In NHL terms, it can’t be easy to be Petr Mrazek right now. He is now the third goalie on the Chicago Blackhawks following the acquisition of Spencer Knight from the Florida Panthers in the Seth Jones trade.
Both Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom have made a start since that moment. After Wednesday night’s loss to the Ottawa Senators, Anders Sorensen confirmed that the two would share the net down the stretch.
He also confirmed that Petr Mrazek is not going to be a part of it. After some good service for the Chicago Blackhawks for the tough years, he is on his way out.
“He’s a pro.” Sorensen said when asked about how Mrazek was taking this news. He would probably like to play more for this team but they are going in a much younger direction all around.
Mrazek skated with the team during Thursday’s practice. He was also made available for the media to speak to. He had to know coming in that he would field questions on the topic.
“I talked to Kyle the other day and I understand their decision, understand where they’re coming from.” Mrazek said on being the third-string goalie. “See what happens. Nothing changes for me. I’m going to come in and have a good attitude, work hard, and make sure that I feel good about my game in the practices.”
Being the third string goalie with a head coach that believes only two should be rotating is tough but there is also the chance that he gets traded before the deadline on Friday.
“We don’t want to jump into rush decisions or anything.” Mrazek said on the possibility of a trade before Friday. “If anything comes and makes sense for Kyle and hopefully for me, as well, then we might have a discussion. We’ll see what happens today or tomorrow or in the summer. You don’t want to just jump into something quickly for something that might not make sense, so we’ll see what happens now or in the summer.”
Mrazek is a team-first guy. He knows what the Blackhawks are trying to build and he mentioned something that makes sense for the team before even mentioning something that makes sense for himself.
“I’ve been in way worse situations in my career.” Mrazek said on his positivity. “I’m a positive person. It’s still a great day to be around. The job we have, we have to enjoy it. And I believe when people are positive, good things happen. Definitely not in a bad mood or anything.”
He is always very positive and it is contagious. That may be a reason to keep him around the young players. It sounds like he is interested in helping…