Victory-Saving Stop

I admit that I don't spot a lot about Canada West men's hockey on HBIC. My focus when I first started this blog was to get more exposure on the women's game, but the men's game likely deserves the same effort when it comes to coverage. Frankly, someone could likely make a solid living if they were paid to cover Canada West hockey, but I'm not about to dive head-first into that venture being that I already devote one full day to Canada West. Tonight, however, I need to talk about the men's hockey side of things tonight thanks to the Huskies' goaltender pictured above.

That's Saskatchewan Huskies netminder Nolan Maier, and he and his teammates are in Vancouver where they're playing the top-ranked team in the nation in the UBC Thunderbirds in the Canada West semifinals. For those that don't know Maier, he joined the Huskies in January after a solid run with the WHL's Saskatoon Blades came to an end in 2022. There were stops in between joining his second Saskatoon-based team, though, as Maier played with Reading, Maine, and Idaho in the ECHL while also getting cups of coffee with Lehigh Valley and Providence in the AHL. In short, the kid can play.

The 25 year-old netminder didn't exactly build a wall in the Huskies net in the second-half of this season, but he did go 6-2-0 with a 2.98 GAA and an .889 save percentage. The six wins helped Saskatchewan finish in second-place in the East Division, and the Huskies swept the Alberta Golden Bears out of the playoffs last weekend behind two Maier wins where he posted a shutout and an overtime win.

The Huskies entered tonight's game in Vancouver as the underdogs against the Thunderbirds, but it didn't seem to deter them as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead through 42:15 of play. That's when the Thunderbirds seemed to realize that they were playing a meaningful hockey game, and they turned on their scoring, denting twine twice in 6:48 to make it a 3-2 game with just over three minutes to play.

Let's go to the video of the final minute of play where UBC had pulled their netminder, Brett Mirwald, for an extra attacker as they looked for the equalizer to send this game to overtime in their comeback.

Alex Serraglio will likely have nightmares for days of Nolan Maier flashing the leather to take that goal away from him on what looked like an open net. I have no idea how he even saw that, but Nolan Maier's save with 42 seconds to play denied the tying goal by UBC as the Huskies went on to the 3-2 victory in Game One tonight!

There's a saying that goes, "You have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good" that may sum up that save for Maier as he's an incredible goalie, but that one may have been more lucky than good. He's shown he has the ability rise to the occasion with his time in the AHL and ECHL, but that save was all about doing whatever was necessary to keep the puck out of the net. It was stopped in the name of glove!

The work isn't done, though, as the Huskies hold a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series now. Closing out the top-ranked team in the nation won't be easy, and the Thunderbirds will likely bring everything they have in their arsenal to the game on Saturday as they look for a Game Three on Sunday. Maier will again have to be at his best if the Huskies are going to play for a banner, but he showed tonight that he has no problem stepping up for a big moment.

Be ready to rumble on Saturday night at 7pm PST for the rematch!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!