The Checkers entered the season with arguably the strongest goaltending situation they have ever had. John Muse, the franchise’s all-time wins leader, began his campaign in the AHL for the first time in his career, and was coming off career-highs in games (47) and wins (27). Drew MacIntyre, an 11-year AHL veteran, came to the organization via free agency, fresh off a deep playoff run with the Toronto Marlies that saw him lead the team to the Western Conference Finals.
From day one, head coach Jeff Daniels has stood by his stance that he had two of the best goalies in the league and would use them both accordingly. Through the first 14 games of the season, MacIntyre has been the one handling the majority of the workload, starting 11 games to Muse’s three, but those numbers were partially facilitated by the way the schedule worked out.
“You look back at October, it was Friday-Saturday, Friday-Sunday, so it wasn’t a lot of games to utilize both of them,” said Daniels. “Obviously, you look at the number of games and Mac got the bulk of them, and that was no disrespect to Muser, it was just kind of the way that the schedule was set up. Now that we’ve got more games coming up, you’ll see them both in the net more and both will get a rhythm going.”
“I try to focus from the night before until game time and through the game,” said Muse. “I think preparation is a huge part of my game and I try to start my preparation the night before with what I do throughout the day and into the game.”
“I’ve seen it since day one,” said Daniels. “He’s a very focused individual. His preparation is right up there. You know he’s going to be ready. He has a great ability to shake off a bad game or a bad goal and doesn’t let it affect him. It’s all about preparation and being prepared to play, and you see that with him right now.”
“I’ve played with a lot of goalies and Muser is definitely the most mentally sharp I’ve ever played with,” said forward Justin Shugg, a teammate of Muse’s since 2011. “He reminds me of Tiger Woods – he’s that mentally sharp when he’s in the blue paint.”
Seeing most of the early season starts go to your fellow goalie could shake many goaltenders, but Daniels has shown nothing but confidence with Muse, trusting he will be ready to go come game time no matter what.
“I let Muser know a couple of days ago that he was going to play today because I know he’s the type of kid that gets very focused and he has his routine,” Daniels said following Tuesday’s win. “It’s a chance that he’s been waiting for and has been real patient about it. He understands that Mac is kind of running with things right now but he was ready to play tonight and I didn’t expect anything less from him.”
“You see him out here working hard,” said Daniels of MacIntyre this morning. “He’s out there before practice working.”
“Regardless of if I’m playing or not I do the same things before every game because there’s been times where I’ve been supposed to back up and the goalie got hurt in warmups,” said Muse. “You never know what’s going to happen and I go into every game day thinking I’m going to get in the net.”
In order for the Checkers to continue to right the ship after a slow start, they will need their two talented netminders to keep performing at a high level and putting the team in a position to win, a task that the duo seems capable of.
“We get along great, he’s really supportive and I like to think I’m very supportive of him,” said Muse. “He’s a very likable guy so it’s easy to work with him.”
“I think there’s a good respect factor there,” said Daniels. “I think they can use each other as a sounding board. It’s a great tandem.”
