Colorado Avalanche add goaltending depth by signing three prospects -NHL Update
Colorado Avalanche faced some goaltending issues last season, which could be termed to be one of the major reasons why they ended in the bottom five of the Western Conference. In order to fix that aspect of their team, the franchise announced the signing
of three goalies to entry-level contract on Friday, May 11, 2012.
The three goalies are reported to be Sami Aittokallio, Kieran Millan and Kent Patterson, of which the announcement was made by Colorado Avalanche general manager, Greg Sherman, in a statement released by the team.
"Our organization is excited to be signing three of our top goaltending prospects," Avalanche GM Greg Sherman said. "All three players had success at the college or international level, and we look forward to seeing them at training camp."
At the moment, Colorado Avalanche have veteran goalie, Jean-Sebastian Giguere to guard the net but need to add younger goalies to learn from his experience and eventually move into his place as the goalie gets closer to retirement.
Aittokallio, a native of Tampere, Finland, represented his country during the 2012 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championships in Alberta, Canada, by taking them to fourth place.
He was picked up as the 107th overall selection during round-four of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by Colorado Avalanche and will now finally be tested in the North American major league.
At just 19-years-old, Sami Aittokallio showed impressive form when he registered 2.52 goals-against average and .937 save percentage in the five games played during this year’s championships.
Kieran Millan is the next one on their list. At the age of 22, he is coming out of playing for Boston University with a track record of four year and an 81-42-12 record in the 138 games he has played in that duration.
He was certainly regarded as one of the best in the university and was also awarded the university’s MVP award for two straight years.
Kent Patterson is the last to be inducted by Colorado Avalanche and at 22, the young goalie has a number of achievement under his belt, ranging from leading his University of Minnesota team to an appearance in the 2012 NCAA Frozen Four.
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