Adam Berkhoel woke up from his game-day nap at a Philadelphia hotel Friday afternoon and checked his cellphone messages. Though the Atlanta goalie was only a few minutes away from leaving for the Wachovia Center, Berkhoel had time to talk to Denver.
At least temporarily, the former University of Denver standout is sharing the Thrashers’ goaltending duties with the even more unheralded Michael Garnett.
Veterans Mike Dunham, Steve Shields and Kari Lehtonen all are out for the Bob Hartley-coached Thrashers. On Friday, in fact, Hartley joked with reporters in Philadelphia that he was trying to talk Patrick Roy, now the coach of the major junior Quebec Remparts, out of retirement. “I told him I’d trade our six goalies to coach for him if he’d come and play for us,” the former Avalanche coach said.
The unpredictable timing of the injuries meant that in the first seven weeks of the season, Berkhoel was brought up from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League not once, not twice, but three times.
I forgot to ask the Minnesota native whether he prefers O’Hare or Midway.
“I was in the right place at the right time,” Berkhoel said. “You just take the opportunities and roll with it. I’ve had my ups and downs in the games I’ve played, but I’ve felt I’ve played pretty well.”
Garnett played against the Flyers on Friday, and Berkhoel was in net for the Thrashers in their Hockey Night in Canada appearance in Toronto on Saturday. He was pulled in the second period after allowing four goals on 17 shots. His record fell to 2-4.
He went into the weekend with a 3.72 goals-against average and an .885 saves percentage, but his numbers were a lot better before a 7-3 loss to the Islanders on Wednesday. Last weekend, Berkhoel had 34 saves in a 5-2 win over Tampa Bay and Lightning goalie John Grahame, a Denver native. Then, when Dunham was injured early in the second period against Carolina the next night, Berkhoel played the final 39 minutes of the Thrashers’ unlikely 9-0 rout of the surprising Hurricanes.
It all is a continuation of a wild ride for the 24-year-old Berkhoel, the hot goalie in DU’s 2004 NCAA championship run who then had a nightmarish rookie pro season a year ago, mostly with the Thrashers’ Gwinnett (Duluth, Ga.) affiliate in the East Coast Hockey League. He played only one AHL game with Chicago in 2004-05, but was on the Wolves’ inactive list for two months with a staph infection in his hip. Then, after he reported to Gwinnett, he suffered a scary skate cut on the neck during practice.
“I went down to make a save, and a teammate’s skate came up and hit me in the neck,” he said. “It was pretty close to the jugular, and it was 20 or 25 stitches. … It didn’t hurt too bad, but I reached up and felt it and it was pretty bloody.”
In other words, it could have been worse, or more reminiscent of the scene most goalies have seen on tape and can’t forget – Buffalo goalie Clint Malarchuk suffering a cut jugular vein during a March 1989 game. St. Louis winger Steve Tuttle and Sabres defenseman Uwe Krupp collided with Malarchuk, and a skate sliced the goalie’s neck.
“It was a difficult year for me, for sure,” Berkhoel said. “I knew I probably was going to be in the ECHL, knowing the goalies they had in Atlanta and Chicago. Then to be out for three months, it was disappointing. But then I worked hard over the summer and had a good training camp, and injuries happened.”
Berkhoel’s unlikely climb from the ECHL to the temporary No. 1 role would be roughly equivalent to Avalanche prospect Tyler Weiman going from helping to lead the Colorado Eagles to the Central Hockey League championship last season, then starting for the Avs this season after David Aebischer, Peter Budaj and higher-regarded farmhand Tom Lawson were hurt.
Inevitably, the injured veterans will be ready to play, leaving Hartley and the Thrashers with decisions to make. Shields (sprained knee) could return as soon as this week. Dunham is expected to be out at least three weeks with a torn knee ligament. And Lehtonen could be back from a groin injury by mid-December.
Most likely, Berkhoel and Garnett will end up with the AHL Wolves, but if they play great in a continued Thrashers resurgence, there could be some surprises.
“I’m not even thinking about that right now,” Berkhoel said. “I’ve just got the opportunity to play in the NHL, and I have to handle every day that way. What happens happens, and you just have to play when you have the chance and turn some heads and show them you can do it.”
While this plays out, Berkhoel continues to check on DU and the Pioneers’ chances for an NCAA three-peat.
“What they did last year was unbelievable and a great accomplishment for Coach (George) Gwozdecky and the whole team,” said Berkhoel, who also went out of his way to praise DU assistant Seth Appert, who handles the goaltenders. “I hope they can take another stab at it this year. I know they’ve had some injuries this year that are pretty big, but they’re going to be all right.”
Big Columbus day
The big news of the week was Sergei Fedorov’s trade from the Mighty Ducks to Columbus, and it signaled desperation on the part of Blue Jackets general manager Doug MacLean. After signing Adam Foote to provide leadership to work with some of the best young talent in the league – e.g. Rick Nash and Nikolai Zherdev – the Jackets had high hopes, but have been awful so far.
“I had hoped with the strength of Rick Nash, we could get along without a premium center,” MacLean said. “But when Rick went down, we really struggled to score. We’ve played well, but we can’t win because we can’t score. We need Rick back, and hopefully Sergei can give us some spark.”
Zherdev, who just turned 21, was awestruck. “I was quiet for a long time on the phone,” Zherdev told The Columbus Dispatch, through an interpreter. “Quiet, like I was dreaming. He speaks my language. I watched him growing up. He is Sergei Fedorov, a great hockey player. I’m a little nervous to meet him.”
At his first news conference in Columbus, Fedorov said he hoped to “find a groove that I had once in the ’93-’94 season.”
Roaring into Motor City
What are the odds of both the Avalanche and Nuggets playing in Detroit on the same night? That’s the situation Wednesday, although the Red Wings are the city team, playing in downtown Detroit, while the Pistons play in suburban Auburn Hills.
Terry Frei can be reached at 303-820-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
