The Regina Pats have turned to both Ewan Huet and Kelton Pyne to carry the load in the crease this season after overager Drew Sim was sidelined with a significant lower body injury.
The team is 13 games into the Western Hockey League (WHL) regular season and both have been in net for seven, having split the role in one game so far.
“Two young goalies that are both essentially rookies. Both trying to establish themselves in the league and we like them both,” head coach Brad Herauf said.
“We’ve had talks about it with Hauffer (Herauf). It’s kind of just a rotation right now and we’re both good with it. But the competitive battles are always there,” said Pyne.
“I believe that having rotation is the perfect situation for us, getting into rhythm for both of us is really important,” Huet added.
The two 18-year-olds have almost split the Pats wins so far this season. Pyne has three under his belt while Huet has four. Right now Pyne sits 12th in the league for save percentage at .897, Huet is 23rd with .891.
- Download the CTV News app to get breaking news alerts sent to your device
Huet is the son of former National Hockey League (NHL) goalie Cristobal Huet and is in his first season with the Pats. The Switzerland product was taken 36th overall in this year’s Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Import Draft.
Pyne on the other hand is in his third season with the Pats and hails from just outside of Regina in White City.
“He’s (Kelton) been here for a couple of years and he knows a little bit of the process and the WHL, so having him here for me has been big,” Huet shared.
“We’re 18, we’re still two young goalies and it’s good to keep us rejuvenated and healthy,” added Pyne.
According to their coach, there is no specific formula for who will be between the pipes each game.
“Huet played really good against Medicine Hat, so we started him the next game. Pyne played really well against someone earlier in the season and we started him in the next game. So yeah, it’s going to be a feel thing but for us right now and we’ve told both goalies to be ready. The rotation’s going to be this unless someone has that real good game, it’s expected to go this way,” Herauf explained.
The Pats take on the Saskatoon Blades on Friday night at the Brandt Centre.
