Snakes, Jaeger still fighting for playoffs

With their starting goaltender battling an injury, the Columbus Cottonmouths rest their playoff hopes on a back-up goaltender who is just happy to have the opportunity to play.

Brandon Jaeger will forgive you if you mispronounce his name, it’s something he has grown accustomed to over the years. Pronounced with a hard G, the easiest way to remember the correct annunciation is think of the famous musician Mick Jagger.

“My great-great grandpa emigrated from Germany and thought in order to sound more American he should change his name to sound like Jagger,” said Jaeger said. “So technically both ways of saying my last name are correct.”

While at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Jaeger broke just about every major school record including career wins (62), saves (2037) and shutouts (11).

“Will Aide spent a brief moment at the UW Stevens Point and told me about a couple of guys who were coming out,” Columbus coach Jerome Bechard said. “One of them was Brandon and you couldn’t ignore the numbers.”

Jaeger and the Snakes were in ninth place in the SPHL standings, two points behind Macon for the eighth spot and five behind Louisiana for seventh, going into Friday night’s game at Huntsville. The Snakes host Knoxville on Saturday.

Jaeger was signed as the back-up to starting goaltender Shannon Szabados. Playing sparingly, it was a rough debut for Jaeger, who allowed 10 goals in his first two starts. Jaeger took this chance to sit and learn the craft from a goalie who has had the spotlight shown on her since Day 1.

“Being around Shannon has been a learning experience both on and off the ice,” Jaeger said. “Watching first-hand how much of a competitor she is on the ice, but what’s been really cool is seeing how accessible she has been to her fans off the ice.”

He quickly rebounded to win seven of his next eight starts and even got a brief stint with the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears.

“It was cool to get called up, but I just didn’t get to play a whole lot,” Jaeger said. “That time on the bench watching and waiting revitalized me creating this major itch to just want to play.”

Szabados has been nursing an injury that has lagged for the past month. In the meantime, Jaeger has thrived in his expanded role helping the Snakes go 6-2-1 in their last nine contests Jagger has gone 5-1-1 in that span. With no definite timetable on her return, down the stretch the Cottonmouths are going to rely heavily Jaeger.

“It all comes back to how Shannon feels physically and is something we will have to monitor each day,” Bechard said. “She took another bump over the weekend and having Jag’s playing as well as he has, it’s afforded her to heal properly without being rushed.”

This story was originally published March 18, 2016 at 9:50 PM with the headline "Snakes, Jaeger still fighting for playoffs."