New York Rangers by Stan Fischler

Author:Stan Fischler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sports Publishing
Published: 2015-03-16T04:00:00+00:00

After signing with the Rangers, he was sent to their American Hockey League team in Hartford. But it wasn’t till the 2013-14 season that it became clear that there might be a more permanent place for Talbot in the NHL. Starting the season with Hartford, the goalie posted a 4-0-1 record, with a 2.49 GAA and a .924 SV%. Five games was enough of a trial for the Rangers brass to make the call to bring the 25-year-old up to replace an injured Henrik Lundqvist. An October 24, 2013 matchup at Philadelphia marked both Talbot’s first NHL appearance and loss. Despite a solid performance by the netkeeper, who stopped 25 of 27 shots, the Rangers dropped the game 2-1, losing their sixth in eight games to start the season.

Nevertheless, Cam rebounded two nights later, stopping 32 of 34 Detroit shots. He would eventually get his first NHL shutout in Montreal. It turned out to be the Blueshirts’ first shutout on the road against the Canadiens since Feb 25, 1967, the year before the first NHL expansion after World War II.

He finished the 2013-14 regular season leading all first-year goalies with a 1.64 Goals Against Average and .941 Save Percentage. And in his first NHL playoff appearance, on April 29, 2014, he stopped all five shots he faced in Game Six of the Metropolitan Division Semifinals at Philadelphia.

“Cam gave us a chance to win every game,” said Coach Alain Vigneault. “He did what a goaltender is supposed to do.”

Despite Talbot’s instant success, skeptics wondered whether he could continue to succeed over the long haul. Some argued that he was a flash in the pan.

Talbot began his sophomore season with three straight losses but soon rebounded with four wins, including three shutouts, in his next five starts.

Not once did Cam complain about being the understudy to the all-popular Henrik Lundqvist. His philosophy was quite simple—it relied on appreciating the opportunity he was given.

Sure enough, opportunity knocked even louder shortly after the All-Star Game in January of 2015, when Lundqvist was sidelined with a rare injury against the Carolina Hurricanes. The King was struck in the neck under his protective guard, causing a serious vascular injury.

When it seemed Lundqvist would be sidelined for a long period of time, a black cloud of uncertainty hovered over Rangerville. And the most prominent questions was this: could Talbot hold down the fort till the main man returned?

Over a period of 25 games, Cam answered that emphatically affirmative, compiling a record of 18-4-3, despite a first-start loss to the Nashville Predators.

Cam then earned points in all of his next nine starts (7-0-2), becoming the first Rangers netminder to accomplish the feat, since the 1996-97 season when Mike Richter went 14-0-2.

Considering this remarkable goaltending melodrama, it was hardly surprising that by the end of the 2014-15 season, the media was touting Talbot as perhaps being a number-one goalie for another NHL team, rather than serving as an understudy to The King.

After all, it would seem the Prince saved more than just pucks for the Rangers—he saved them the season.

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