Mucha having terrific season

From The Daily News of Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007. . . .

There are a lot of interesting statistics on the WHL’s website.
But, with the regular season closing on the halfway mark, one number stands out above all others.
That number is .912 and it represents the save percentage of Kurtis Mucha, the Portland Winter Hawks’ 18-year-old No. 1 goaltender.
Mucha, who is in his third WHL season, doesn’t lead WHL goaltenders in that category; in fact, he is tied for eighth. But when you consider that he plays for the team with the WHL’s poorest record (5-22-0-0) and that he has seen more rubber than the Michelin Man and a chunk of road kill combined, his save percentage is nothing short of remarkable.
Of course, that number got quite a boost on Nov. 24 when Mucha stopped 65 shots as the Winter Hawks got past the visiting Chilliwack Bruins, 4-3. That is believed to be a single-game WHL record.
“You have to take off your hat to him,” says Chilliwack centre Mark Santorelli, who leads the WHL’s points race. “He had a really good game. He played phenomenal. You have to give him the credit. He won the game that night. You just tip your hat and say, ‘Good job.’
“He’s a good goalie and if you don’t get traffic in front of him he’s going to make the saves.”
“We were pretty frustrated,” Chilliwack defenceman Nick Holden adds. “He played really well and was getting the bounces you need to win a game like that. Our offensive game . . . we couldn’t have done much more than we did.”
Mucha, who is likely to be in goal for the Winter Hawks tonight against the Kamloops Blazers at Interior Savings Centre, said it was just one of those nights. Yeah, and Sir Laurence Olivier was just one of those actors.
“That’s one of those games that is almost the equivalent of a player scoring a hat trick,” Mucha says. “You just feel unreal. It’s like you know they’re not going to score.”
The Bruins did beat him three times, with all the goals coming in the third period as they outshot Portland, 32-5.
“Yeah, they still got three on me but it’s like you’re there and you’re in the zone,” Mucha adds. “It’s your night and nothing else matters. It’s a really good feeling.”
So what does it feel like to get peppered like a piece of round steak?
“It definitely felt like it was that many shots,” he says, with a rueful chuckle. “I was pretty tired after the game. I wouldn’t say it was 60 quality shots . . . but it was definitely a long night.”
Almost as long as draft day 2007.
The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Mucha, coming off a 2006-07 season in which he went 17-41-1-1 with a 3.82 GAA and a .885 save percentage, was hoping to be selected in the NHL draft. It didn’t happen.
“I was pretty disappointed on draft day and it took me a couple of days to get over it,” he says. “Now I just look at is a challenge . . . to prove 30 NHL teams wrong. If I can do that, that’s my goal. If I can do that, that would be great. I’d like to get a free-agent tryout in August.”
When NHL Central Scouting released its preliminary rankings last month, there were three 1989-born WHL goaltenders among the seven listed. Mucha wasn’t one of them, and that was more fuel for the fire burning in his gut.
“Hopefully, (an NHL tryout) happens,” he says. “If I keep doing what I’m dong, it’s a possibility.”
What he has done to this point is amazing. His record (4-13-0-0) is nothing to write Grandma about, but it’s not that bad when you consider the Winter Hawks are 5-22-0-0. Still, his GAA is 3.57 for a team that surrenders 40 shots a game and, on average, is outshot by 16.
“That’s a tough question,” Mucha responds when asked if a young goaltender is better off with a good defensive team or one that allows a lot of shots. “I think it’s better in the long run to be on a team like I’m on right now. You’re going to face a lot of adversity and make yourself a better player. You’re going to be mentally stronger.
“For short-term success, on a team like the Vancouver Giants, you might get world junior opportunities or drafted. I’m hoping that if I keep sticking it out here and keep doing what I’m doing, it’ll help me out in the long run and I’ll eventually get to play in the NHL.”
Being from Sherwood Park, Alta., Mucha keeps a close eye on Cam Ward, who shares the same hometown. The 23-year-old Carolina goaltender, who starred with the Red Deer Rebels, won the 2006 Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the NHL playoffs as the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup.
“If I could do half of what he’s done in his career, I’d be happy,” says Mucha, who met Ward for the first time last summer.
Mucha’s summer also included a stint in California with goaltending coach Steve Switzer. It was during the month in Huntington Beach and Newport Beach that Mucha began to focus on another part of this game.
“This season,” he explains, “I take one game at a time.”
That means, he says, that if Portland is playing three games in as many nights, “I just focus on the first game, then I’ll play the second game. Last season, I would take a look at the big picture. The draft was in the back of my head and I’d try to do it all in one game. That got me in trouble a few times last season.
“If I take it 60 minutes at a time I think I’ll be fine.”
He likely will get his chance to prove that again tonight as the Winter Hawks play their fourth game in five nights.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca