I was happy for netminder Justin Peters last week.
The Blyth native posted his first National Hockey League shutout, blanking the Washington Capitals 5-0.
Sure, he wasn’t overly busy, blocking just 17 shots, but a shutout is a shutout and there’s very few bigger than one, your first one, at the National Hockey League level, certainly if you’ve put in as much time as Peters.
Peters was a prominent OHL netminder first at St Mike’s and then dealt late in his career to Plymouth, posting 8 OHL shutouts along the way.
I remember seeing Peters play, but what stands out most was a simple act one year when he was a guest of Crimestoppers of Grey-Bruce at their annual Golf Tournament at Chippewa Golf & Country.
You might not have known Peters was a future NHL goalie, but one look at him told you he was an athlete of some description and as such, hitting a golf ball likely wouldn’t pose a challenge.
On this particular day, Peters won the Longest Drive, or maybe it was Closest to the Pin, whatever, and as a result he won a beautiful new set of golf clubs, which he promptly turned back to the organizers in almost sheepish fashion.
Keep in mind, he was 18, maybe 19 years old, at the time, and a professional paycheck was still on the long term horizon, so his gesture, to me, seemed all the more impressive.
It’s taken Justin Peters a bit of time to get to the NHL, he’s 25 going on 26, but in his 27th NHL appearance, he now has a shutout to his credit and as the Hurricanes attempt a playoff-spot rally, he could once again be a significant figure
I’m Fred Wallace