NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – Ian Vigier, in his second season in the Southern Professional Hockey League with the Columbus Cottonmouths, was called
Ian Vigier (Photo courtesy of Columbus Cottonmouths)
He was immediately inserted in the lineup on Saturday and recorded a win in his first ever ECHL game. He stopped 33 of 36 shots in defeating the Florida Everblades by a final of 7-3. Vigier, who was named to the SPHL’s All Rookie Team last season, helped the Stingrays to the win in front of 7,384 fans at Germain Arena in Estero, Florida.
When South Carolina General Manager/Head Coach Jared Bednar found himself without an experienced goaltender, he did what as an increasing number of ECHL teams are doing: he looked to the SPHL. The SPHL bills itself as “the leader in Single-A Hockey.” The league is increasingly positioning itself as the first rung on the development ladder for pro players who want to showcase their potential while gaining needed professional experience.
Vigier’s promotion and subsequent excellent performance against an elite ECHL team created an excellent first impression. Vigier,25, was loaned to South Carolina despite extremely short notice and was thrust into a tough spot. He was asked to play his first ECHL game against the talent laden Florida Everblades who are leading their division, rank third overall in points in the league and going into last weekend were the highest scoring team in the ECHL.
The native of Notre -Dame-de-Lourdes , Manitoba had big shoes to fill as his promotion came after both regular Stingray goalies were called up by the Washington Capitals and Hershey Bears within a day of each other. The two goalies, Michal Neuvirth and Bobby Goepferth, rank number one and two in the ECHL in terms of goals against average. Vigier was up to the task as he held Florida scoreless until they struck on a one man advantage at 6:46 of the second period, the first of three Everblades power play tallies on the night.
Since he joined the Snakes, Vigier has played a total of 40 regular season games over two seasons and has a combined record of 17-15-6-1 with a career goals against average of 3.13 and a save percentage of .916.
While his call-up was for only one game and he returned to the Snakes on Sunday, Vigier’s single game performance adds to the credibility of the SPHL as a source of talent for higher level leagues.
Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
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