EVERETT — To Austin Lotz it’s an indication of being a WHL old-age pensioner.
To everybody else it’s evidence of sustained goaltending excellence.
But either way one looks at it, it still puts the Everett Silvertips goaltender into a rare position of prominence.
Lotz’s victory against Lethbridge on Sunday was the 72nd of his Silvertips career, moving him into second place on Everett’s career wins list for goalies.
“It’s a pretty cool feeling,” Lotz said Tuesday following practice at Xfinity Arena. “I feel pretty old now, it’s hard to believe I’ve been here four years. I obviously owe it all to my teammates and everybody who’s given me a chance along the way.”
Lotz, a 19-year-old from St. Adolphe, Manitoba, who’s in his fourth season with the Tips, earned No. 72 by making 19 saves in Everett’s 5-4 victory over Lethbridge on Sunday at Xfinity Arena. It completed a busy weekend that saw Lotz play every minute of a three-in-three because Everett’s No. 2 netminder, Carter Hart, was battling illness.
The 72 wins surpassed the 71 Kent Simpson earned during his four seasons with Everett from 2007-12. Lotz reached his 72nd win in his 160th appearance, while Simpson had 71 wins in 175 appearances. For his career, Lotz is 72-59-7-8 with a 2.93 goals-against average, .903 save percentage and 10 shutouts. His games played and shutout totals are both third in franchise history.
Lotz acknowledged that moving into second place on Everett’s all-time wins list meant something.
“It is special to me,” Lotz said. “It’s not No. 1, but it’s getting up there.
“It’s something you look back at and it brings back a lot of memories of how long you’ve been here and how many games you have won,” Lotz added. “It took my breath away a little bit just to sit back and realize how long it’s been. It feels like it was just yesterday that I got here, it’s kind of a surreal feeling.”
In passing Simpson, Lotz leaped over a peer. Lotz was a 16-year-old rookie in 2011-12, backing up a 19-year-old Simpson in Simpson’s final season in Everett.
“I might have to send him a message, send him a little chirp or something,” Lotz said with a laugh. “It’s obviously an honor to pass a guy like that, but I owe it to my teams for being good the past two years and giving me the opportunity to have those wins.”
Lotz still has a long way to go to reach the top spot. The record is 107, set by Leland Irving from 2003-08, so Lotz needs another 36 to move into first. That won’t happen this season as Everett has just 12 games remaining in the regular season. It’s possible Lotz could surpass 107 should he come back next season as an overager.
While Lotz is certainly a good enough goaltender to play in the WHL as an overager, he’s also attended two NHL rookie training camps as an invitee, including impressing the Vancouver Canucks last September. Therefore, the idea of becoming the all-time wins leader in Silvertips history is a double-edged sword. While he would like to be at the top of Everett’s list, he also wouldn’t mind playing in the professional ranks next season.
“It hasn’t really been in my mind too much,” Lotz said about breaking the wins record. “That’s not my goal, really. My goal as a Silvertip is for the team to win, not my own personal achievements. But at the end of the day it would be nice to look back over the years and see my name at No. 1.”
Injury update
Everett has three players listed on this week’s injury report. Defenseman Noah Juulsen, who sat out two of the Tips’ three games over the weekend, is once again listed as day to day because off a lower-body injury, and he did not take part in practice Tuesday. Winger Brayden Low, who didn’t finish Sunday’s game, and defenseman Lucas Skrumeda, who sat out Saturday’s 7-0 loss at Seattle, are both listed as day-to-day because of illness. However, both practiced in full Tuesday.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
