John Muse Continues To Shoot For A Number One Spot

Through their five-year existence in the AHL, one of the most constant things for the Checkers has been having John Muse on the roster. Though he played a more secondary role this season, the netminder turned in solid numbers and will continue to fight for a starting position in the league.

Muse, the franchise’s all-time wins leader, completed his fourth season as both a professional and a member of the Checkers. Unlike those previous campaigns, however, he began this year in the AHL, the first instance of that happening in his career.

Joining Muse on the roster this year was veteran Drew MacIntyre, who signed with the organization fresh off of leading his Toronto Marlies squad to within one game of the 2014 Calder Cup Finals. Jeff Daniels, who coached the Checkers last season, maintained early on that he had two starter-quality goaltenders and that they would most likely split time in the crease.

But it wasn’t long before MacIntyre emerged as the de facto number one goalie, with Muse getting just two starts through the first 13 games and appearing in just 29 games all season.

“Obviously I want to be out there playing every game,” said Muse. “Unfortunately that didn’t happen as much as I would have liked this year. But at the same time, we had two very capable goalies. Mac did a great job this year.”

Though he took on a different role than he might have hoped for prior to the season, that didn’t seem to deter Muse’s play. Though the 26-year-old started out rough, posting a 3-9-2 record through January, he turned it around in the back half of the campaign, going 7-3-0 in the final three months of the season.

That hot run gave Muse a solid 2.68 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage, both of which led the team and eclipsed the marks he set in his career year in 2013-14. Though those numbers are a bit skewed due to his playing significantly less games than MacIntyre this year, they do show that Muse was dependable when called upon this year, and they have fueled the netminder’s desire to secure a starting role next season.

“I’m very confident with how I play and I think the guys around me are very confident with how I play,” said Muse. “I think, regardless of where I am, I can play at a high level and be a number one guy for a team. That’s what my goal is.”

Muse will now enter another offseason of uncertainty as to where he will play next season. He entered the league undrafted in 2011 after leading Boston College to two National Championships and split his first three pro campaigns between the AHL and ECHL. Now, with a full AHL season under his belt and confidence to boot, Muse will aim to achieve that goal, wherever it may be.

“It’s the same as every summer, you don’t really know what’s going to happen,” said Muse. “So you just sit and wait and hopefully figure it out in the next month or so. I have a lot to work on still and that’s what I’m going to do over the summer with my goalie coach back home. I’m going to get better and hopefully be a number one somewhere.”