The man behind the cool mask – Recorder & Times

Recorder & Times – Jonathon Brodie

Liam Souliere came to the Brockville Braves in style.

The goalie was quick to tell his dad, “We have to get a mask,” as soon as he got a call from Braves co-owner Dustin Traylen in late July telling him the Nepean Raiders made a deal to send him to Brockville.

The custom-made mask dons the black, red, and white colours of the Braves. Brockville’s logo covers the top, front part above the cage and his No. 33 is below it. An indigenous person is painted on the side and back.

Souliere has a collection of the unique piece of equipment and gets a mask for each new team he goes to. It’s a different way to chronicle his journey across the hockey landscape.

“It’s one of the nicest masks I’ve ever had,” said Souliere about the Braves addition to his repertoire.

The only thing that seems to be flashier than Souliere’s mask is his actual play.

The 19-year-old’s debut with the Braves was a complete success and capped with being named the CCHL’s player of the week. He won all four of his starts in the league’s first week of action, picking up a .966 save percentage, 0.98 goals against average, and a shutout.

Consider Souliere another goalie in the Braves bag of tricks.

The last few summers, except one, the Braves have run into trouble with their goalies leaving. Bo Taylor and Mitchell Datz both left before the 2015-16 season and then a little over a month before the year started the club signed Henry Johnson, who ended up getting the league’s singleseason and career shutout records. Johnson left for college after the 2016-17 season and he was replaced by Justin Evenson, who finished with a .930 save percentage that was a better stat than Johnson had in his two years in Brockville. When Evenson looked like he wasn’t coming back to Brockville there was that question again, who’s up next? No one is expecting Souliere to keep up his current numbers through a 62-game schedule, but if he plays even remotely close to the level he is right now he could probably wear his Nepean Raiders mask from last season for the entire year with the Braves and no one would tell him to take it off.

Along with style, Souliere also came to Brockville with a lot of hype. Traylen announced he had the best goalie in the league when he released the news the team was bringing in Souliere.

Head coach Jesse Winchester took a little more time to give Souliere top-goalie status. He always praised his new netminder in the off-season and said he would be a top goalie in the league. It only took five games for the coach to elevate Souliere’s rank. After last Friday’s matchup – a 3-2 shootout win against the Carleton Place Canadians where Souliere made 33 saves – Winchester said, “He’s on top of the league as far I’m concerned. I haven’t seen much of the league, but I’ve seen enough of him to know that he’s capable and competitive – everything you want in a goalie.”

“It’s good encouragement, but nothing is being taken for granted. You always have to work for it,” said Souliere about his coach’s rave reviews. “By Christmas my goal is to be on the top of that list.”

Souliere saved his best stop of the week for last. The Brampton-born goalie made a save with his stick in overtime and the rebound bounced to a Carleton Place forward sitting on the doorstep for what looked like a sure game-winner. Instead, Souliere pushed across the crease and sprawled out for a glove save that ultimately led to the Braves beating the perennial championship contenders.

“Against Carleton Place in overtime, that’s a pretty good feeling,” said Souliere. “Hopefully there’s a better (save) that comes later in the year.”

With the way things are going so far, it doesn’t look like Souliere will ever need to get another mask with another CCHL team’s logo on it.

The Braves (4-1-0-0) take on the Hawkesbury Hawks (5-0-0-0) on Friday at the Memorial Centre. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.

Original Story at Recorder.ca