Nick Marek

Welcome to the Winterhawks: Brock Gould

 

In February, the Portland Winterhawks moved to acquire goaltender Brock Gould from the Moose Jaw Warriors.

The goaltender from Colorado Springs, CO had joined the Warriors last season in a trade from the Victoria Royals. However, now he is excited to get going with the Winterhawks. He knew a trade was coming because of the difficulties in traveling from the United States into Canada as a US citizen. The team Gould had heard about before the trade happened was Portland so he wasn’t too surprised when he got the call.

Past and present

Gould posted a 2.81 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage with the Royals in his 15 games before his trade to Moose Jaw. After the trade, his numbers took a bit of a dip as he saw a 5.75 goals-against average and a .876 save percentage in 16 games with the Warriors. Despite playing some fantastic hockey throughout the season, Gould picked up just seven wins in 31 starts.

Brock Gould tracks the puck (credit: Jay Wallace/Victoria Royals)

With a new season and a new team in front of him, Gould has an opportunity to prove that his previous numbers were a fluke. He entered last season as a top-10 goaltender per NHL Central Scouting. As this season begins, he will look to prove he still holds that value as games take place.

While he will be playing behind Dante Giannuzzi to start the season, we know that anything can happen in the game of hockey. Starts will be limited as there are only 24 games on the schedule. Be on the lookout for Gould to try to take as many starts as he can from Giannuzzi.

How he spent the off-season

“I spent the off-season working on slowing down my game and working on control,” said Gould. “Things in Colorado didn’t shut down too much so I go to be on the ice. I got to skate with guys like Jake Gricius and Jack O’Brien.”

Gould says the time off has given him plenty of time to work on a lot of things, including getting his head in a better space when it comes to games. With over a year between games, goaltenders are trying their best to keep a steady presence in net. Calm, collected, and aware are what the ideas are for the guys in the crease this season.

The upcoming season

Brock Gould (Photo- Portland Winterhawks/Keith Dwiggins)

“Definitely looking forward to playing games and getting back to the competition. Looking forward to playing for Portland this season, it sucks that the fans won’t be able to be there but it’ll be a good season.”

He is most glad to be back to the competitive spirit of the WHL. As we have seen as a constant this season, in whatever way games are able to be played, the players want them to happen.

However, contrary to what we’ve heard from many regarding playing to empty arenas, Brock Gould had this to say about playing to empty arenas:

“The energy and lack of fans in the arena won’t be too weird because we’ve played to empty arenas in previous leagues.”

While it will definitely be a different feeling, the adjustment won’t be too bad, according to Gould. The guys are just happy to be back and playing actual games, so to be playing without a crowd of spectators in the arenas seems like such a small price to pay.

Some words to Moose Jaw fans

Following the abrupt end to last season, Gould had something to say to fans of the Warriors.

“Thank you to the fans in Moose Jaw for all of their support last season. The team didn’t always put their best forward but we always appreciated the support.”