For the second time in his career, Alex Dubeau is the Goalkeeper of the Week for Warrior Hockey ECHL.
“It’s been a good last couple of games for me, in fact, I’m feeling good,” Dubeau told FloHockey.
No joking.
The South Carolina Stingrays goalkeeper was 2-0-0 with an average of 1.00 goals against and 0.974 percent defense last weekend in two games against Fort Wayne Komets to take home the honors, and the humble native of Mascouche, Quebec, enjoyed being recognized for his efforts.
“In the league, I think people can see that I’m playing very well, and winning something like that is a good exposure,” he said. “Obviously, victories are more important than personal recognition, but it is always fun to be recognized, especially when there are so many good goalkeepers in the league.”
This is hardly the biggest headline of Dubeau’s season, however. On March 3, the FloHockey footage went viral when the 26-year-old made an incredible and desperate save in a game against Jacksonville Icemen, throwing himself backwards with his glove to prevent a deflected puck from hitting the net. . The effort put him in the SportsCenter Top 10 Plays, echoing similar efforts made in the past by a French-Canadian goalkeeper.
“It was the first time I made such a defense in my life,” said Dubeau with a laugh.
“It was pure reflex, I just saw that the album was released and passed over me, and I had to dive. But I have seen rescues like the one made by Marc-Andre Fleury before, maybe I got it from him or something. It was pure luck, pure reflex, but it certainly looked good, especially since we won. “
Dubeau said he has seen the video everywhere since then and that, coming from Canada, where TSN is king, it was special to have his name mentioned on ESPN for the first time, especially for a play like that. Given the new deal with TV that ESPN signed with the NHL, it seems that Dubeau found himself one step closer to being mentioned there much more often when he won an AHL call-up to Hershey Bears earlier this season.
Unfortunately, despite being there for almost five weeks, he served as a reserve four times without entering a game, but was able to maintain a positive attitude on his second trip to AHL after a three-game stint with the Belleville Senators last season.
“Getting the call, it happened when Hunter Shepard got hurt, and I knew that was why he was being called, but it was still a good opportunity they gave me,” he said. “For me, I was going to go up to improve my game and take the opportunity to work with goalkeeper coach Alex Westlund up there, since we have none in (ECHL). It is always good to work on some details of your game, watch a video. So, my intentions were to improve every day, I didn’t really think about getting into a game. They have some good goalkeepers there, so I kept an open mind and was ready. In fact, the last week I was in Hershey, the head coach came up to me and said that I would start over the weekend, so I was getting ready for it, but unfortunately they sent another guy down and I got run over Outside. But, with the time I spent there, I improved and worked hard every day. It was good for me and good to establish contacts with your technical team. “
Fortunately for Dubeau and the Stingrays, he hasn’t lost a beat since returning to North Charleston. Going to Friday night’s clash against Orlando Solar Bears, Dubeau is 8-1-2-1 in the season with an average of 2.52 goals against, which is good for the seventh best among the qualified goalkeepers of the ECHL.
“I am very happy with my game now,” he said. “I think I’m focusing more on quality than quantity this year. I am sharing time with Shepard, and he is a very good goalkeeper too. I think we are a very good tandem and I am happy. I’m just trying to get consistency in every game, and that’s really my main goal, to find consistency and quality in my work. If I play one or two games a week, it doesn’t change anything, the plan remains the same. “
After a prominent high school run in Minnesota-Duluth, Shepard worked through a first professional season fraught with injuries, but played well when he was there tandeming with Dubeau, who took advantage of his time with his very stoic goalkeeper partner.
“We are completely different on and off the ice,” said Dubeau with a laugh.
“Positionally, he doesn’t really move as much as I do on the ice. Outside the ice, he’s a quiet guy. I’m also not the loudest guy, but I’m noisier than him, for sure. We are good friends and it is a good competition to have. And now, we have (Sean) Romeo here, so we have three (goalkeepers) now, and we all get along. It is very good to practice and have a good competition, it keeps you alert. “
The Stingrays have certainly kept their fan base on their collective feet all season with a roller coaster in the standings. Currently, the team is once again experiencing an upward trend, and Dubeau hopes it can remain that way throughout the regular season and an exciting push into the playoffs.
“We came as a team, we spent a lot of time together as a team and I think it has to come from us,” he said. “Coach (Ryan) Blair is doing a very good job, is that we really have to come together as a team, and I think we saw that against Fort Wayne, where we played three very good games at home. When we keep things simple, I think we are a very dangerous team. We have a lot of power in the attack and, with our D-core, if we keep things simple, we will be good. We are going in the right direction now. “
Mike Ashmore has 17 years of experience in professional and college sports. You can follow him on all social media channels at @ mashmore98.