The understudy gets his chance

For the past two weekends, he's viewed the Caribous' games from a different perspective.

Devin O’Brien usually watches the play from the bench.

For the last two weekends, however, the understudy goalie has had the action coming straight towards him, filling in for regular goaltender Jason Churchill.

While O'Brien doesn't take up as much space in the net as 6'4" Churchill, he proved he could shut down an offensive play just as well as the bigger guy.

So far this season O'Brien has played six games, and racked up five wins to his credit.

He's minded the net four times in the last two weekends and kept the Caribous in the win column, and their first place standing secure.

This past weekend he was put to the test where he faced 71 shots.

Early days

Devin O’Brien wasn’t always a goaltender. He started out like the majority of minor hockey players lacing up his skates and hitting the ice, hoping to get the puck on his stick and fire it into the net.

That was back when he was a member of the Southern Shore Minor Hockey Association.

The switch to the net was a matter of necessity, rather than choice, he told The Packet.

“Up the Shore we never really had a goaltender our age so everyone one would take turns playing in net. We’d be playing against teams like St. John’s, the Goulds and Mount Pearl and we would be losing games 15-1, 15-0,” says O’Brien.

“The first time I went in net for my turn we played St. John’s and we lost 3-2. That’s when the guys on the team said to me after the game, ‘That’s it you’re staying in net for the rest of the season'.”

In time, playing between the pipes kind of grew on him. He says while he liked being the last line of defence for his team, he’s not sure how his parents felt about it at the time.

“I don’t know if my parents were too keen. It also came with a bigger price tag for all the gear. But they supported me and I’m grateful to them for that.”

At age 14 he moved with his parents to Mount Pearl. He played his final year of bantam hockey with the Mount Pearl Minor Blades before moving on to play Major AAA Midget hockey in St. John’s.

He played his major junior hockey career with the St. John’s Fog Devils in the Eastern division of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Last year he was backup to Roger Kennedy of the Mount Pearl Blades in the Avalon East Senior Hockey League. This year he’s been playing backup to Jason Churchill for the Clarenville Caribous in the newly formed Newfoundland and Labrador Senior Hockey League.

Preparing

When Churchill is in the lineup O’Brien’s pre-game routine isn’t as intense. He’s more relaxed when he knows he’s going to be sitting to start the game. That’s not to say he’s not focused. Once the puck drops he has his game face on.

“You still have to be right into it because you never know when there could be an injury or things might not be going well for Churchill and I might have to go into the game,” he says.

For the past two weeks he's had a chance to show the coach, and Caribous fans, he's got what it takes.

And being the starting goalie, means a whole different approach to his pre-game preparations.

“Twenty minutes before the start of the game I’ll go outside the dressing room. I don’t listen to the pre-game speech. I just get into a zone and focus on what I have to do,” he says.

He didn’t disappoint his teammates this past weekend as he pulled out a pair of wins on home ice; the first came Saturday night against the Mount Pearl Blades. That game went to a shootout. On Sunday he earned another win when the Caribous edged the Conception Bay North Cee Bee Stars 6-5.

Caribous' head coach Ivan Hapgood says he has every confidence in O’Brien’s goaltending abilities.

"I sometimes hesitate to use the word backup goaltender. Devin has played six games for us so far this season and has five wins,” says Hapgood. “That’s a pretty good record. He came through for us when we needed him. With Churchill unable to play due to work commitments he’s certainly stepped in and done the job for us. He saw a lot of rubber in the two games on the weekend.”

O’Brien says coming to the Caribous organization was an easy choice, especially because he feels they have what it takes to be a winning team.

“The will to win is there and that’s important,” he says.  “But also I like the guys. I know most of them from growing up where I either played with them or against them.

“I heard lots of good things about the organization. There are a few guys on the team that have already won a Herder and this team is definitely trying hard to get to the Herder again this year.”

When he’s not playing hockey the 24-year old is in his final year of studies towards a science degree at Memorial University.

kgosse@thepacket.ca