By: Mark Allred | Follow me on Twitter / X @BlackAndGold277
Providence Bruins rookie goaltender Simon Zajicek is back on the ice this afternoon at the Amica Mutual Pavilion as the top minor-pro affiliate of the Boston Bruins prepares for an Atlantic Division battle against the visiting Springfield Thunderbirds. The 24-year-old Czechia native is coming back to this afternoon’s action after a recent ankle injury. Simon was on the shelf earlier in this season’s second half for an unrelated lower-body injury as the 2025 calendar year changed.
Coming into today’s tilt against visiting Springfield, Zajicek is 11-3-1 with a goals-against-average of 2.19 and save percentage of .923 in 15 career American Hockey League games in his first season of North American professional hockey. The 6’-2”, 185-pound netminder was a product of tremendous scouting from the Bruins, as many in the field didn’t see much in the player’s upside and his year-to-year numbers, choosing to pass on signing him, looking at higher-ranked European talent in the crease.
The work that Goaltending Development Coach Mike Dunham has done with younger netminders coming into this organization has been extremely noticable since day one. Goaltenders, especially those who are over the six-foot threshold, thrive with Dunham’s philosophy of training and nutrition as players climb the ranks of developmental hockey. Obviously, NHL Bruins Goaltending Coach Bob Essensa has input on goaltending decisions for the franchise concerning the net, but it’s Dunham who does the legwork down at the American League level and travels around to keep tabs on the hopeful Bruins’ future who are playing throughout North America.
With no more three-in-three weekend games on the schedule, Providence Head Coach Ryan Mougenel is expected to put together a well-balanced plan for the remaining 15 games of the season concerning his goaltending rotation. The addition of so many Wednesday nights to this season’s second-half schedule has been a huge benefit, relieving the dreaded three games normally on Friday to Sunday and overworking the members of the Providence crease rostered players.
Another benefit coming up at the end of the season is the first-week bye the Providence Bruins will earn in the upcoming Calder Cup Playoffs. Speaking of the postseason, as of today (March 15th, 2026), Providence would get a bye week as previously mentioned and play the lower-seeded first-round winner in the Division Semi-Finals best-of-five series. The opening round of the Calder Cup Playoffs is a best-of-three series, but even though it’s a shortened series, Providence could still be off for two weeks of non-game action. Travel logistics play a huge role in why teams in the AHL postseason bye weeks can take so much time off.
Regardless of rest and whatnot, I feel very confident in the Providence Bruins goaltending moving forward. Either starting netminder Michael DiPietro, backup Zajicek, or, in case of emergency, recalling former Kelly Cup champion Luke Cavallin from the ECHL Maine Mariners has proven that no matter who’s in the crease this season, it’s going to be a two-point night. The way this Providence team has played defensively on the back end, complemented by a roster of defensive-minded forwards, makes this AHL club second in the league in goals allowed and has been fun to watch.
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