Antigonish Bulldogs' goalie Bryan Gillis is probably a nice kid who makes his parents real proud.
Having made that disclaimer, it is beyond my comprehension as to what he is doing on the Canada East roster for next month's World Jr. A Hockey Challenge in British Columbia.
When I saw his statistics only one thought came to mind.
What the heck?!
I'll let his numbers speak for themselves.
Eleven games played, zero wins, eight losses, one tie with a 4.52 goals against average and a .877 save percentage.
My dog, there had to be at least one goalie in the three junior hockey leagues that the selection committee had to draw from who has better numbers than that!
What confounds me even more is that the object of these scouting showcase events is to send your best.
In defense of Gillis and the Canada East team, there is a rub in all this.
According to selection committee member Brent Ladds, a few criteria had to be followed, such as:
- All three leagues — the Ontario Provincial Jr. A Hockey League, the Quebec Jr. AAA Hockey League, and the Maritime Jr. A Hockey League — must be represented.
- Only five players born in 1988 can be selected (Gillis is an '88 baby).
The team makeup then, needed to have the right mix of players - or so it seems.
The list contains 19 players from the Ontario league, two from the Maritime loop, and just one from Quebec. I assume that since the coach, Jerome Dupont, is from the Ontario league that it's weighted that way.
Ladds said that given their druthers, the selection committee would have used all the '88 picks for defense, but that clearly wasn't the case judging by the team roster.
Simply, they didn't have to select Gillis. They could have taken Andrew Flemming from league rival Amherst Ramblers. His save percentage is .931 and his goals against just 2.31 in 14 games.
His selection would make sense.
No matter how it's spun, Gillis' selection — from a statistical perspective — is bewildering.
Gillis may be a great goaltender and shine at the tournament.
With his numbers, I doubt it.