Colorado Avalanche: Pre-Hockey Hiatus Look at Pavel Francouz
The Colorado Avalanche got a gem of a goalie in first-year player Pavel Francouz. You can relax when he’s in net.
The Colorado Avalanche are about 53 days into their hockey hiatus thanks to the NHL’s pause. The self-isolation with families hasn’t ended officially yet, but it seems more relaxed. The players may even be returning to their team cities soon in hopes of starting unofficial practices with small groups.
Here in Colorado, safer at home is in effect. We’ll see how that goes.
Meanwhile, during the hiatus, we’ve been considering how some of the players were doing before the pause went into effect. Here are some of the players we’ve looked at:
We haven’t looked at either of the goalies yet, so let’s change that. Today we’ll look at how Pavel Francouz was doing before the pause.
Brief History of Pavel Francouz
Goalie Pavel Francouz was undrafted by any NHL teams. He spent the majority of his career moving up the ranks of the Czech leagues. For three seasons from 2012 to 2015, he was playing in the Czech Extraliga, the top tier of hockey in the Czech Republic, Francouz’s homeland. He was between the ages of 22 to 25 at the time.
He then moved on to the more prestigious KHL. He spent three seasons from 2015 to 2018 playing for Traktor Chelyabinsk. In that time, he caught the eye of NHL scouts with his impressive stats. His last year in the KHL, he recorded a 1.80 goals against average and .946 save percentage.
On May 2, 2018, he signed a one-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche. He played all but two games with the Colorado Eagles. The next May, he signed another one-year contract. Halfway through the 2019-20 season, the team signed him to an extension of two years, through 2021-22.
Pavel Francouz Stats with the Colorado Avalanche
Pavel Francouz played 49 games with the AHL Eagles in 2018-19. He recorded a 2.68 GAA average and a respectable .918 save percentage. What’s interesting is in his two games with the Avalanche, he was even better — 1.97 GAA and .943 save percentage. Because of unlucky bounces, though, both were recorded losses for him.
Last summer, the Avalanche rewarded Francouz with the backup goalie job. At the age of 29, he’s been a first-year player. (He aged out of being called a rookie.) He has not disappointed the team. Because of injury — and his own strong play — Francouz has started 34 games. He’s recorded a 2.41 GAA and .923 save percentage.
Evaluation of Pavel Francouz with the Colorado Avalanche
Pavel Francouz has been a delightful surprise for the Avalanche. He seems to step up his game the bigger the stage. Starter Philipp Grubauer has been in and out of the lineup due to injuries, and Francouz has more than filled in. He has only two fewer starts than Grubauer and has recorded better numbers.
I was worried going into this season that we had a first-year starter in Grubauer backed up by an actual first-year player. However, they have proved to be a solid goal tending tandem thanks to Francouz. The fact that the team didn’t even wait until the summer to extend his contract tells you everything about the confidence they have in his play.
I’d even go so far as to say he’s created a goalie controversy.
If
When the season resumes, who do you start? Can you really say that Francouz is the backup, or has he earned the distinction of sharing the starting spot with Grubauer?
What a delightful quandary to have as an Avs fan.
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The Colorado Avalanche European scouting did a great job in discovering Pavel Francouz. Frankie says Relax — and we all do when he’s in net.