Usually Friday the 13th strikes fear, bad luck, etc to those who believe in it. Hotels, High rise buildings don’t even have a 13th floor. But on this Friday the 13th the Philadelphia Wings made a trade to solidify the goaltending position, something that has been a huge hole in the past seasons.
The Wings went out and obtained 26 yr old Orangeville, Ontario native and third year goaltender Evan Kirk from the Minnesota Swarm in exchange for their first round selection in the 2015 Entry Draft and their first round selection in the 2017 Entry Draft.
Kirk, 26, posted a 7-7 career record and a 12.08 GAA along with a .771 SV% in his two seasons with the Swarm from 2012-13. Minnesota selected the Hobart College graduate in the first-round (No. 6 overall) of the 2011 NLL Entry Draft. As a rookie, Kirk led the league in both goals against average (9.81) and save percentage (.807) while earning NLL All-Rookie Team honors. In 2013, Kirk finished the regular season with a 3-3 record in nine appearances and posted a .735 SV% and 14.47 GAA.
Adding Kirk gives the Wings a nice 1-2 punch between the pipes, and also gives the team and the fans confidence that should Miller have a game or two in which he struggles, Kirk can step in restore order and not let the game get out of hand as it has done in years past. It will also enable the Wings to have two capable goaltenders on those weekends when they have games on back to back nights.
Since last season ended I have been wondering what the cost would be to bring Kirk here to Philadelphia. I know the team wanted to avoid players, and all it took was two first round selections. Consensus through the social media networks, Facebook, Twitter, Message Boards are giving the Wings a big thumbs up for this move
Last season the Wings brought eight goalies into camp and before the season started they picked up Kevin Croswell. It’s no surprise, but it was a disaster. It was so bad that even when Miller struggled last year the team had no choice but to keep Miller in. The season is only 102 days away and the Wings are solidifying one position already.
