Pogge on his first game.

After an up and down season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Justin Pogge came to Anaheim with his role clearly defined as the organization’s number three goaltender.


Being anything more seems impossible, barring injuries to Jonas Hiller or Jean-Sebastien Giguere, but that hasn’t stopped Pogge from setting his training camp goals high.

“I’d love to make the team,” he said. “I’m doing everything they tell me to try and stick around.”

Pogge saw his first action on Thursday night against the Vancouver Canucks at Honda Center. He stopped 19 of 20 shots while playing the final half of the game — not a bad performance, but one Pogge thought could have been better.

“I felt a little slow in my first half of the period there, but picked it up in the third,” he said. “I was just kind of getting the rust off.”

The Ducks’ third option in goal last year was David LeNeveu, who had 21 games of NHL experience before signing with Anaheim. He didn’t see any NHL action behind Giguere and Hiller, butat least LeNeveu got plenty of playing time (46 games) with the Ducks’ top AHL affiliate in Des Moines, Iowa.

Getting significant playing time this season could be hard for Pogge since the Ducks don’t have an AHL affiliate. (The team is expected to send the plurality of its AHL players to the San Antonio Rampage, the Phoenix Coyotes’ affiliate.) Regardless of where Pogge lands, it’s typical for AHL teams to give the bulk of their minutes to the goalie under contract to the parent organization, which might relegate him to a backup role.

For Pogge, that’s looking too far ahead.

“I’m not worried about that right now …I guess it’s just a new adventure,” he said. “We’ll see how it goes.”

This entry was posted in Anaheim Ducks/NHL by J.P. Hoornstra. Bookmark the permalink.

About J.P. Hoornstra

J.P. Hoornstra covers the Dodgers, Angels and Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, San Bernardino Sun, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Whittier Daily News and Redlands Daily Facts. Before taking the beat in 2012, J.P. covered the NHL for four years. UCLA gave him a degree once upon a time; when he graduated on schedule, he missed getting Arnold Schwarzenegger's autograph on his diploma by five months.

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