Former OUA Goalie Goal

The man to the left is goaltender François Brassard who starred for the OUA's Carelton Ravens at one point in his career. He's had quite the career since leaving the QMJHL's Gatineau Olympiques in 2015 after playing for both the Quebec Remparts and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles over four seasons, but we're here to talk about what he did Sunday night more than we are about his hockey history. However, HBIC doesn't gloss over that history, so we're going to look at it now as it includes three seasons of OUA hockey with the Carleton Ravens men's hockey program. Did that factor into last night's moment? It's hard to say yes based on the length of time since Brassard played in the OUA, but it's part of his journey so let's walk that path and get to know François Brassard!

Brassard had a solid 2011-12 season with the QMJHL's Quebec Remparts where he posted a 20-10-3 record with a 2.80 GAA and a .905 save percentage which brought a few scouts to the rink in Quebec City. While he wasn't taken on the first day of the draft, François Brassard heard his name called in the sixth round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft at 166th-overall by the Ottawa Senators in the same draft where the Oilers selected Nail Yakupov first-overall. He wouldn't appear in the NHL, but he can claim that he had his name called at the NHL Entry Draft!

Brassard would put up good numbers with Quebec over three seasons, compiling an 81-40-16 record before the Remparts made the decision to deal the 20 year-old netminder to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. In what may have been a bit of foreshadowing, Brassard actually scored a goal against the Remparts in a 7-5 victory on December 13, 2014 in a season where more things went wrong than right as he posted a 6-13-3 record.

With things going poorly in Cape Breton, he'd be released by the Screaming Eagles in April 2014, but landed with the Gatineau Olympiques as their starting netminder was felled by injuries! Brassard would finish his season on a different level as he compiled a 13-4-2 record with a 2.52 GAA and a .907 save percentage with Gatineau, helping the Olympiques to the playoffs before falling to the eventual QMJHL champions in the Rimouski Oceanic in the second round of the playoffs.

The 2015-16 season saw Brassard sign with the SPHL's Peoria Rivermen where he saw action in just five games, posting a 2-2-0 record with a 2.33 GAA and a .903 save percentage. While Kyle Rank and David Jacobsen had slightly better stats than Brassard, I'm a little shocked they didn't opt to keep Brassard around when it came to developing another goaltender.

Brassard decided to come back to the Ottawa area and join the OUA's Carleton Ravens where he was a solid netminder in the Ontario-Quebec university circuit. In three seasons with the Ravens, Brassard put up a 39-26-0 rcord while never posting a GAA higher than 2.87 and never having a save percentage lower than .905 as he captured "Goaltender of the Year" honours in the OUA East Division in his final season with the Ravens.

Those successful three seasons led to four seasons in the ECHL previous to this one where Brassard played two seasons with the Maine Mariners, a second with the Wheeling Nailers, and a season with the Jacksonville Icemen where he was named as the 2021-22 Nick Vitucci Goaltender of the Year Award winner after going 19-9-3 and leading the ECHL with a 2.19 goals-against average! After signing with Hartford for the 2021-22 season before being assigned to Jacksonville, Brassard won his AHL debut with the Hartford Wolfpack in 2021-22 as he helped the Wolfpack defeat the Bridgeport Islanders 3-2 on December 30, 2021 after stopping 31 shots!

That journey led to Brassard signing with Providence this summer who assigned him to the ECHL's Maine Mariners. Brassard entered last night's game against the Adirondack Thunder with a 3-5-0 where his numbers have been good, but he needed some support in the form of goals. And that's where we pick this story up with Brassard helping himself on Sunday night with Maine up 4-2 late in the game!
François Brassard's second goal in his goaltending career comes with 20 seconds to play to make it a 5-2 game in favour of Maine, and his 22 saves were good enough for the victory to move the Mariners into fourth-place in the ECHL's North Division!

The list of ECHL goalies who have been credited with a goal grows!

• Francois Brassard (MAI) at Adirondack - December 18, 2022
• CJ Motte (QCM) at Fort Wayne - December 9, 2017
• Alex Nedeljkovic (FLA) at Atlanta - December 30, 2016
• Brian Foster (CIN) vs Trenton - February 15, 2013
• Timo Pielmeier (BAK) at Utah - December 19, 2009
• Jonathan Quick, (REA) at Pensacola - October 24, 2007
• Trevor Koenig (ACB) at Wheeling - March 2, 2005
• Brian Eklund (PEN) at Mississippi - December 5, 2003
• Mike Smith (LEX) vs Dayton - October 26, 2002
• Mark Bernard (TOL) vs Johnstown - March 27, 2001
• Nick Vitucci (CHA) vs Louisville - March 6, 1996
• Sean Gauthier (SCS) at Raleigh - December 19, 1995
• Olie Sundstrom (ERI) vs Wheeling - December 15, 1995
• Corwin Saurdiff (HRA) vs Charlotte - March 18, 1995

As you can see from the list above, there are no goalie goals that have been scored in November while March and December seem to have all the fun. Whatever the reasons are for that trend, François Brassard added his name to the list of ECHL goalies who have been credited with a goal, and it's pretty awesome to see a former OUA netminder on the list!

Congratulations to François Brassard on his first ECHL goal and for earning the win last night!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!