COLUMBUS, GA – Days before the start of the SPHL season, Columbus Cottonmouths’ head coach / general manager Jerome Bechard learned that he had a problem that most in his profession would die for: too many goalies. It took him two games into the regular season but he finally made his decision on who was staying and who was leaving. Monday afternoon, Bechard announced that Ian Vigier and Chad Rycroft would be his two net minders, leaving rookie Steve Bounds out of a job. “Ian has a workhorse ethic unmatched in the league making him one of , if not the, best goalie in the league,” Bechard said. “Unfortunately for Steve, Chad Rycroft is a proven number one goaltender and with him and Vigier both back, we have two of the best goalies in the league.” The saga began when Vigier, who had played with the Cottonmouths for two seasons, told Bechard during the summer that he was going to head to Dayton
Columbus goalie Ian Vigier (photo courtesy of Columbus Cottonmouths)
to join up with the IHL Gems and coach John Marks (Marks knew Vigier from Marks’ season as coach of the Fayetteville FireAntz). Bechard, thinking that Vigier would be gone for good, resigned Rycroft and added Bounds to his roster. All was going well until training camp. Bounds was invited to the camp of the South Carolina Stingrays in the ECHL – the same team that a year ago had used Vigier as a fill-in with some success. As Bounds was impressing the Rays’ coaching staff, Vigier was finding Dayton not to be to his liking and walked away after a week. He made a beeline straight back to Columbus where Bechard welcomed him back. Vigier’s reappearance in Columbus seemed timely because Bounds was working himself closer and closer to a roster spot in South Carolina. Then just two days before the start of the ECHL season, Bounds was bumped by the Rays in order to make room for a “contract” goalie (a goalie in the development system) sent their way by their AHL affiliate in Hershey, PA. Bounds packed his gear and headed to Columbus where he found himself in a three-way battle for two spots. The Cottonmouths used all three in the two exhibition games they played against Huntsville. Still, Bechard could not come to a complete decision, only getting as far as indicating that Vigier’s job was safe and pitting the veteran Rycroft against the rookie Bounds. Bechard felt that he needed more time to evaluate Bounds so he chose to open the season
Columbus goalie Chad Rycroft fends off a Knoxville forward (photo courtesy of Glenn Smith / Columbus Cottonmouths)
with Vigier as his number one who would play opening night against Fayetteville while Bounds would get to “audition” in the team’s second game, also against the FireAntz. “It was vital to the team that we get a chance to work with Bounds on the ice to see his demeanor, discipline and style under pressure,” Bechard said. Following a 4-1 victory Friday night in which Vigier played well and got plenty of help from the rest of the team, Bounds took to the ice on Saturday with the pressure of playing for a job against a team that had started the new season off 0-2 and wanted to win in the worst way. Unfortunately for the rookie, he had to face 47 shots on net from the determined ‘Antz with at times little help from his mates. He stopped 43 of the shots but his guys could only score three times against Bryan bridges in the Fayetteville net as the visitors took a 4-3 win home to North Carolina. “Fayetteville came out much stronger on Saturday than on Friday. Bounds faced a lot of shots on Saturday and I think he would have liked to have a couple of those goals back,” Bechard said. By Monday, Bechard had made his choice, going with the seasoned veteran Rycroft over Bounds. In the end, Bechard said that it was the experience that made the difference. “Steve has the potential to be a number one goalie but he just needs more time to get to where Chad is now,” he said. “Chad has proven his skills over and over in past seasons with the Snakes. It was in the best interest of the team to go with experience.” With the choice of Rycroft, Columbus is presently the only SPHL team to have its goaltending tandem from a year ago together this season. Contact the author at
cindy.williamson@prohockeynews.comRelated
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