From third string to starting job

ST. JOHN ’S, Newfoundland and Labrador  – He began the season as the St. John’s IceCaps third string goalie, but Eddie Pasquale is looking more and more like a starting net minder as the 2011-12 AHL season progresses.   
Pasquale, 21, is a perfect 4-0 (wins and losses) in March, with a sparkling 1.71 goals-against-average and a .932 save percentage. He has won 11 of his last 12 starts and now leads all IceCaps goalies in games (27), minutes played (1,554), shutouts (2) and wins (19).

His 2.59 goals-against-average and .908 save percentage on the season are also tops on the team and his steady play has helped the IceCaps solidify a spot near the top of the AHL standings.  
  If the AHL playoffs were to begin today, Pasquale would most likely be the club’s starting goalie.   
“He’s doing a great job. It’s huge for the defence when you have that type of confidence in your goalie,” said Arturs Kulda, a defenseman with the IceCaps. “Pasquale has done a good job as a young goalie. He’s got a great future ahead of him.”  
Judging from how the season started, few would have guessed Pasquale would be playing as much, and a well, as he is now. The pecking order at the beginning of the 11-12 campaign had David Aebischer as the team’s No. 1 goalie, with Peter Mannino a very close second string.
Pasquale was clearly the third man of the group, having watched several games from the seats before even dressing as a backup for a regular season contest.   When he finally got a chance to start, his play was inconsistent and not on par with that of Aebischer or Mannino.   
Pasquale eventually improved his play enough that he was seeing regular duty, however he was not considered a serious threat to push for the No. 1 job going into the Christmas break. But when news broke that the IceCaps had demoted Mannino to the ECHL and were moving forward with Aebischer and Pasquale as guardians of their crease, it demonstrated the faith the club had in the young net minder.   
Given a chance to play more often, Pasquale has thrived. His statistics outshine Aebischer’s, who has a decent 2.72 GAA but a less-than-stellar save percentage of .897, and more importantly, Pasquale is making key saves at important moments in games.
According to IceCaps head coach Keith McCambridge, much of Pasquale’s recent success can be attributed to the team deciding a three-goalie rotation was not working.    
“Obviously, the three-goalie system is not what we wanted. We feel the two goalies we have now were the right choice,” said McCambridge. “I think both goalies have been better since we decided to go with two instead of three. They are getting a chance to run with some games when they have success. With just the two of them, they are getting more shots in practice as well, and it all seems to be a benefit to them … Pasquale   is earning his   minutes, he’s made some big saves for us, especially since we went down to two goaltenders.”  
Standing six-foot-three and weighing more than 200 pounds, Pasquale is a big goalie who is most successful when his positioning is solid and he challenges shooters. McCambridge says he also likes the way Pasquale scrambles for loose pucks when there is a flurry of activity in front of his net, praising the goalie’s tenacity in finding the puck through a maze of bodies and sticks.   
“He’s one of the better goalies I’ve seen at pushing from one post to the other,” said McCambridge. “When there’s a rebound or a loose puck on the other side of the crease, he really pushes over there in a hurry. He battles hard, too, he doesn’t give up on pucks. He’s gotten very good at tracking the puck through traffic. He’s made some very big strides this season. He’s a good young goaltender who continues to improve.”  
With Aebischer currently sidelined with a lower body injury, Pasquale should continue to get the bulk of the starts in goal for the IceCaps in the near future. He says he relishes the opportunity to play multiple games in a row and even if he does feel tired some nights, he’ll never complain about getting too much work.   
Pasquale expects Aebischer to get his share of starts once he is healthy and ready to play, but insists the competition for crease time in St. John’s will remain a friendly one.   
“At the beginning of the year I wasn’t playing that much; it was a real battle for playing time,” said Pasquale. “Now, me and Abby complement each other well. It doesn’t matter who is starting, the guy that is backing up supports him.”
  Despite the fact he saw much less game action when the team carried three goaltenders, Pasquale insists the experience did have some positive effects on him. He says the situation helped him further his maturity and growth as a professional hockey player, having taught him he can never take anything for granted in pro hockey.   
“Coming into the year I thought I had a spot locked down,” Pasquale said. “But that just goes to show you that if you want to play in this league and the league above, you have to keep working   harder and harder.”
Contact darcy.macrae@prohockeynews.com
Photos by Jeff Parsons/St. John’s IceCaps