Friesen Playing it Hot

December 31st, 2007

by Marc Weber - The Province

Bruins goaltender Mark Friesen has stopped 114 of the last 119 shots thrown his way.   - Bob Frid photo.

Mark Friesen has earned the right to fast-track his development.

The Chilliwack Bruins' 17-year-old backup goaltender is currently their No. 1 guy and the only thing that could keep him out of the lineup tonight when the Bruins host the Kelowna Rockets at Prospera Centre (7 p.m., TEAM 1040.ca) is insufficient rest.

"We wanted to bring him along slowly," head coach Jim Hiller said of Friesen, "but now he's established himself and it's a matter of going with the hot guy. If he's rested enough he'll play [tonight].

Chilliwack is returning from a two-game set in Prince George that saw Friesen turn aside 60 of 63 shots, including 40 saves on Saturday that earned him first-star honours.

It was the second time in three games that the Winkler, Man., native was named first star -- the other coming when he stopped 35 shots in a 2-0 loss at Vancouver on Dec. 15 that included an empty netter.

Friesen, who beat out another 17-year-old, Lucas Gore, for the backup job at training camp, has stopped 114 of the last 119 shots he's faced for a sparkling save percentage of .958.

Last season, Friesen was playing midget for Pembina Valley (Man.) and also backstopped Team Manitoba to a silver medal at the Canada Winter Games in February.

"He's getting an opportunity right now and making the most of it," said Bruins general manager Darrell May, a former goalie who always watches the crease closely.

"He's been seeing the puck well and controlling his rebounds. The biggest challenge for a young guy is being in control. The last few games he has been.

"We're the kind of team that needs our goaltending to be very good to win some games because we've struggled to put up a lot of offence."

Returning No. 1 Matt Esposito was pulled after allowing four goals in the first period against Vancouver on Dec. 14 and Friesen denied Giants' shooters 19 out of 20 times the rest of the way.

Esposito was on the other end of this switch last season. After coming over in a trade, he outplayed Alex Archibald to take over the starting job and was a key reason for Chilliwack's run to the playoffs.

"[Mark] has earned the right to play, much like Espo did last year," said Hiller. "Espo understands that and he'll come back hard when he goes back in."

Unless Friesen is gassed, though, that won't be tonight.