To grow from a spry 16 year old year old phenom into a 17 year old Memorial Cup champion the next is truly one of the greatest accomplishments that I can recall in major junior hockey.
Growing up in the shadows of supernovas like Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin, Zach Fucale has silently captured the imagination of the hockey world.
The goaltender just led his Halifax Mooseheads to the top of the junior hockey mountain. The second year back stop started his journey to the top as a naive 16 year old in 2012. Fucale's ascent was patient and productive. His transition from QMJHL rookie to his outstanding sophomore season has been impressive.
Fucale posted an amazing record of 45-5-3 during the regular season, with a 2.35 GAA and .909 save %.
Fucale turned 18 on May 28. Look at this monster-sized body of work that he has created in just two seasons in junior hockey:
2011-2012 QMJHL All-Rookie Team
QMJHL Defensive Rookie of the Year "Raymond Lagacé Trophy"
2012-2013 CHL Goaltender of the Week (Apr. 7)
CHL Goaltender of the Week (Feb. 17)
CHL Memorial Cup Champion
CHL Top Prospects Game
Ivan Hlinka Gold Medal
QMJHL Champion
QMJHL First All-Star Team
Awards by league
- CHL Goaltender of the Week 12/13, 12/13
- CHL Memorial Cup Champion 12/13
- CHL Top Prospects Game 12/13
- Ivan Hlinka Gold Medal 12/13
- QMJHL All-Rookie Team 11/12
- QMJHL Champion 12/13
- QMJHL Defensive Rookie of the Year "Raymond Lagacé Trophy" 11/12
- QMJHL First All-Star Team 12/13
NHL teams are tripping all over themselves for the opportunity to draft Fucale. He's a game-breaker. An NHL star in the making. He's 17 right now, and his ceiling is as high as the clouds in the sky.
Fucale was in Buffalo this week for the Sabres' invitation-only combine event. He also spent time with the Montreal Canadiens at their private combine event. The Sabres have the 8th and 16th overall picks in the NHL entry draft. Don't be surprised if Regier and Devine swoop in and grab Fucale before other teams sink their proverbial fork in him.
"If you had told me that things would be like this, I never would have believed, told Fucale. We had so much fun throughout our journey. It was a dream season. The city flipped. The people of Halifax are passionate and they were really proud of this first cut.
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Talk about pinch-me moments.
"I count myself lucky finding myself in that situation, I was in the right place at the right time", Fucale said earlier this week.
It helped that he had MacKinnon and Drouin provide him with a metric ton of offense along the way to the Memorial Cup win.
Thanks, NHL Network
The kid stood tall and proud, and didn't flinch when being grilled by the Montreal media this week, which is a feat greater than winning a Memorial Cup in some respects.
He's poised, polished, and is ready to be an NHL star.
Thanks, Habs TV
Fucale has worked extensively with his goaltending coach Eric Raymond to improve specific aspects of his game. There's no denying that Fucale is the best goalie in the 2013 entry draft.
Why are the Sabres interested in Fucale when their pantry is already over-stocked woth quality goaltending?
You can NEVER have enough high quality goalies in your organization. Just look at the calamity that the Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves in right now. Vokoun and Fleury are a mess and now the Pittsburgh Penguins are in their way to shocking early exit from the Eastern Conference Finals.
Its looking more and more likely that Darcy Regier will trade Ryan Miller in the next three weeks. Minnesota, Calgary, Edmonton, NY Islanders, and Pittsburgh are among the teams claoring for an upgrade in their net. Miller is entering the final year of his current contract, and it appears likely that he played his final game as a Sabres, his 500th, in the season finale vs. the NY Islanders.
Jhonas Enroth and Matt Hackett are figuring prominently in the Sabres' plans for next season.
The Sabres also have Connor Knapp, Darcy Lieuwen, and Andrey Makarov in their pipeline.
Buffalo's goaltending surplus will make them a trade partner that many NHL squads will want to hook up with to talk turkey in the next few weeks,
Selecting Fucale makes sense for Buffalo. If they are truly re-booting their team and are committing to the kids, then drafting Fucale is a logical choice.
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