( Photo Credit: KDP Studio )

By: Mark Allred  |  Follow Me On Twitter @BlackAndGold277

The Providence Bruins beat the Hershey Bears last night by the score of 6-2 at the Dunkin” Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island to improve their 2018-19 regular season record to 12-11-5-0. Speaking of record, with the victory over the Bears, Providence goaltender Zane McIntyre recorded his 68th American Hockey League win in franchise history. The 26-year-old Grand Forks, North Dakota native passes former B’s goaltender John Grahame who previously held the organization’s record since the end of the 2000-2001 regular season.

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McIntyre, a 6′-2″ 205-pound goaltender, has been with the Boston Bruins organization since his 2010 National Hockey League Entry Draft when he was selected in the sixth-round with the 165th overall pick. Zane has always been a strong goaltender learning the game throughout the developmental leagues creating instant success wherever he landed. The Bruins drafted him after he finished his last season of high school hockey playing for the Thief River Falls club where he posted an 18-8-1 record, a 1.81 goals-against-average and .925 save percentage.

The Bruins saw something very special in Zane to draft him out of a Minnesota High School and playing at the higher levels would seemingly fit his game continuing forward as he gained valuable experience with increased playing time and longer regular seasons. At the end of the 2009-10, High School season, Zane was the recipient of the Frank Brimsek Award for the Minnesota Senior Goalie of the Year. For those who don’t know, Frank Brimsek was a former Boston Bruins goaltender who was with the organization for 11 years winning two Stanley Cups.

After leaving the Minnesota, high school ranks Zane went to play in the USHL with the Fargo Force where he posted a career record of 38-24-4 with a 2.22 goals-against-average and .914 Save percentage. His play in the USHL particularly in the second and final season with the Force team he posted a 26-16-4 record earning himself another high honor of winning the Award for the USHL’s Goaltender of the Year for the 2011-12 campaign. The United States Hockey League is the nations only Tier 1 junior hockey league which is a fantastic developmental league that many current and former Boston Bruins players spent time in.  B’s players such as Anders Bjork and Charlie McAvoy played for the Team USA club, Torey Krug played for the Indiana Ice, and David Backes spent time playing with the Lincoln Stars all before stepping foot in the NCAA ranks of Division 1 College hockey.

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The next step was a three-year collegiate hockey career at the University of North Dakota where he started gaining popularity at a national level with his tremendous play. After the 2012-13 season which was McIntyre’s rookie season playing for the Fighting Hawks as the backup goaltender and posted a 9-4-3 record with a 2.46 GAA and .920 Save%. His next two seasons he was given the reigns as the starting goaltender and ran with the opportunity to produce a 49-20-6 record with a 2.02 GAA and .927 Save%. This third and final season at North Dakota was simply a work of art and a huge boost in confidence for Zane when he was a Hobey Baker Award Finalist, winner of the Mike Richter Award for the NCAA Top Collegiate Goalie. McIntyre was also the NCAA/NCHC Goaltender of the Year after his best career season for the Fighting Hawks going 29-10-3 in 42 games in the 2014-15 campaign before turning pro.

From College To The Pro Ranks

Adjusting to the pro level for Zane during the 2015-16 season was a bit of a challenge after he left school for the AHL’s team in Rhode Island. His rookie season started off with a three-headed monster in the crease that year as he split duties with former 2012 first-rounder Malcolm Subban and Jeremy Smith who was later shipped to the Iowa Wild on loan because of the bottleneck of netminders in the system. In 31 games as a rookie, he went 14-8-7 with a 2.68 GAA, and .898 Save% to be one of the best goaltenders in the AHL in his second season going 21-6-1 and leading the league with a .930 Save%. Zane’s third season in the AHL was good, but you can see that he had moments of struggles and even though he had good numbers with a 26-15-2 record you could see he was slowly getting passed in the depth chart but continued to work hard regardless of stretches where he honestly didn’t look great.

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The 2018-19 season has not been a great start for the Providence club with the constant recalls from the higher NHL Boston team that’s been rattled with injuries and McIntyre who’s sharing the crease duties with rookie Dan Vladar continues to show signs of struggles. This year mac has appeared in 16 games posting a 7-6-3 record with a 3.07 GAA and .880 Save% in the last year of his current two-year deal. I will admit that the team is starting to play somewhat better and have been trending to turn their fortunes for the better in the month of December the last few seasons. After starting the AHL regular season in the basement of the Atlantic Division, the Bruins have risen up the standings with a 12-11-5-0 record and 29 points which is good enough for sixth place in the eight-team AHL division.

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Moving Forward

As mentioned above, McIntyre is in the last year of his current deal, and even though he’s going to be a restricted free-agent at seasons end, it remains to be seen where both sides go with the veteran minor-pro goaltender. His unsuccessful cup of coffee at the NHL level and continued struggles at the AHL level might have the Bruins organization moving on without him with due to a seemingly bottleneck in the developing depths of the organization. B’s prospect goaltender Kyle Keyser who was signed as an undrafted free agent signed a three-year entry-level contract with the departure of goaltender Malcolm Subban who was claimed off of waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights in year one of the franchise. Keyser who will be eligible to play with the top minor-pro affiliate of the B’s is having a career year so far with the Ontario Hockey Leagues Oshawa Generals and might force the hand of Bruins management to walk away from McIntyre in favor of the younger netminder.

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