G Zach Fucale (2013, 36th, MTL)

[Whileee]

That's obviously not the same thing as excelling at big games.

The question is how consistently he can perform in every game, "big" or not (particularly for a potential NHL starter). I'm not sure we have that answer for Fucale yet.

 

[3 Minute Minor]

Watching Gatineau/Quebec and he looks even worse on a better team than Halfiax.

 

[ottawa]

Guy was extremely solid during the Charlottetown sweep...his worst game was where he let in 3 goals on 35 shots which is still pretty damn impressive.

 

[ottawa]

0.929 save% and 2.11GAA in the series

 

[SergeConstantin74]

There were only 3 even strength goals scored against him in 4 games and none on the road.

 

[hockeey]

Is he getting lucky or does he look like he has legitimately found his game? Kind of weird how highly regarded he was despite his mediocre numbers then they actually got worse this year. Hopefully he can build confidence off this series

 

[SergeConstantin74]

Is he getting lucky or does he look like he has legitimately found his game? Kind of weird how highly regarded he was despite his mediocre numbers then they actually got worse this year. Hopefully he can build confidence off this series

Once again proving he steps up his game in important moments.

 

[Dodospice]

I've been a huge Fucale fan every since I saw him play as a 16 year old. I personally haven't seen him play bad when viewing him live. Now that's probably lucky by me, since he does have his off games but I think Fucale can become a very good starter in the NHL. It will never be in Montreal, unless Price gets dealt but he has the tools and the talent in my opinion. Which may be an unpopular one on these boards.

 

[CorgisPer60]

Once again proving he steps up his game in important moments.

Which means sweet **** all if you can't trust him to back stop your team to there in the first place.

 

[Tripod]

I've been a huge Fucale fan every since I saw him play as a 16 year old. I personally haven't seen him play bad when viewing him live. Now that's probably lucky by me, since he does have his off games but I think Fucale can become a very good starter in the NHL. It will never be in Montreal, unless Price gets dealt but he has the tools and the talent in my opinion. Which may be an unpopular one on these boards.

Not necessarily.

Zac will be turning 23 when Carey Price's contract ends. Price will be turning 31.

Montreal...if they feel Zac is ready...can go with him. Or if not, they can sign Price to a 4-5 year deal with the intention that Zac will be ready in 2-3 years and then had a 2 year transition period where Price splits duties and passes the torch. This is assuming Price is fine with that of course.

A lot can happen in the next 5 years. Zac still has plenty of time to make it if he does.

 

[3 Minute Minor]

It was Fucale vs. Daryl MacCallum in that series, would have been a miracle if Charlottetown made it close.

 

[SergeConstantin74]

It was Fucale vs. Daryl MacCallum in that series, would have been a miracle if Charlottetown made it close.

Their only hope to make it close before the series was if Fucale would have been shaky. But he wasn't. Series won.

 

[SergeConstantin74]

His save with a minute left this afternoon.

 

[GuillaumeLetsundress*]

His save with a minute left this afternoon.

wow! especially at that point and time in the game. what a huge save!

 

[dathockeydoe]

It was Fucale vs. Daryl MacCallum in that series, would have been a miracle if Charlottetown made it close.

Would have been an extra story as a Calgary fan to watch Fucale vs Mason McDonald, considering the Habs got the pick used to grab Fucale from the Flames.

 

[ginopuck]

There are some goalies who buckle under the pressure, Fucale thrives under it. He's the type of goalie you want when it's game 7 and it's sudden death overtime.

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

Not a lot of "experts" tossing around Fucale criticism these days. Must be playoff time.

 

[IHaveNoCreativity]

He gets it done, hard to ignore a winner.

 

[jabes]

Which means sweet **** all if you can't trust him to back stop your team to there in the first place.

Your team to there? To where? He's the one backstopping his team breezing through the playoffs. You saying like others that he's no good to a team if he can ONLY play in big situations? I say once a goalie like Fucale hits the NHL, every game will be considered a big game at that point. An NHL regular season game is a "big game" to any goalie. That is what he is working towards. And he can play in the meaningless situations, he's just not always shown consistency which is part of the long long development of a goalie. Whatever happens, it's good to see him back in top form this playoffs.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

He gets it done, hard to ignore a winner.

I want to see how good he is vs Rimouski before I pass judgement.

I didn't expect Moncton to have anything past the 2nd round since they didn't load up at the deadline like Quebec did. In fact, Moncton unloaded more than anything dumping Lalonde and Tkatchev.

 

[jabes]

I want to see how good he is vs Rimouski before I pass judgement.

I didn't expect Moncton to have anything past the 2nd round since they didn't load up at the deadline like Quebec did. In fact, Moncton unloaded more than anything dumping Lalonde and Tkatchev.

Moncton had two of the top 3 scorers in playoffs in Garland and Barbashev so you can't say they weren't a threat to score goals. Easy you say you didn't expect much once they're out.

Fucale ends the series with a 25 save shutout tonight. That's two sweeps and 9 wins in a row for Quebec. Fucale now 11-2 in playoffs with a 2.23 GAA and .920 save %. Now let's hear some more excuses!!!!!

 

[GTA]

Moncton had two of the top 3 scorers in playoffs in Garland and Barbashev so you can't say they weren't a threat to score goals. Easy you say you didn't expect much once they're out.

Fucale ends the series with a 25 save shutout tonight. That's two sweeps and 9 wins in a row for Quebec. Fucale now 11-2 in playoffs with a 2.23 GAA and .920 save %. Now let's hear some more excuses!!!!!

They had 6 dangerous shots tonight. Not exactly a difficult shutout for Fucale. I'm rooting for the kid but as has already been said in the Habs prospect thread, he is going to have to show more over a larger sample size. I think it'd be very presumptuous to make any conclusions based on the past few games.

Not excuses, just reality my friend.

 

[DonskoiDonscored]

Moncton had two of the top 3 scorers in playoffs in Garland and Barbashev so you can't say they weren't a threat to score goals. Easy you say you didn't expect much once they're out.

Fucale ends the series with a 25 save shutout tonight. That's two sweeps and 9 wins in a row for Quebec. Fucale now 11-2 in playoffs with a 2.23 GAA and .920 save %. Now let's hear some more excuses!!!!!

Not sure if it's an excuse but I'd like to see him play better when he's not on a team of all-stars compared to his peers.

 

[Tripod]

They had 6 dangerous shots tonight. Not exactly a difficult shutout for Fucale. I'm rooting for the kid but as has already been said in the Habs prospect thread, he is going to have to show more over a larger sample size. I think it'd be very presumptuous to make any conclusions based on the past few games.

Not excuses, just reality my friend.

Lol.

I guess his 5 year QMJHL career is a small sample size too?

Defensive rookie of the year
All time Mooseheads leader in wins
Memorial cup win
U18 Gold
U20 Gold

He has been winning for years. When he wins, people talk about stats and SV%. When those are good, they say he plays behind strong teams.

People are not making conclusions based on the past few games. They are giving him credit for the past 5 years of work.

That's reality friend.

 

[bigdirty]

You can always tell how good Fucale is playing by the number of people trying to make excuses for why his good play doesn't really count. Like somehow his team wins in spite of him. Only goalie I've ever seen who gets constantly criticized every time he gets a shutout.

I know some people don't like him because he got over-hyped early in his junior career, but he's playing well. Just live with it. Criticism is one thing, but this anti-Fucale obsession HFboards has is getting really sad.