Nathan Lieuwen is in Colorado Avalanche training camp, but he is on an American Hockey League contract for next season. Odds are, he won't see much -- if any -- time with the Avs this season. That doesn't mean he's going to go through the motions with the opportunity he has in the preseason.
The 25-year-old made his debut with the Avalanche in a relief appearance in Tuesday night's preseason game against the Minnesota Wild.
He only played 20 minutes, but Lieuwen stopped all 11 shots he saw and he made a save that very well could hold up as the best we see all season. No big deal.
The jaw-dropping stop came after Jason Pominville redirected a pass from Jared Spurgeon on net. Lieuwen got a piece of the shot, but the puck flipped over him and behind his back and was headed for the net. In desperation, Lieuwen reached back with his glove hand and guess what he found?
Just take a look (via Marina Molnar and Jay Kosier):
Yoink!
Pominville actually started to put his arms up before quickly dropping them to his side.
It doesn't get much better than that and almost certainly won't the rest of this preseason.
Lieuwen actually appeared in seven games for the Buffalo Sabres during the 2013-14 season, but had spent the last two years with the Rochester Americans after enduring some lingering injury issues. At just 25, he should still have time to try and re-establish himself as an NHL talent. If he keeps doing stuff like that, it shouldn't take too much convincing.
The Avs earned a 4-1 win in their first game of the preseason.
