Petkau’s stable of goaltenders bide their time in quarantine

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This article was published 28/05/2020 (1814 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This week The Carillon decided to check in with Steinbach player agent Ray Petkau to see how his stable of NHL players that he represents are holding up during this COVID-19 mandated lockdown that forced the postponement of the NHL season.

And as the NHL prepares to emerge from this lockdown that began in March, Petkau says his players, which include some of the top goaltenders in the league, including Winnipeg Jets sensation Connor Hellebuyck, are just anxious to play hockey again.

Hellebuyck, as some of you may recall, if you reach deep into your memory banks, go way, way back 10 weeks or so when hockey was still being played, and he was the reason that the Winnipeg Jets are even in a position to carry on this season as one of 24 teams to make the grade. Hellebuyck is considered a lock to win this year’s Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender.

He is also garnering some attention as a Hart Trophy consideration, awarded to the NHL’s MVP.

Petkau, in fact, when it comes to representation, has a lock on the Winnipeg Jets goaltending department, as he not only represents Hellebuyck, but also back-up Laurent Brossoit as well as Eric Comrie.

Others include the veteran James Reimer, now with the Carolina Hurricanes, who Petkau basically discovered 18 years ago when he was only 14, and would go on to become Petkau’s first NHL client.  

He also represents Thomas Greiss of the New York Islanders, among others, and most recently has added veteran defenceman Justin Schultz of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Another one of Petkau’s top prospects in his fold includes none other than former Steinbach Pistons great Matthew Thiessen, the Vancouver Canucks draft pick.

When we last caught up with Petkau in October, early in the NHL season, we checked in with him to see how he was doing as two of his clients, Greiss and Brossoit, were about to square off against each other in New York as the Jets faced the Islanders.

When goaltenders are your business, it happens from time-to-time that two of his clients will go up against each other. Like a nervous parent, he just hopes they both do well.

But what made this scenario even more interesting this early in the season was that Brossoit was getting his second straight start in net for the Jets after Hellebuyck had faltered in the Jets’ season opener, and in fact was getting some heat in Winnipeg.

Petkau cautioned at the time, “That was one game, hard to draw any conclusions from one game.”

Seemingly, in addition to being a pretty good player agent, Petkau appears to be a prophet as well because Connor Hellebuyck went on to drag the Jets, almost on his back, into the playoff scenario they are in now as the NHL mulls over returning to play this summer.

“Everyone wants to play,” said Petkau this week from his Steinbach office, where he is grounded, like everyone else, “everyone wants to see the Stanley Cup awarded.”

He says all of his players headed to their off-season homes for quarantine when the season ended: Hellebuyck in Michigan, Greiss in New York, Comrie in California, Brossoit in B.C., Reimer and Schultz in Kelowna and Thiessen back with his parents in Altona.

Petkau says he stays in regular contact with all of his players and says Hellebuyck and company will be returning to Winnipeg as soon the Jets get the green light to open training camp.