With Miika Wiikman still under the weather, the Wolf Pack need to have a reliable backup netminder for Matt Zaba. As a result, they have recalled Maxime Daigneault from their ECHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.
Daigneault played in a mop up role in just one game this year for the Wolf Pack when he relieved Zaba in the second period of their game on February 8 in Lowell. He surrendered two goals on 21 shots and was the goaltender of record in the Pack’s 5-3 loss. So far this season Daigneault has played in 20 games with Charlotte registering a 10-8-1 record, a 3.30 GAA and an 89.7% save percentage. He’s been picking up momentum and in his last 12 games has posted a 9-2-1 record.
Daigneault is 25 years old, 6’3” and 203 pounds. He signed an AHL contract with the Wolf Pack prior to the start of this season and split last season between the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL and the Cincinnati Cyclones, with whom he won an ECHL championship. Daigneault was 4-5-0 in nine games with Milwaukee, with a 2.53 GAA and a 90.9% save percentage. Two of his four wins were by shutout. In 14 games with Cincinnati, the St.-Jacques-le-Minuer, Quebec native compiled an 11-3-0 record, a 2.62 GAA and a 90.5% save percentage, with one shutout.
Daigneault was a second-round draft pick (59th overall) by the Washington Capitals in 2002 out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. In the AHL, Daigneault has appeared in 57 games with the Wolf Pack, Portland, Hershey and Milwaukee. The fifth-year pro’s overall AHL record is 30-15-3, with a 2.65 GAA, a 90.9% save percentage and five shutouts.
He’ll be on the bench tonight as the Pack as they travel to Wilkes Barre / Scranton to take on the Penguins tonight at 7pm.
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