Social media celebrates goalie Keith Petruzzelli’s NHL debut with Leafs after inking 2-year contract
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Keith Petruzzelli gets call from NHL
Goalie Keith Petruzzelli stepped on NHL ice in the Toronto Maple Leafs game against Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. His debut created a buzz on social media, as fans and teammates congratulated the rookie NHL player for his game. With the team’s 3-1 win, we can say that his debut was a successful one.
The player got a call from NHL after Leafs’ goalie Ilya Samsonov got injured in the game against the Boston Bruins in a 2-1 win. AHL’s Toronto Marlies got delivered the word in the locker room, as the players recorded the reaction of the GM and Keith on it.
Keith stated, “In that video, that’s literally the first time I found anything out about it”. “I had no idea until that moment, so it was great to be around the boys and see their excitement as well.” The 23-year-old signed a 2-year entry-level contract with the team after making 26 saves for the Marlies on Saturday.
Ilya Samsonov’s injury opened NHL road for Keith Petruzzelli
Within less than 24 hours, Twitter was buzzing with congratulatory messages, as the goalie stepped toward the Leafs’ court. He stated his experience, “I bussed from Belleville to Toronto (on Saturday night). I spent two hours in my apartment getting some stuff together”. “Daylight savings was great. I got a little extra time there because of that.”
“Then a 6 a.m. flight down here.” “There were definitely some doubts about me coming out of college. It’s just really exciting for me to be able to prove that stuff wrong and showcase my abilities.”
After his Sunday’s contract sign-up, Leafs’ coach Sheldon Keefe said that Keith’s penning up with the team is nothing unusual. They would have done it sooner than later, just Samsonov’s injury speeded things up for them. “Our organization identified him as a guy to give an opportunity that we could work with and develop”. “
It’s not a guy coming out of nowhere. Certainly, his signing is probably expedited given our (injury) situation, but he’s a guy our organization has believed in and, frankly, the way that it was going, his signing was somewhat inevitable.”
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Kaushani Chatterjee
(2140 Articles Published)