Cottonmouths bring back goaltender Jaeger
During their two decades of existence, the Columbus Cottonmouths have had a tradition of building its team from the net out, starting with goaltenders highly successful in their craft.
Take Frankie Ouellette, the 2000 Central Hockey League Goaltender of the Year, whose retired No. 30 hangs in the Civic Center rafters and who backstopped the Snakes to a CHL title in 1998; Chad Rycroft, who as a rookie propelled the Cottonmouths to the inaugural Southern Professional Hockey League championship in 2005 and was named SPHL Goaltender of the Year in 2007; Ian Vigier, who took the Snakes to the SPHL title and was named SPHL Goaltender of the Year himself in 2012; and Andrew Loewen, who still holds the SPHL record for lowest goals against average (1.74) and highest save percentage (.945) in a season, both set in the 2012-13 campaign.
The Snakes took a step to reclaim that tradition Tuesday, signing returning goaltender Brandon Jaeger and rookie netminder Alex Larson to its training camp roster.
“Coming in this year, our main focus is starting from the back and moving forward,” Snakes coach Jerome Bechard said. “It’s not just our goaltending, though. I’ll stand by them (last season). We didn’t lose too many games last year solely because of them. It was a team effort.”
Despite the team’s last place finish and missing the playoffs for the first time in their 12-year SPHL history, Jaeger was actually named to the SPHL All-Rookie team at goaltender. He finished with a 14-16-2 record with one shutout, a 2.78 goals against average, and a .920 save percentage, the latter tied for sixth-best among all league netminders.
“Brandon had a great year last year,” Bechard said. “His work ethic is undeniable. He’s very athletic. I think with a year under his belt, he knows where he fits in and knows what he has to do to progress, and I think he’ll do that.
“Jags really took the bull by the horns the last couple of weeks when we decided to (shut Shannon Szabados down) knowing she couldn’t compete and so she wouldn’t do too much damage to her knee. Brandon took that opportunity and really proved himself.”
“Obviously, this season didn’t turn out like we wanted, but it was nice to get some personal accolades for what I did and what the team did,” Jaeger said. “Obviously, a goaltender relies on his defensemen and forwards to do things, so receiving (the All-Rookie team award) showed that we did some things good.”
Jaeger says he is looking forward to his sophomore campaign for the Cottonmouths.
“I have more confidence in my ability,” Jaeger said. “Last year, I wasn’t even a shoo-in to make the team; I had to battle my way in. This year, I know what to expect, and most of all, I’m excited to return to Columbus, turn the team around from last season, and hopefully play for a title.”
Larson, meanwhile, will be beginning his rookie campaign after four years at Nichols College. He finished with a 58-25-7 record with a 2.25 goals against average and .934 save percentage in 92 career games, with ten of those shutouts.
“I contacted Alex late last year,” Bechard said. “When Shannon (Szabados) was hurt, I was looking to pick up a goalie out of college. (Snakes defenseman) Kyle Shapiro played at Nichols and spoke very highly of him, but school got in the way, and he wasn’t able to miss classes.
“Alex’s look will be totally different from Brandon, which is kind of cool as far as a goaltending tandem goes. You have a 5-foot-7 guy (Jaeger) and a 6-foot-4 guy (Larson), two different entities out there, so if you play a team on a back to back weekend, you can throw two different looks at them. We haven’t really had that.”
Larson also hails from Madison, Ala., right down the road from the home rink of the Huntsville Havoc. Bechard acknowledges having a Southern-born player is also a plus for the Snakes.
“It’s pretty cool. Hockey in the South has grown tremendously in the past 20 years, and you can start to see that with guys getting drafted in the NHL, getting scholarships, and coming to play,” Bechard said.
The Snakes and other SPHL teams open training camp at the beginning of October. The Cottonmouths open the 2016-17 season schedule at Macon on Friday, Oct. 21, before hosting the Mayhem at the Columbus Civic Center on Saturday, Oct. 22.
This story was originally published July 26, 2016 at 8:15 PM with the headline "Cottonmouths bring back goaltender Jaeger."