I wanted to do a post about Manny for yesterday but I just forgot. If you haven’t heard, over the weekend Carolina’s starting goaltender Cam Ward, was injured by wave of an errant skate blade. As if it wasn’t bad enough with a good goaltender, now they have to rely on backup Michael Leighton. I knew that wouldn’t last for long (although I thought they were going to have to trade for another goalie), they ended up signing Manyy Legace to a one year deal.
When I heard about the signing I was elated, Manny has always been one of those players you never realize how good he is until you take a look at his stats. This season has been spent in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves, where he was a backup and put up a 2-2 record with a GAA of 3.21 and a save percentage of 0.898. Last season was split between Peoria of the AHL and the St. Louis Blues.
The Blues decided to stick with youth and stayed with Chris Mason in goal. He didn’t have a very good NHL season going 13-7 with a GAA of 3.18 and a save percentage of 0.885. However when you look at his career he is 177-92 with a GAA of 2.38 and a save percentage of 0.912. So you know he is fully capable of shutting down an offense and right now that is what the Hurricanes need. As far as where he goes from here, well that is going to play out in the next month. If he is able to be the wall in goal the Canes need, then they can ease Ward back into play and then waive Leighton. If he doesn’t perform up to par, then it’ll be him that is demoted to Albany upon Ward’s return.
Manny has always been one of the favorites among collectors especially since he spent a good chunk of his career with Detroit (post-Hasek days). He has many autograph and game used cards and most are selling on eBay for reasonable prices. The card pictured below is listed with a $20 buy it now price but should be able to be had for $10. Most of his autographs tend to be about $7 and his game used is running about $3. Not a bad price to pay for someone who had a heck of a nice career.
