn't utilize his size more in the net, because he's very good," Gaten said.

The Outlaws did not draft Lindeman in S48 or S49, his breakout seasons, during which he led the Swedish Elite League in goal-against-average. None of the other SMJHL team did, either.

It was not until Gaten needed a goalie for the team's minor league affiliate that Lindeman's name resurfaced as a possibility.

"I said we have this kid 'Toby' who we've been watching for two to three years now," Gaten said. "His speed isn't traditional for the SMJHL, but he's been proving everyone wrong his entire life, and he's still doing it. So why don't we try him? We took a very educated guess that this kid would turn into something special."

The Outlaws invited Lindeman to their developmental camp - and after a daunting excursion to get his United States visa that included an overnight train trip - he earned an entry-level contract with the team midway through the campaign of S49.

Benefiting from his time working with the goalie coach, Lindeman ascended much more quickly than anticipated, overcoming a slow start in the minors as he transitioned to a smaller North American rink that features different shot angles. He made his SMJHL debut in Game 133, making 27 saves in a loss at Vancouver before picking up his first career win the following night against the same team.

It remains uncertain whether Lindeman be the heir apparent for Niederreiter, who enters some of his final years in the SMJHL. The Outlaws have more highly touted goalie prospects in the system that have excelled at a minor league level. The team is in the process of preparing for the future between the pipes.

Regardless, Lindeman has been in this position before, and his ultimate goal remains the same.

"I want to become a No. 1 goalie eventually," he said. "And obviously help my team team to win the Four Star Cup."

Noble · 08-29-2019, 01:36 PM

Great first article man! Glad to see you're enjoying the league!

*thiefofcheese* · 08-29-2019, 01:46 PM

And just upped that win column too!

#JusticeForToby

BDonini · 08-29-2019, 07:54 PM

star goalie in the making Cheers

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