Allen York has been called up from Evansville to back up the Falcons' top goalie.
Springfield goalie Curtis McElhinney is a big reason why the Falcons are at the top of the AHL's Eastern Conference.
SPRINGFIELD – Fans of professional hockey best remember Gerry Cheevers as the goaltender for Boston Bruins Stanley Cup championship teams of 1970 and 1972.
They might not remember that Cheevers has a place in the American Hockey League’s record book. He earned that in the 1964-65 season, when he set the AHL mark for victories by a goaltender – 48.
Cheevers did it with the Rochester Americans when he performed an iron-man feat you’ll never see today. He played all 72 of Rochester’s games, posting a record of 48-21-3.
Every game? Hey, even Curtis McElhinney of the Springfield Falcons won’t do that. So far, though, he has done a pretty good imitation of an iron man, playing 17 of his team’s games. He leads the AHL in victories with 13 and minutes played with 1,059:55.
His five shutouts (already tying the Springfield franchise record) and 1.92 goals-against average place him among the league’s elite. In his last start, a 4-2 victory at St. John’s, he had a career-high 46 saves.
McElhinney has done all this while coming back from injuries which limited him to 25 games with the AHL’s Portland Pirates last season. He left the Phoenix Coyotes organization as a free agent, and signed with Springfield’s parent Columbus Blue Jackets on July 1.
“Curtis showed from Day One of training camp that he was over his injuries and ready to play,” Falcons coach Brad Larsen said. “His teammates have the utmost confidence in him. And remember, he’s doing this in a very tough league. When you consider that every team has NHL players because of the lockout, this is the AHL on steroids.”
McElhinney has a new backup with the recall of Allen York from Evansville of the ECHL. York could see action this weekend, when the Falcons have three games – Friday at Providence, Saturday at home against St. John’s and Sunday afternoon at Manchester.
With York’s recall, the Falcons sent former UMass captain Paul Dainton to Evansville, where he will get playing time. He appeared in only five games as the No. 2 to McElhinney.
York needs work, too, after spending the better part of two seasons trying to overcome injuries. He was not activated this season until Nov. 28, and went 3-1-0-1 with Evansville before his recall.
In their visit to Providence, the Falcons will be seeking their fourth straight victory. As hot as they’ve been so far, they have yet to win four in a row. They’ll also be looking to extend their 8-1-1-0 road record – best in the AHL.
ICE CHIPS:Â Springfield’s Sunday game in Manchester and its home contest Sunday, Dec. 30, vs. Norfolk will be broadcast on NHL Network Radio’s main channels of Sirius 207, XM 92 ... On the road, the Falcons have outscored their foes 46-23, tops in the AHL ... Springfield winger Cam Atkinson has game-winning goals in three straight contests for a league lead of five in that category ... Jonathan Audy-Marchessault shares the team point lead with Atkinson at 25 ... Jason LaBarbera, a one-time Springfield nemesis, holds the AHL record for shutouts in a season with 13. He did that with Hartford in 2003-04 ... Most games in a season by a Springfield goaltender? Devan Dubnyk set that with 62 in 2007-08. He lost 41 of those despite a 2.97 GAA. Â