The Goaltender of the Year award in the NLL has been won by Matt Vinc five times in the last six years. The only exception was in 2012 when Mike Poulin of the Calgary Roughnecks took home the trophy. But whereas Vinc was named the best-of-the-best again in 2015, Poulin lost his starting job just a couple weeks into the season due to poor performance.
Frankie Scigliano performed admirably in net after he took over, getting better and better as the season progressed and helping the Roughnecks find their way into the postseason. But in Game 2 of the West Division finals, when Scigliano got lit up early, Poulin stepped in and had what might have been the best game of his career, making 29 saves on 31 shots in the final 45:45. That forced a deciding mini-game in which the eventual league champions, the Edmonton Rush, would prevail. Although Poulin would only stop four of seven shots in that final 10-minute frame, his overall performance on the evening had to be considered a reminder of how invulnerable the Poulin Wall can be.
Now we are just weeks away from the start of the 2016 season and head coach Curt Malawsky will have to look at his top two goaltending options and make some hard decisions. The obvious move would be to give big Frankie the starting job out of the gate and see what happens. But has Poulin made enough of an impression to regain his position as the No. 1 backstop on the team?
If we’re going strictly by last season’s numbers, then this is Scigliano’s job to lose. His 11.12 goals against average and .773 save percentage put him solidly in the middle of the pack among NLL goalies. Poulin’s 12.88 GAA and .712 save percentage were right near the bottom of the list.
Over the summer, Poulin posted the best GAA (7.01) in Major Series Lacrosse as the top goalie for the Brooklin Redmen, suggesting that he may be rebounding back to his historical form. Scigliano spent much of the summer dealing with a thumb injury, but logged a .804 save percentage when he was available for the Maple Ridge Burrards.
According to a recent article on the Calgary Roughnecks website, Malawsky wasn’t yet prepared to make a decision on the subject, saying, “The two guys play so well together. I think we’re better having both of those guys playing. If one guy is off one night, the other one can step up and he’s on. Right now I’m not going to say who’s starting and who’s not.”
My gut feeling is that Scigliano will be between the pipes when the Roughnecks open the 2016 season on Jan. 2 against the defending champion Saskatchewan Rush. Facing that potent offense on the first night of the schedule will be a trial by fire for big Frankie, but if he puts in a good effort, I’d expect him to get the nod for the bulk of the season, leaving Poulin, who turns 30 this month, on the bench waiting for his opportunity to prove he can still get the job done.
