Heckuva Night In Kennewick

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that I go out of my way to celebrate one of the rarer feats in hockey whenever and wherever it happens. The man to the left is the latest player to accomplish such a feat, and the rookie Tri-City Americans netminder also had himself one heckuva Wednesday. That player is Xavier Wendt from Plymouth, Minnesota - about 45 minutes east of Grand Casinos Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota - and the 17 year-old netminder hit a milestone and added his name to the record books in his 15th WHL game tonight in Kennewick, Washington!

The Americans were hosting the Swift Current Broncos in WHL action tonight, and things got off to a good start with the Americans jumping out to a 2-0 lead before the game was 10 minutes old off goals by Crew Martinson and Connor Dale. Gavin Garland added a goal with less than seven minutes to play, making it a 3-0 game for the Americans, and it seemed like the final score was nothing more than a shutout watch for goaltender Xavier Wendt. Until it wasn't.

For some inexplicable reason, Swift Current called netminder Aiden Eskit to the bench at the 1:08 mark as they tried to snap Wendt's shutout with a sixth attacker, and that's when this happened.
Swift Current dumps the puck into the Americans' zone, and Wendt easily stops it behind his net. With no one truly pressuring him, he got his hands set, fired the puck past the oncoming Broncos player, and wrote his name into the WHL record book as the 11th goaltender in WHL history to be credited with a goal! He joins former Washington Capitals legend Olaf Kolzig as the only other Americans goaltender to score a goal, so he's certainly in pretty elite goaltending company!

As mentioned, Wendt is the 11th goalie to score a goal in the WHL, and the list of those goalies who have achieved this are as follows:

• Olaf Kolzig, Tri-City – November 29, 1989 vs Seattle
• Chris Osgood, Medicine Hat – January 3, 1991 vs Swift Current
• Jeff Calvert, Tacoma – December 29, 1992 vs Moose Jaw
• Jason Clague, Red Deer – March 28, 1994 vs Lethbridge
• Jordan McLaughlin, PG Cougars – March 5, 2003 vs Vancouver
• Chris Driedger, Calgary – February 1, 2014 vs Kootenay
• Stuart Skinner, Lethbridge – March 18, 2016 vs Red Deer
• Ian Scott, Prince Albert – November 16, 2018 vs Tri-City
• Lukas Parik, Spokane – March 10, 2020 vs Kamloops
• Dawson Cowan, Spokane – November 26, 2023 vs Portland
• Xavier Wendt, Tri-City - December 3 vs Swift Current
The italicized game was a WHL playoff game.

There are some interesting footnotes when it comes to these goals above, but Jeff Calvert's goal might hold one of the coolest facts. With the Rockets trailing 3-0 to Moose Jaw, Calvert was sent out to try and spark the Rockets. Starting netminder Todd McDonald gave up three goals on ten shots through 9:30 of play in the first period, and head coach Marcel Comeau needed something to get his team rolling.

Calvert would give up another goal at the 13:26 mark, but the Rockets rallied for two late first-period goals and three second-period goals to take a 5-4 lead into the third period. Calvert held the fort, and his goal with 10 seconds to play made it 6-4 on a night where he scored, picked up an assist on the fourth Tacoma goal, and won the game in relief against his hometown team! That's a pretty good night!

Wendt, for the record, scored his first WHL goal and recorded his first WHL shutout in the win tonight, so that's a pretty awesome night as well. He bumped his numbers to a 9-5-0 record with a 2.39 GAA and a .928 save percentage, so Wendt's having a solid start to his rookie campaign. While he's not regarded as a top pick in the upcoming NHL Draft, perhaps someone will want him for his goal-scoring?

All jokes aside, congratulations to Xavier Wendt on his goal, making him the 11th goalie in WHL history to be credited with a goal!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!