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spidey · 03-02-2014, 03:32 PM

The story of the Rageâ€™s number one goalie is one of the most under rated stories for a player who does not receive enough praise. He has literally been cast aside from team to team and never really given a chance, yet still perused and pushed to become the top player he has become. While TPE will tell you part of the tale and why he plays on the lowest ranking team in the SHL like everything else it is only part of the story.

Before we take a step back in time letâ€™s start with the current situation. The Rage going through a major rebuild right now have taken a chance on a guy who was expected to be a career back up all his life, a bit of trade bait from one team to the next so they can up a package and get something better. He is active which is better than a couple of the leagueâ€™s number one goalies. He has been improving every season and made steady progression, once again another positive that not every goalie can claim. While he does have the lowest TPE among the starting goalies from his draft class, he didnâ€™t join his draft class until the trade deadline, so he started over a half season late. That is more for the past of Bobrovsky, and you know what I think it is time we took a look at his history and how he eventually became an SHL starter.

Way, way back in season 13 Sergei Bobrovsky came into a filled league looking for a chance to play. After fielding a few offers from a few teams Bobrovsky decided to play for the Montreal Impact. It would be a chance to sit back and learn as team goalie James Reimer was already in the full swing of things as the stacked Impact team prepared for a playoff run. Yet Bobrovsky decided to stay active learn and grow. Knowing that he would get a chance to play for a team soon after all Reimer was going to be drafted and with his experience would likely be playing in the SHL soon.

Like most things that wasnâ€™t the way, the Draft was held and Bobs was selected 30th overall, it may have been a mercy pick, it may have been he was the last remaining active member, the fact is another team above the Minnesota Wild chose to pass rather than take a chance on an active goalie. Once again pushed to the side Bobrovsky picked himself up and carried on training, and pushing himself to become better and better.

As season 14 approached it was known that Bobrovsky was heading back to juniors he did not have enough experience or training to be able to compete in the SHL level, but he was a head above his competition in the junior world and looked to be a lock in the starting position. However worst case scenario hit for Bobs as James Reimer last yearâ€™s starter for the Impact was also sent down. Bobrovsky despite being put back into a backup position continued to work on his craft getting a little better each day. While it wasnâ€™t a typical backup role that year, Bobs had about 40 percent of the playing time, he managed to put up better numbers than the number one goalie.

Once again another year had passed but finally seeing some playing time spurred on hope for the future as Bobrovsky geared up for the next season. Despite a decent training camp he was once again sent to Montreal because of a log jam of goalies in the Minnesota system. Finally it was Bobrovskyâ€™s season; he was going to get a chance to really show the hockey world what he could do as a starting goalie. With all the drive and excitement for a real chance Bobs finished the year with fairly pedestrian stats. 18 â€“ 17 â€“ 4, 900 save percentage and a 3.14 GAA. After 2 seasons of training a lot more was expected out of the junior veteran goalie. At that moment it was almost certain that Bobrovsky was never going to develop to anything more than a backup goalie. Maybe one of the best backups the league had ever seen but a backup never the less.

That is when the world changed for Bobrovsky, finally accepting his role in Minnesota he was going to back up Sawyer until Sawyer retired, then they would see where the goalie situation was at. A trade took place for Minnesota to acquire a young goalie who would be able to start right away. Bobs was sent to West Kendal with a second round pick for Jermaine Tennyson a junior goalie with a bit better of a pedigree. The second he got to West Kendall he was told be prepared to ride the pine for the next while as they had Urijah Winnfieldthe yet another junior goalie with a fantastic pedigree, and CJ James!

Obviously someone had to go, three active young goalie competing for two roster positions, this was not a formula for success. The Rage had just made a major trade to get their goalie of the future with Josef Heiss leaving the team. Instead of wanting to be a part of a team that was ready to build around their future netminder, Jordin FourFour requested a trade away from the Rage the season before, preferring to go to a team that was ready to win the cup. The Rage saw a chance to secure yet another young active goalie and made a movie to bring in the guy who never had a chance to start. Sergei Bobrovsky was moved to the Rage for a second round pick in season 16â€™s draft.

Since the move Bobrovsky has continued to be an active member in the locker room and league continuing his training and taking steps to stay as the Rageâ€™s number one goalie. While many in the league have written him off he has excelled in Manhattan back stopping them to an unforeseen 6 game winning streak last season, something they really had no right to be able to do. While the journey is far from over for Bobs and the Rage, the bottom feeder team and the cast off goalie have found that the two can provide each other what both need. Bobs needed a team to believe in him and give him a chance to shine. The Rage needed a loyal starting goalie that will develop with the rebuild and hold the crease in the future.

In the end Bobrovsky is nowhere near done his training and currently sits as a low end starter, part of that has to do with the talent around him. But what he does have is an unconventional style to goaltending. Quick agility, hand speed, reaction time, and he plays bigger then he actually is allows him to flop a bit more than the average goalie making it hard for opposing players to know where to shoot, a Dominik Hasek style of goalie. He has decent endurance, so he really shouldnâ€™t play a ton of games in the SHL level, but with little choice with the Rage he will need to do so, and he doesnâ€™t have the best skating or puck handling in the league so expect Bobs to stay in the net and allow his defense to work the puck.

Where the future leads for Bobrovsky will all depend on how he applies to his craft, but he has rapidly become a leader and a corner stone to the new look Rage.

#WHEELsnipePARTY · 03-02-2014, 05:44 PM

â™¥â™¥â™¥â™¥

***Nike*** · 03-02-2014, 10:44 PM

This is nice...but it could use maybe one picture eh spidey Tongue

<3 well done as always

spidey · 03-03-2014, 12:58 AM

Quote:Originally posted by Nike@Mar 2 2014, 07:44 PM
This is nice...but it could use maybe one picture eh spidey

<3 well done as always

I am not really a picture kind of guy. Lol.

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