When a team struggles to score goals it is the responsibility of the goaltender to keep them in the game and that is exactly what is happening with the Weyburn Red Wings this year.
Averaging a league-low two goals per game, the Red Wings have relied heavily on their netminders and 19-year-old Noah Decottignies has answered the call going 7-8-0-1 in his 19 appearances so far this season.
The 6-foot-0, 190-pound Calgary product has a sparkling .914 save percentage to go with a very respectable 2.98 goals-against average to keep the Red Wings in the hunt for the eighth and final playoff spot.
Originally listed by the Battlefords North Stars, Decottignies was acquired in an off-season deal that saw the rights to Cade Kowalski going the other way. With the North Stars having plenty of depth in goal the deal has worked out well for Decottignies, who has been both a winner and runner-up for SaskTel goaltender of the week honours this year.
Decottignies was a workhorse for the Beaver Valley Nitehawks of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League last year appearing in 30 regular-season games and all 15 post-season matches. While his 2.71 GAA and .907 save percentage were impressive in the regular season he turned it up a notch in the playoffs with a 2.10 GAA and .927 save percentage to lead the Nitehawks to the semi-finals.
Decottignies progressed through the ranks in midget hockey going from minor midget to Midget AA before finishing with a solid campaign with the Calgary Royals of the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League. With each year his numbers got better ultimately shaving more than a goal per game off his average when he finished with a 2.36 GAA in 14 games with the Royals.
The Red Wings have put their trust in a pair of first-year goaltenders and if Decottignies and his partner Joseph Young continue keeping them in games they will certainly have a chance of chasing down a post-season berth.