The NLL preseason is well underway and the Calgary Roughnecks now have two games under their belts, a win and a loss.
Roughnecks goaltender Mike Poulin had a string debut, holding the Toronto Rock to just four goals in one half of play. He was a little more shaky the next night against the Minnesota Swarm, getting pulled after giving up five goals in five minutes to start the game.
Poulin returned to the Minnesota game in the third quarter and looked much better, giving up just a single marker with less than a minute left in the frame.
Over all, that adds up to 10 goals in about 50 minutes of play, which works out to a 12.00 goals against average. But take away that opening five minutes in the Swarm contest and his GAA is a far more impressive 6.67.
All of this looks to be pretty par for the course for the Poulin Wall. There are some nights where Poulin seems to start ice cold and can give up big runs before getting the hook. As often as not, he’ll settle down after a few minutes on the bench. And other nights, if he can make a few saves early, he can get stronger and stronger as the game goes on and look like a world-beater.
In 2012, when Poulin won the Goaltender of the Year award, he was hot all year long and rarely had a lapse; last year, after a bit of a slow start to the season, his second half was as dominant as anyone else in the NLL, including Rochester’s Matt Vinc.
More good news for Calgary: Backup goalie Frankie Scigliano has been looking better and better every year. Going into his fourth year in the NLL, Scigliano is coming off the Rookie of the Year and Goaltender of the Year awards in the WLA. If Poulin should have an off night in the 2015 season, big Frankie should be ready to step in and provide quality minutes to settle things down.
