{"id":184158,"date":"2021-02-20T22:36:58","date_gmt":"2021-02-20T19:36:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/devils-mackenzie-blackwood-primed-for-goalie-greatness\/"},"modified":"2021-02-20T22:36:58","modified_gmt":"2021-02-20T19:36:58","slug":"devils-mackenzie-blackwood-primed-for-goalie-greatness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/devils-mackenzie-blackwood-primed-for-goalie-greatness\/","title":{"rendered":"#Devils’ Mackenzie Blackwood primed for goalie greatness"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Devils’ Mackenzie Blackwood primed for goalie greatness<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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We have lived through the golden age of goaltending on the banks of the Hudson, more than two decades of it through which first Mike Richter then Henrik Lundqvist challenged Martin Brodeur for supremacy, sometimes even succeeding.<\/p>\n

Now, we may be set up for a Chapter 2, though please understand the bar set by these three decorated netminders remains a target that aspiring young\u2019uns Igor Shesterkin and Mackenzie Blackwood can only hope to app<\/a>roach.<\/p>\n

Shesterkin may be the one who came to New York with all of the hype, but it sure appears as if Blackwood brought his star with him to New Jersey, too. You look at Blackwood, who at age 24 has quickly become the backbone of the young, exciting and sometimes even captivating Devils, and you see \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI see a goalie who understands the NHL game<\/a>, stays within himself and has the athletic ability to make the extra save,\u201d Brodeur himself, who holds the title of Hockey Operations Executive VP and Advisor, told Slap Shots. \u201cHe understands his game, knows his limits, protects his weaknesses and uses his strengths.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s always in control.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s it. That\u2019s what strikes you when watching this Devils team that doesn\u2019t quite have Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Brian Rafalski and Ken Daneyko operating seamlessly in its own end of the ice. When there is trouble, and there often is plenty, Blackwood is always composed and owns both the mental and physical tools to shut it down. He cools the temperature.<\/p>\n

He is 6-foot-4, 225, and these are not at all parentheticals.<\/p>\n

\"Mackenzie
The Devils\u2019 Mackenzie Blackwood makes a glove save.<\/figcaption>
AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s big,\u201d Brodeur said. \u201cI mean, he\u2019s not one of these guys who looks big because of his equipment. He\u2019s as big when he\u2019s just wearing normal clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old from Thunder Bay was the highest ranked North American goaltender of his 2015 draft class when the Devils selected him 48th overall. There has been a steady progression since, two-plus seasons in the AHL, graduation to the NHL midway through 2018-19, and the step up to No. 1 a year ago, when he went 22-14-8 with a .915 save percentage and 2.77 GAA with a pretty bad team.<\/p>\n

This year, his season interrupted by COVID-19 that kept him off the ice for nearly a month, he was 4-0-1\/.945\/1.94 entering Saturday\u2019s afternoon match against the Sabres. The save percentage is not a typographical error.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe brought in a new goalie coach this year with Dave Rogalski and I think that\u2019s been a big part of Mackenzie\u2019s growth,\u201d Brodeur said. \u201cMackenzie is a workhorse, he always wants to get better. He provides a lot of confidence for the team with the way he is able to handle everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny. We didn\u2019t want to put too much on him this year, and that\u2019s why we signed Corey Crawford as a free agent. We expected it to be a 1A\/1B situation. But that didn\u2019t work out the way we thought, did it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Not quite. Crawford, the 36-year-old two-time Cup winner from Chicago who\u2019d dealt with post-concussion issues the past couple of years, retired before the season commenced. That left the net to Blackwood \u2014 who, by the way, is on the first year of an appropriate but wildly team-friendly contract for a $2.8 million average annual value.<\/p>\n

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