If you are wondering if Curtis McElhinney harbours any ill-will towards the Toronto Maple Leafs or Garret Sparks, you needn’t be.
Hours after serving as the backup goalie for his new team, the Carolina Hurricanes, in an 8-5 win against the New York Rangers on Sunday, McElhinney made sure he caught what he could of his former team in their game against the Chicago Blackhawks.
McElhinney wanted to see how Sparks, the 25 year-old goaltender who the Maple Leafs opted to keep instead, fared in his first start of the season in Chicago, not far from Sparks’ hometown of Elmhurst, Illinois. It was not pretty for Sparks in his first NHL start since April 9, 2016, but he was good enough to earn a 7-6 victory.
The former Leafs backup knew how much the win in that game meant to Sparks, who said throughout Maple Leafs training camp that he had it circled on his calendar all summer. So, McElhinney picked up the phone after the game.
“It was a pretty special moment for Garret to be able to win in a place that’s close to home for him,” McElhinney told the Sporting News on Monday. “I sent him a message afterwards congratulating him. It was a pretty special night regardless of what the score may have been.”
It was quite a gesture from McElhinney reaching out to the player who ultimately cost him his job with the Maple Leafs. But there was not a hint of bitterness in McElhinney’s voice as to how his time with Toronto ended when he was claimed on waivers by the Hurricanes last week. In fact, he intends to keep a close eye on his old team.
“I’ll keep tabs on them for sure, it’s fun to watch,” he said. “They’re certainly an entertaining team to watch as well.”
Knowing it was all but certain Sparks would be claimed if exposed to waivers -- and likely McElhinney would be, too -- Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas opted to keep the younger goalie, who backstopped the Marlies to the 2018 Calder Cup championship.
McElhinney had the support of coach Mike Babcock and was coming off arguably the best season of his career in 2017-18, but it was not enough to hold off the AHL’s top goalie.
“Garret had essentially accomplished everything he could at the American Hockey League level and it was just his time and there’s nothing wrong with that,” McElhinney said.
“I wanted to believe that I was able to kind of turn back the clock and keep things as they were, but that’s just kind of the nature of the beast and the role that I’m in now at my age, it’s bound to happen.”
When he saw a message from Dubas on his phone last Monday asking him to give him a call, he knew what it meant.
“Anytime you get a message like that, you pretty much know the writing is on the wall so it’s just a matter of what it actually was,” McElhinney said. “Then it’s just 24 hours of you have no idea what’s going on, the uncertainty of it, it’s difficult because you just have to sit there and wait.
“The only reassuring thought is you try to believe there’s a position out there for you somewhere else, obviously, and that happened to be Carolina at this point in time.”
Making it even more difficult for McElhinney was he knew he would have to tell his kids, aged seven and nine, the tough news and possibly be away from his family for a period of time.
“My kids are at an age now where they fully understand what the situation is and what it means,” McElhinney said. “It was difficult to break the news to them that dad might have to jump on a plane in the next 12 hours and head out. That’s the hardest part, getting everyone on the same page and helping them understand that I’m not going to be here tomorrow, potentially.”
Now with his seventh NHL team since entering the league in 2007-2008, McElhinney is at peace with where he is in his career. He frequently uses phrases like “day-to-day,” “at this point,” or “at that moment in time,” when he refers to his future. He does not let himself look too far ahead.
He even joked with someone on Twitter last week who referred to him as the “NHL’s rent-a-goalie” by replying, “Maybe all white gear should be my thing. #JustInCase,” to make those sudden team changes easier to handle.
“It certainly feels like (I’m a rent-a-goalie) at times. It’s tough to say, but it’s up in the air as to how long I’m going to last anywhere now,” McElhinney said. “You just kind of keep it light-hearted and have a little fun with it, joke about it. At this point in my career I can’t take anything too seriously, as long as you have a smile when things are going down, it makes it a little more enjoyable.”
McElhinney does not know how long he will be with the Hurricanes. Scott Darling, Carolina’s No. 1 goalie, is still week-to-week with a lower body injury, but once he returns, the Hurricanes will have a decision to make between McElhinney and Petr Mrazek. It’s possible McElhinney could end up back on waivers again, having not been told what his future with the team is yet.
“It’s nice to come here, similar team (to the Maple Leafs), very young with a lot of offensive talent, a little bit of a run and gun style right now, but it’s fun to be in a youthful environment with a group of kids who are just here having fun right now and wanting to be the best they can be,” offered McElhinney, who stopped 32 of 33 shots while beating the Blue Jackets in his ‘Canes debut last Friday.
“It’s nice to know someone wants you as well.”
Babcock sounded torn last week when it was announced McElhinney had been placed on waivers and spoke glowingly about him.
“Unbelievable for us, unbelievable man, great veteran,” Babcock said.
For McElhinney, who referred to the playoff clinching game in 2017 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in which he came on in relief of an injured Frederik Andersen as “the highlight of my career”, those words from his former head coach were comforting. Over and above his play on the ice, McElhinney’s biggest aim is to ensure he is well-thought of by each organization he considers himself fortunate to be a part of.
“When you leave an organization, the number one thing for me at this point is to be remembered for how I was as a person and what I brought to that team,” McElhinney said. “The bottom line is you want people to think you were a good person and contributed positively to that dressing room while you were there.”
If he keeps stopping the puck as well as he has, there will continue to be a spot in a lot of dressing rooms for a quality individual like McElhinney.