Casey DeSmith, an above-average-sized human, didn’t give much thought to his height until he was playing for the Indiana Ice of the USHL, the top junior hockey league in the country.
“You kind of start looking at the [goalies] who are committing to colleges and you’re like, ‘Wow, this guy is 6-3, this guy is 6-4,’ ” the Penguins goalie recalled earlier this week.
Just when the oft-overlooked kid from New Hampshire had finally started getting on the radar of top college hockey programs, the NHL’s big goalie boom was about to begin.
Within a few years, Pekka Rinne (6-5), Mike Smith (6-5), Ben Bishop (6-7), Tuukka Rask (6-3) and Carey Price (6-3) would establish themselves as some of the steadiest puck-stoppers in the league. The Penguins, among other teams, stopped selecting shorter goalies.
DeSmith, who would play collegiately at New Hampshire, saw the writing on the wall.
“I better start growing a little bit or else it’s going to be tough to make it,” he thought.
It took about a decade, but DeSmith eventually passed most of those taller teens.
No, he never hit a growth spurt, nor did he invest in a medieval torture device to stretch out his limbs, sleep upside down for several years or splurge on a painful bone surgery. Instead, he battled and stayed patient long enough for the Penguins, and perhaps some of their peers, to realize that bigger doesn’t always mean better between the pipes.
“It’s been that way for a while, but obviously I’m doing everything I can to try to break that stigma,” DeSmith said, adding, “I think if you can stop a puck, you can stop a puck.”
If DeSmith, who is listed — perhaps generously — at 6 feet tall, has shown anything these past couple of months, it’s that he is certainly capable of doing that. In 21 games this season, the 27-year-old is 9-5-4, allowing 2.43 goals per game with a .921 save percentage.
Matt Murray was activated from injured reserve Wednesday and could soon elbow his way back into the Penguins net. But DeSmith is proving there is a place for him, too.
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