It’s been a bit of a shaky road for the Colorado Avalanche since their Stanley Cup win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021-22 (the third in their history), with much talk about the team’s goaltending woes. They lost Darcy Kuemper in free agency, then signed Alexandar Georgiev to replace him. Though the number of games he helped the team win was solid, his save percentage was not the most ideal thing in the world.
That being said, let’s take a walk/skate down memory lane with former Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz.
Francouz went undrafted in 2018 and appeared in two games for the Avalanche that year. That same year, he primarily was with the Eagles, playing in 49 games but zero starts. He had a record of 27-20-1 for the Eagles, which isn’t too shabby. It’s not great, but it was not bad. His save percentage was .918. Anything above .900 for a goaltender is viewed as solid, so he did his job well, allowing a goals-against average of 2.68.
Francouz had an NHL record of 44-21-0-6, which is a 61.97 win percentage.
When he was called upon, Francouz stood tall in net during the 2021-22 postseason. In total, he played in seven postseason games in relief of Darcy Kuemper, who notably had to miss several games due to an eye injury. Of the seven, he started four, and put up a record of 6-0. It’s really tough to put up a 6-0 record against any teams, but to be able to do it against stiff competition in a playoff setting? If I had it my way, there would be a show on NHL Network dedicated to Francouz’s unexpected appearance.
When you are heading into the postseason, having a backup goaltender is important. Though your starter is expected to play in virtually all of the games, besides one here and there, you just never know what may happen. Kuemper’s eye injury was a freak accident, but to my surprise, it turns out that that actually happened to him years prior, too. That was when he was with the Arizona Coyotes.
I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to focus on the task in front of them while they wondered about their starting netminder. I’m sure it wasn’t easy, but injuries are a part of sports. Francouz took the ice in games he was called in for, and he helped the Avalanche win their first Stanley Cup since 2001.
It really helps that they had Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and other stars to make it happen on the other side of the ice, and sometimes, the goaltenders are forgotten about. We thank Francouz for his massive contributions to the Avalanche during his career, but specifically the 2021-22 postseason. If it weren’t for him, we may not have witnessed the Stanley Cup going back to Colorado.