Eric Comrie Earns First Career Shutout Nine Years In

It may have taken a lot longer than originally anticipated, but Eric Comrie can officially say he has a National Hockey League shutout to his name.

3,223 days since hearing his name called by the Winnipeg Jets at the 2013 NHL Draft, the now 26-year-old put together his most complete showing on Wednesday night, as he helped his Jets to a 4-0 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.

“It feels really good. It’s a happy moment for myself,” Comrie told reports post-game. “A lot of hard work went into that. But a lot of hard work from the guys tonight. They played a fantastic game and made it real easy for myself to see the puck and make a lot of easy saves because they were playing as good as they could.”

In just his 23rd career start, Comrie turned aside all 35 pucks he faced, including an extended six-on-four Flyers power play in the game’s dying moments, preserving the clean sheet.

Having bounced between the Jets, Arizona Coyotes, Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils before returning back to Winnipeg over the past two seasons, Comrie’s 2020-21 season was spent mostly as a part of the league’s former Taxi Squads.

Following an exceptionally difficult year by anyone’s standards, the Jets’ 2021 Masterton Trophy nominee earned a much-deserved seat on Winnipeg’s bench as the backup for the 2021-22 season.

And he has completely owned his role.

“Well I think he’s a consummate teammate,” interim head coach Dave Lowry said of Comrie. “This is a kid — and I say it every day — he is the hardest working guy. He comes every day, he loves the game. He enjoys what he does. He’s the hardest working guy and guys notice that. And they enjoy an opportunity to watch him be successful.”

Currently owning a 9-5-1 record, Comrie has a .921 save percentage and a 2.55 goals against average on the season – far superior to Connor Hellebuyck‘s .910 save percentage and 3.00 goals against average.

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And he now has an NHL shutout on his track record.

Was it something he dreamed of since childhood? No. Well, maybe. But it wasn’t his only dream.

“I don’t know,” Comrie laughed when asked. “There’s a lot of moments you dream of. I don’t think it’s as much as I dream of my first game or my first win, but it’s definitely up there, for sure. The big dream you always have is to win the Stanley Cup. That’s what I’ve always dreamed of since I was as little kid, and that’s still the ultimate goal. This is an awesome moment. But I’ve always dreamed of raising the Stanley Cup over my head. That’s always been my goal since I was a little kid.”

Comrie took the long road, appearing in 198 regular season games for the Manitoba Moose prior to the 2021-22 season. His resiliency gave him the opportunity to strike, and on April 27, 2022, he did just that.

But it wasn’t only Comrie gaining the attention at Canada Life Centre, as his team’s goal and point-scoring leader Kyle Connor added to his totals with another tally and two assists on the night.

As a matter of fact, Connor usurped Blake Wheeler to take sole possession of the Winnipeg Jets 2.0 franchise record of most points in a single season with 92.

“It’s fantastic,” Comrie said of Connor. “I knew it was going to happen because I don’t really stop him in practice. And no one stops him in practice. So you knew it was going to come. He’s too good of a shooter, too good of a passer, he makes too many plays. I’m happy for him. I’m proud for him. He comes out and shoots on me all the time and gets better and hurts my confidence. I’m glad he’s doing that to other goalies, too.”

According to coach Lowry, it’s Connor’s day-to-day mentality that is what’s getting the job done for No. 81.

“He’s been a very consistent player from Day 1,” coach Lowry said. “Does he still have two minor penalties? We should be talking about Kyle and the Lady Byng, with the season that he’s had, he doesn’t get enough recognition throughout the league.”

A fair assessment, for sure. Should Connor receive recognition for his gentlemanly play, he would still be in a tight race with a number of other offence-first contributors.

Although setting a new franchise mark, much like Comrie, ‘KC’ was not in the mood to talk about his own personal accolades on Wednesday.

“You guys know me by now, it’s not like I’m popping champagne because I hit a certain amount of goals or something,” he laughed. “You expect it of yourself. You put in all the hard work and so when the results come, you’re ready for it, you’re ready for this stage.”

Winnipeg will not be in the playoffs, so the next two games at home will also be meaningless for the standings. However, some personal accolades and milestones may be within reach. Connor now sits just four goals off of 50 on the season, while Nikolaj Ehlers is one off his career high (29). Connor Hellebuyck will get another chance to prove his worth between the pipes, while Eric Comrie may even be handed the reins one more time.