Wild sign Anton Khudobin...MVN Article...

LemaireisGOD · 07-13-2007, 08:15 PM

The State of Hockey News | MVN - Most Valuable Network » Blog Archive » Wild sign goaltender Anton Khudobin

Wild sign goaltender Anton Khudobin

By Derek Felska | July 13th, 2007

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The Aeros likely have their 2nd goaltender, in 2004 Wild Draftee Anton Khudobin signs a contract with the Minnesota Wild. (image courtesy of wild.com)

The Houston Aeros’ goaltending situation seems to be sewn up now that the Minnesota Wild have reached terms to a contract with goaltender Anton Khudobin. Khudobin will likely join Nolan Schaefer down in Houston to share the duties between the pipes for the Aeros. The 5′11″ 176lbs goaltender played last season for Mettalurg Magnitogorsk in the Russian Superleague. He played in just 10 games, putting up an “ok” 2.72 goals against average. Khudobin does have some North American hockey experience as he played one season for the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League. He has been described as an athletic goaltender who at times gets caught out of position, and at the very least he must be seen as an upgrade over Miroslav Kopriva who’s performance has been rather underwhelming (with a 3-6-1 record, .899 save percentage and a 3.72 goals against average).

Last season the Houston Aeros were amongst the worst teams in the American Hockey League, with a paltry 27-43-4-6 record. A lack of offense was a big reason for their struggles as they were the 2nd lowest scoring team in the league. Goaltending was also erratic as the Aeros had no less than 5 different goaltenders last season. Hopefully the arrival of Schaefer and Khudobin will stabilize this portion of the Aeros’ roster and bring consistancy to a team desperately lacking it.

This is a great segway to speculate what the Aeros’ roster is going to look like next season. The 2006-07 is going to lean even more on Wild prospects than it has in previous seasons, with only a small handful of minor-league veterans to provide leadership and instill it in their younger teamates. Aeros new Head Coach Kevin Constantine will have a fairly young team to mold; and if anything history says anything he won’t be afraid to ruffle some feathers to get performance. Cal Clutterbuck, Matt Kassian, and Tyler Hirsch will all be first-year pro’s next season. Over the course of the summer the Wild will acquire a few more players to round out their roster and perhaps serve as feeder players to fill in holes when / if injuries occur.

Forwards:

Aaron Voros

Cal Clutterbuck

Matt Kassian

Morten Madsen

Steve Kelly

Benoit Pouliot

Joel Ward

Matt Foy

Danny Irmen

Tyler Hirsch

Roman Voloshenko

Peter Olvecky

Defense:

Andre Lakos

Clayton Stoner

Riley Emmerson

Erik Reitz

Mike Scott

Goaltenders:

Nolan Schaefer

Anton Khudobin

07-13-2007, 08:15 PM	#1 (permalink)
LemaireisGOD Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 504	Wild sign Anton Khudobin...MVN Article... The State of Hockey News \| MVN - Most Valuable Network » Blog Archive » Wild sign goaltender Anton Khudobin Wild sign goaltender Anton Khudobin By Derek Felska \| July 13th, 2007 E-mail \| Print \| Share The Aeros likely have their 2nd goaltender, in 2004 Wild Draftee Anton Khudobin signs a contract with the Minnesota Wild. (image courtesy of wild.com) The Houston Aeros’ goaltending situation seems to be sewn up now that the Minnesota Wild have reached terms to a contract with goaltender Anton Khudobin. Khudobin will likely join Nolan Schaefer down in Houston to share the duties between the pipes for the Aeros. The 5′11″ 176lbs goaltender played last season for Mettalurg Magnitogorsk in the Russian Superleague. He played in just 10 games, putting up an “ok” 2.72 goals against average. Khudobin does have some North American hockey experience as he played one season for the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League. He has been described as an athletic goaltender who at times gets caught out of position, and at the very least he must be seen as an upgrade over Miroslav Kopriva who’s performance has been rather underwhelming (with a 3-6-1 record, .899 save percentage and a 3.72 goals against average). Last season the Houston Aeros were amongst the worst teams in the American Hockey League, with a paltry 27-43-4-6 record. A lack of offense was a big reason for their struggles as they were the 2nd lowest scoring team in the league. Goaltending was also erratic as the Aeros had no less than 5 different goaltenders last season. Hopefully the arrival of Schaefer and Khudobin will stabilize this portion of the Aeros’ roster and bring consistancy to a team desperately lacking it. This is a great segway to speculate what the Aeros’ roster is going to look like next season. The 2006-07 is going to lean even more on Wild prospects than it has in previous seasons, with only a small handful of minor-league veterans to provide leadership and instill it in their younger teamates. Aeros new Head Coach Kevin Constantine will have a fairly young team to mold; and if anything history says anything he won’t be afraid to ruffle some feathers to get performance. Cal Clutterbuck, Matt Kassian, and Tyler Hirsch will all be first-year pro’s next season. Over the course of the summer the Wild will acquire a few more players to round out their roster and perhaps serve as feeder players to fill in holes when / if injuries occur. Forwards: Aaron Voros Cal Clutterbuck Matt Kassian Morten Madsen Steve Kelly Benoit Pouliot Joel Ward Matt Foy Danny Irmen Tyler Hirsch Roman Voloshenko Peter Olvecky Defense: Andre Lakos Clayton Stoner Riley Emmerson Erik Reitz Mike Scott Goaltenders: Nolan Schaefer Anton Khudobin __________________ "Why mess around with PT Boats when you can have a Destroyer?" ~ Al Strachan (Hockey Night in Canada)