Q-C adds another goalie

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By Craig DeVrieze | Tuesday, November 13, 2007 2:04 AM CST | () comments

The Quad-City Flames opened the season thin on experience at goaltending.

Now? They have abundance.

Brent Krahn, the former first-round draft pick with 141 games of American Hockey League experience, was assigned to the Q-C Flames by Calgary on Monday after spending the first month of the season rehabbing a knee injury sustained in NHL training camp.

Q-C coach Ryan McGill said the 25-year-old Krahn can be expected to share the net with Curtis McElhinney, a veteran of 88 AHL games and Q-C’s starter in eight of its past nine starts.

That number likely will go to nine of their past 10 because Krahn joined the Q-C crew Monday afternoon in Grand Rapids, Mich., and won’t have an opportunity to practice with the team because of a rare 11 a.m. start vs. the Grand Rapids Griffins today.

But Krahn is here to play, McGill said.

“He has been cleared to play by doctors,’’ said the coach. “We will see him in practice Wednesday.’’

The NHL Flames did not make a corresponding move, leaving the Q-C club with three goaltenders.

On returning from this week’s road trip, however, there is a good chance rookie Kevin Lalande will be dispatched to the club’s ECHL affiliate in Las Vegas, where he will get more opportunities to play.

McElhinney and Krahn had been expected to vie for the right to backup NHL All-Star Miikka Kiprusoff when Calgary opened training camp in September, but Krahn was sidelined, and McElhinney won the job by default.

An AHL All-Star last year in Omaha, McElhinney was sent to the AHL club three weeks ago to get some action under his belt, while rookie Q-C starter Matt Keetley took his place in Calgary.

Now comes Krahn, the ninth overall pick in the 2000 NHL entry draft and the Omaha starter two years ago.

He suffered a knee injury a month into last season and played 28 games.

He is 65-53-12 with a .903 save percentage in his AHL career but has yet to spend time on an NHL roster.

With his club scheduled to play 10 times in the next 19 days, McGill is confident he can find starts for both McElhinney and Krahn, and he hinted the two again could be vying for a slot on the NHL roster.

“There is going to come a time when Matt (Keetley) is going to have to come back and play,’’ McGill said of the youngster, who has seen 9 minutes in the Calgary net. “You can only make so much progress in practice.’’

McGill said the Calgary goalie glut — which only will increase when promising first-rounder Leland Irving turns pro next summer — is not a problem where the Flames are concerned.

“The organization feels they are dealing from a strength,’’ said the veteran coach. “It is great from a development standpoint. It is great from a competitive standpoint.’’

Craig DeVrieze can be contacted at (563) 333-2610 or cdevrieze@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.