Falcons retain Legace for remainder of season

Jan. 16, 2012

By Chris Maza

Reminder Assistant Editor

SPRINGFIELD — Fan favorite Manny Legace will be a Falcon for the remainder of the season.

Legace was recently signed to an American Hockey League (AHL) contract, Springfield Falcons President and General Manager Bruce Landon told Reminder Publications. Legace had been playing with the team under a professional tryout contract, but the official AHL contract shows a commitment from the Falcons to keep Legace, who has been a mainstay in net recently.

“We have signed Manny to an American Hockey League contract, so he’s going to be here for the balance of the season,” Landon said.

Legace, in his 18th professional season, started is career with the Falcons in 1994 and won the won the AHL’s Aldege Bastien Memorial Award as the league’s top goaltender for his efforts in the 1995-96 season for Springfield. He is also the Falcons’ all-time leader in shutouts with eight.

After leaving Springfield, Legace enjoyed a successful career in the National Hockey League, playing 365 games with a record of 187-99-41 with a 2.41 goals against average and .912 save percentage for the Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues and Carolina Hurricanes. He has a Stanley Cup ring in his collection of honors as a member of the 2001-02 Detroit Red Wings. He also was an All-Star with St. Louis during the 2008-09 season.

This season, Legace has been a workhorse for the Falcons. Entering this weekend’s games, Legace had started 12 of the last 13 contests and sported a strong 2.35 goals against average. He also had two assists to his credit.

“We should be in good shape in goal, which is something you always worry about,” Landon said. “Manny’s just been fantastic for us. I dread to think where we would be without him. His win-loss record would be a hell of a lot better if we were scoring some goals, but there have been some nights when he’s kept us in games, we just can’t score goals.”

Legace may get more time off with Mark Dekanich now healthy.

Dekanich, who has struggled with injuries most of the season, played in his Falcons debut on Jan. 7, making 34 saves in a shootout win.

He was an AHL All-Star with the Milwaukee Admirals last season.

“Dekanich was signed to be in Columbus this year and has battled through a lot of injuries. He’s back and ready to go,” Landon said.

Between Legace’s strong play and Dekanich’s return, Landon said he believed goaltending would be a strength for the team going forward.

“If you look at it, we have two All-Stars in Legace and Dekanich,” he said. “Legace’s also a Stanley Cup winner and Dekanich is an outstanding goaltender as well, so we have two really experienced goaltenders right now.”

Landon added that Allen York was sent to the East Coast Hockey League in order to log more ice time.

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