If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that I go out of my way to celebrate one of the rarer achievements in hockey, wherever and whenever it happens. The man on the left is the latest player to accomplish such a feat, and the rookie Tri-City Americans netminder also had a great performance on Wednesday. That player is Xavier Wendt from Plymouth, Minnesota – about 45 minutes east of the Grand Casinos Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota – and the 17-year-old netminder reached a milestone and added his name to the record books in his 15th WHL game tonight in Kennewick, Washington!The Americans hosted the Swift Current Broncos in WHL action tonight, and things got off to a good start as the Americans jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the game was 10 minutes old on goals from Crew Martinson and Connor Dale. Gavin Garland scored a goal with less than seven minutes to play, making it a 3-0 game for the Americans, and it looked like the final score was nothing more than a shutout wait for goalkeeper Xavier Wendt. Until it wasn’t anymore.
For some inexplicable reason, Swift Current called netminder Aiden Eskit to the bench at 1:08 as they tried to break Wendt’s shutout with a sixth forward, and then this happened.
Swift Current dumps the puck into the Americans’ zone, and Wendt easily puts it behind his net. With no one really pressuring him, he got his hands in the right place, fired the puck past the oncoming Broncos player and wrote his name into the WHL record book as the 11th goaltender in WHL history to be credited with a goal! He joins former Washington Capitals legend Olaf Kolzig as the only other American goaltender to score a goal, so he’s certainly in some pretty elite goaltending company!
As mentioned, Wendt is the 11th goalkeeper to score a goal in the WHL, and the list of goaltenders who have accomplished this is as follows:
- Olaf Kolzig, Driestad – November 29, 1989 vs. Seattle
- Chris Osgood, Medicine Hat – January 3, 1991 vs. Swift Current
- Jeff Calvert, Tacoma – December 29, 1992 vs. Moose Jaw
- Jason Clague, Red Deer – March 28, 1994 vs. Lethbridge
- Jordan McLaughlin, PG Cougars – March 5, 2003 vs. Vancouver
- Chris Driedger, Calgary – February 1, 2014 vs. Kootenay
- Stuart Skinner, Lethbridge – March 18, 2016 vs. Red Deer
- Ian Scott, Prince Albert – November 16, 2018 vs. Tri-City
- Lukas Parik, Spokane – March 10, 2020 vs. Kamloops
- Dawson Cowan, Spokane – November 26, 2023 vs. Portland
- Xavier Wendt, Tri-City – December 3 vs. Swift Current
The game in italics was a WHL playoff game.
There are some interesting footnotes when it comes to these goals above, but Jeff Calvert’s goal contains perhaps one of the coolest facts. With the Rockets trailing Moose Jaw 3-0, Calvert was sent out to try to spark the Rockets. Starting netminder Todd McDonald gave up three goals on 10 shots through the 9:30 mark of the first period, and head coach Marcel Comeau needed something to get his team rolling.Calvert would give up another goal at 13:26, but the Rockets rallied with two late goals in the first period and three goals in the second period to take a 5-4 lead into the third period. Calvert held the fort, and his goal with 10 seconds left to play made it 6-4 on a night where he scored, got an assist on the fourth Tacoma goal and won the game in relief against his hometown team! That’s a very good evening!
Wendt scored his first WHL goal tonight and recorded his first WHL shutout in the win, so that’s a pretty great night too. He upped his numbers to a 9-5-0 record with a 2.39 GAA and a .928 save percentage, so Wendt is off to a solid start to his rookie campaign. While he isn’t considered a top pick in the upcoming NHL Draft, maybe someone wants him for his goals?
All jokes aside, congratulations to Xavier Wendt on his goal, making him the 11th goalie in WHL history to be credited with a goal!
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
#Heckuva #night #Kennewick