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Red Wings goaltending pipeline

Written by: Iaian Park on 10/30/2004

The future looks bright for the Detroit Red Wings in net. Jimmy Howard continues at Maine, posting solid numbers again this season. Stefan Liv continues in Europe, and with Marc Lamothe gone to play in Europe, Drew MacIntyre steps up into the AHL. Rookie Logan Koopmans begins his pro career in Toledo of the ECHL. Liv, MacIntyre and Koopmans will fight for playing time this season, however. Only Howard is expected to start most of his team's games.

Below, ranked in order of promise, is a review of Detroit’s goaltending future.

James Howard – Age 20 – Drafted in the 2^nd Round 64^th overall by Detroit in 2003

Proving that Detroit made the right choice in 2003 by making him their first pick, Jimmy Howard put up his best numbers in the 2003-04 season. He posted career bests in goals against average and save percentage while playing more minutes than any time previously. Already in his young career, Howard has a long list of awards, including holding the NCAA record in goals against average and save percentage. Howard gave a glimpse of what he is capable of when last season in the final 14 games of the season he posted 5 shutouts. He then followed that up with a 63-save performance for a 2-1 triple overtime win over Massachusetts in the Hockey East Championship. Howard could challenge for the Hobey Baker Award this year.

Stefan Liv – age 23 – Drafted in the 4^th Round 102^nd overall by Detroit in 2000

Liv went down with a knee injury in the middle of last season, but returned in time for playoffs and led HV71 Jonkoping to the SEL championship. This season he has started off poorly, however, posting a 3.62 GAA and .878 save percentage in 10 games. His playing time will be greatly reduced by the signing of the Phoenix Coyotes' Brian Boucher, who joins the team this week. The Wings are very high on Liv, so look for him to make the move across the pond to North America sometime soon. Fans in North America will love Liv’s colorful personality that has made him one of the most popular players in his country.

Drew MacIntyre – age 21 – Drafted in the 4^th Round 121^st overall by Detroit in 2001

MacIntyre had a difficult season last year. With one too many goalies in Grand Rapids, MacIntyre found himself in Toledo in the ECHL. He had season-ending hernia surgery in December, making his season far from storybook. However, until December, MacIntyre was having a decent season posting 6 wins, a 2.61 goals against average and a save percentage of .919. The outlook for this season is very different. With Marc Lamothe gone and Joey MacDonald stepping up as the Griffins No. 1, MacIntyre will be the backup. He has yet to play a game this season though, as the team started 5-0 with MacDonald in net.

Logan Koopmans – age 20 – Drafted in the 5^th Round 166^th overall by Detroit in 2002