Man of the Week: Eddie Pasquale

KHL.ru continues its ‘Man of the Week’ column with Eddie Pasquale. After changing teams this summer, the Canadian netminder is further cementing his position as one of the league’s top goalies.

Every player needs at least a few games to get on shape when the season starts to get to their performance going, but this seems to not apply to Eddie Pasquale. The Canadian goalie started stopping shots since the first game and can sport now a saves percentage of 93.40% and a goals-against average of 1.93. If that’s not enough, he also recorded two shutouts so far. After spending two years in Yaroslavl, Pasquale joined Metallurg this summer on a one-year deal for his fourth KHL season. 

“I was planning to stay in Yaroslavl,” the goalie explains. “But then they said that they’d play without imports. So my agent told me that I had a few offers. I played well against Magnitka last year, I like the arena, there are a few guys I know in the roster, plus three Canadians, and an English-speaker goalie coach.”

Early years

Pasquale was born on Nov 20, 1990 in Toronto, Ontario, where he started playing. Not surprisingly, he started his journey in the Ontario Hockey League, first with the Belleville Bulls, then for the Saginaw Spirit. With the Spirit, he reached the playoffs three times and won a trip to OHL All-Star Game in 2009. Overall, Pasquale appeared in 158 games in the OHL, including 16 postseason clashes.

Going up

In the 2009 NHL Draft, Pasquale was picked in the fourth round by the Atlanta Thrashers, as the 117th overall choice. After his junior career, the Ontario native was then assigned by the Thrashers to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. In the 2011-2012 season, he was named to the AHL All-rookie team representing the Wolves. After playing out his entry-level deal with the Thrashers, he was then moved to the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings, even if a hip surgery forced him to miss the whole 2014-2015 season. With the Wings’ AHL affiliates, the Grand Rapid Griffins, Pasquale won the AHL Calder Cup in 2017. Two years later, playing for the Syracuse Crunch, the goalie won the Harry Holmes Memorial Award for the lowest goals-against average in the league. That season, he also had his debut in the NHL, playing three games with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“The day of the game, I honestly wasn't nervous at all. I felt fine. Obviously, I was a little more excited than a normal game, but I didn't feel jitters or anything like that. I just wanted to go and play. Before the game, I put my headphones in and kind of zoned out and got myself mentally prepared for the game, just like I’ve done throughout my playing career. I tried to treat it like a normal game. It basically is, just a higher skill level. I tried to imagine it like an AHL game and do all my routines and stuff like that,” Pasquale told about his debut.

However, despite playing his debut games in the big league, that would be Pasquale’s last season in North America.

Move to the KHL

In June 2019, Pasquale, as an impending NHL free agent, decided to sign overseas for the first time in his career and agreed on a one-year deal with Barys. In the Kazakh capital, the goalie had a tremendous debut season, with a 2.03 goals-against average and being awarded goalie of the week honors twice. Moreover, as said, he helped the Kazakh franchise reach the playoffs and defeat Metallurg in the first round with a 4-1 score in the series.

After a successful debut year in Kazakhstan, Pasquale decided to move alongside Skabelka and defenseman Atte Ohtamaa to Yaroslavl, signing a two-year deal with the Russian-based franchise. In Yaroslavl, however, Pasquale will have mixed success, especially in the second year. After another regular season with an average goals-against fewer than two, he and Lokomotiv stumbled upon CSKA, which swept them 4-0 in the first round. Pasquale, who made the Team Canada roster at the Beijing Olympics, posted bad numbers, and didn’t look better than his backup, Daniil Isayev. He consequently left the Railwaymen’s roster and signed with Metallurg. In Magnitogorsk, Pasquale will have a better shot at reaching his first Gagarin Cup.