With professional hockey becoming more offense oriented, it is hard to imagine a goalie posting several shutouts during a season let along having a long shutout streak. Barry Brust of the Abbotsford Heat bucked that trend as he set an American Hockey League record for the most amount of time without allowing a goal.
Brust kept a clean sheet for 268:17, and the record was both set and broken last night against the San Antonio Rampage. He broke Johnny Bower’s 1957 record of 249:51 late in the first period. The man to score the goal was James Wright, who lit the lamp at 16:36 of the second period. He allowed another goal in the game, but the end result was all that mattered as the Heat won 3-2 in a shootout.
Having allowed one goal earlier this season against Chicago Oct. 20, Brust now has a save percentage of .978. What’s more bizarre is that Brust isn’t his teams primary goalie. He’s been platooned in goal this season with Danny Taylor and Leland Irving. Prior to tonight, he hadn’t strapped on the pads in a game since shutting out Lake Erie November 13 and 14. He did dress Friday at Texas and served as the backup.
His coach Troy Ward defended his platooning plan, as he told the Vancouver Sun this week “We’re going through a process. The process has worked for Barry to this point so why would I change it?”
Only 29 years old, Brust has played for eight teams since turning professional in 2004. He was drafted by the Minnesota Wild with the 73rd overall pick in 2002, but was never signed to a contract. He did play 11 games for the Los Angeles Kings during the 2006-07 season. He has played in the ECHL, and did win the Calder Cup with Binghamton in 2011. Last season he played with Straubing in the German league. He hopes to make a return to the NHL, and this streak is certainly something that could catch the attention of a general manager looking for goaltending help. “Obviously some things have to break the right way. I think being in the American Hockey League, you’re always a break or two away. You always want to hold out hope and dream, and all I can do is take care of the way I play,” Brust told Dave Lozo of NHL.com.
