Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
Past or present, the Providence Bruins’ goaltending picture has long been quite secure.
Over the past three decades, Providence has been home to such Bruins prospects as John Grahame, Andrew Raycroft, Tim Thomas, Tuukka Rask and Dan Vladar.
These days Brandon Bussi has become one of the NHL’s best early-season stories. Bussi, now with the Carolina Hurricanes, became the fastest to 10 career wins in NHL history. But Bussi spent parts of four seasons developing with the P-Bruins before eventually ending up with Carolina this season.
Still in Providence is Michael DiPietro, last season’s winner of the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s most outstanding goaltender.
And joining DiPietro this season is Simon Zajicek, the latest promising goaltending addition in Providence, where the Bruins are off to a 19-5-1-0 start.
“I think the first thing is that they both are fantastic with each other,” head coach Ryan Mougenel said. “Michael’s done a real good job of mentoring.”
The Boston Bruins have long shown a knack for finding and securing overlooked talent. Last season with Czech club HC Litvinov, Zajicek went 15-13-0 in 29 games to go with a 2.12 goals-against average and the league’s top save percentage at .930.
Boston’s scouting staff – namely goaltending development coach Mike Dunham – identified the 24-year-old Zajicek as a target to shore up the organization’s depth in goal. It stood as a low-risk arrangement for both sides – a one-year, entry-level deal.
The Bruins have also long had a successful Czech talent pipeline across all positions, most notably stars David Krejci and David Pastrnak. Signing with Boston allowed Zajicek to make the always-challenging overseas move to a set-up that would offer a sturdy foundation for the next stage of his career.
“It was always my dream to come to the U.S.,” Zajicek explained, “I’m glad I’m here with the Bruins.”
Zajicek’s play has continued to validate what Boston saw in him, to the points that Mougenel is already comfortable giving either of his goaltenders the net. DiPietro is 10-4-0 with a 1.97 GAA and a .933 save percentage in 15 games; Zajicek is 9-1-1 along with a 2.02 GAA and a .932 save percentage. And the two have hit it off in their first few months working alongside each other.
Last weekend, Zajicek took a Friday night start in Hershey and quieted the Bears with 29 saves in a 4-1 win. A night later, it was DiPietro’s turn at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and he took care of the first 14 shots that he faced in the first period. But 12:29 into the game, DiPietro exited with an undisclosed issue. The Bruins turned back to Zajicek, who put forth perhaps the best effort of his already-excellent season so far, stopping 34 of 36 shots in relief to help Providence earn a point in a 2-1 overtime loss – despite being outshot, 50-25.
DiPietro’s status remains unclear, and Luke Cavallin has been summoned from ECHL Maine. But there is no doubt that the team is comfortable turning the reins over to Zajicek. This has been a union that works all around – for the organization, for Providence, and for both goaltenders.
“I’m feeling great,” Zajicek said. “We win, and the boys are helping me so much.”
Said Mougenel of Providence’s latest goaltending find, “He’s been excellent.”
