Two days after Beau Erickson’s candid rant against the Reign, both the goalie and his former team have moved on — the Reign with J-F Berube, Jase Weslosky and Dustin Carlson in goal; Erickson with a couple options on the table but still no contract.
I spoke with Erickson this afternoon on the phone, and he said he’s talked to two ECHL teams and three Central Hockey League teams since he was released. He’d like to make a decision about his playing future early next week and hasn’t ruled out retiring.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Erickson said. “I’m going to take some time and make the best decision for me.”
In subsequent conversations I’ve had since Erickson’s interview was published, one factual discrepancy emerged between the goalie’s version of the story and the team’s. Christie said he never got a call from any other ECHL team asking if Erickson was available. Erickson claims that one team, the Cincinnati Cyclones, did reach out to him directly.
“I know for a fact, and I can show you through my records, through text messages and e-mails, that a call was placed by Cincinnati the Friday before I arrived (at training camp),” said Erickson, who declined to elaborate on the substance of the conversations.
That might explain the discrepancy: Christie wasn’t turning teams away from Erickson’s services because he never got any calls about Erickson’s services. The goalie must have assumed otherwise, since one team reached out to him directly prior to camp.
Unless something else emerges, the remaining gray area is a matter of opinion — and that’s what makes sports great. Players, coaches and fans can all debate who should and shouldn’t make the opening-day roster, who should start and who should back up, who should be on what forward line and what defense pair.
And starting tonight, we can all watch some actual regular-season hockey.
As always, comments are welcome below.
Update (10/17): Something else emerged. I just got off the phone with Jarrod Skalde, the Cincinnati Cyclones’ head coach (the Cyclones were on the road all weekend). Erickson said that Skalde reached out to him directly the Friday before training camp. Skalde says he didn’t.
“I don’t even talk to agents about goalies at all. We always get a goalie from San Antonio and Milwaukee,” Skalde said. “I’ve never spoken to Beau or his agent. I tell everyone we have no room for goalies. Of course now, that’s not the case. I need one.”
And so we have yet another contradiction in the account of events. Regardless of who’s telling the truth — I provide this service merely to point out the contradiction — it’s a moot point as the Reign are concerned.
