bob martinson / NL UAA goalie Chris King scans the ice during practice last week. King (.920) has a shot at breaking Greg Naumenko’s season record for save percentage of (.920).

This goalie could be King

By Brian Singler
Northern Light

It’s quite simple, really.

If Chris King can keep up his current pace, he’ll finish with one of the best seasons a goalie has ever had in a University of Alaska Anchorage jersey.

While his win total of 4-4-2 in 11 games may not jump at you, move over a couple of columns to save percentage. That’s where you’ll find the story of the King’s 2003-2004 season.

Coming into last weekend’s series against St. Cloud State, King’s save percentage was .925, ranking him eighth in the country. One shaky outing against the Huskies had dropped it to .920, still placing him in the top15.

King has never broken .900 in his career. He’s on track to break through, however, since his percentage has increased every year he’s donned the green and gold, peaking last season .897 and bringing his career average to .891.

In fact, if King keeps going he’ll become only the third Seawolf ever to break the magical .900 plateau, joining Greg Naumenko (1998-1999) and Garvin Federenko (1982-1983).

Besides joining that elite company, the 22-year-old senior is within reach of Naumenko’s all-time save percentage mark of .920.

“You don’t really expect for something like this to happen, although it’s something you always work for,” said King, whose name is in the top 10 of every major statistical category for Seawolf goalies, except wins.

King credits maturity and a chance to hone his skills with goalie coach Chad Meyhoff for the over 20-point jump. But the biggest difference for King has been fun.

“I just went into the season thinking, ‘I’m going to have fun—this is my last year,’” King said. “If I start not having fun, that’s when I am going to need to reevaluate what hockey is.”

Last season was simply no fun for King or anybody else for that matter. With a personal record of 0-9-3 and a dismal team mark of 1-28-7, King needed a spark to succeed again. He found it in the Summer Elite Hockey League, which enjoyed its first campaign this summer in Anchorage.

Comprised of the best hockey players in Anchorage, including Scott Gomez of the world-champion New Jersey Devils, Brian Swanson of the Edmonton Oilers, and several Seawolf teammates, the SEHL offered King a chance to keep his skills up while taking 14 credits at UAA over the summer.

“I didn’t find a new passion but just rekindled some ideas about why I was playing hockey,” King said. “I was playing hockey to have fun. I wasn’t playing hockey as a job.”

Playing twice a week against some stiff competition, King was ready for the season opener. And he needed all the preparation and focus he could get.

Against the University of Alaska Fairbanks in round one of the Governor’s Cup, King faced a career-high 50 shots leading UAA to a 3-1 win. Some other highlights of the season so far includ a 2-2 tie against No. 1 North Dakota and a 5-2 win against No. 4 Colorado College.

While most goalies employ either the butterfly or stand-up styles, King has his own style. He’s not a true butterfly goalie, one who makes all his saves from his knees, using flared-out pads to become near unbeatable down low. He’s not a stand-up goalie either, one who stays on his feet to make saves and remains in better position to move around, control and block rebounds. He’s a little of both.

“An assistant coach called me a ‘commando goalie,’ where I just get it done,” King said. “I do whatever it takes to stop the puck.”

So far it’s been working but King knows his save percentage can plummet in no time. For example, after cruising through two periods last weekend against St. Cloud, King watched as the Huskies peppered him for four goals in less than five minutes.

“That can happen. This league is just that good,” King said. “Or I could step up and I could get lucky and have pucks bounce off me instead of in the net and hopefully my save percentage will go up. But I’d still give up all my numbers if we would win a playoff game and make it to the (WCHA) Final Five.”