Published: October 08, 2009 05:46 pm      

Goalie: Chiefs have unfinished business

Kris Mayotte believes he has some unfinished business with the Johnstown Chiefs.

Mayotte is among a group of 15 players returning after the Chiefs missed the ECHL’s Kelly Cup playoffs by a mere point last season.

The league’s all-star game starting goaltender said the playoff snub was one of the reasons he is back in Johnstown.

“I think that’s why you see so many of us back,” Mayotte said Saturday morning, as the Chiefs prepared to open training camp at Cambria County War Memorial Arena. “We liked the group of guys we had last year, but we didn’t like the outcome. A lot of us felt we still had something to prove.

“We felt like we were better than we showed at the end of last year,” added Mayotte, referring to the Chiefs’ falling in three straight games at Cincinnati during a stretch in which one win would have locked up a postseason berth.

“We get a second crack at it, and there are not many times you get a second chance. We’re looking to take full advantage of that.”

The Chiefs had 35 players attend their 22nd ECHL camp on Saturday.

New coach Jeff Flanagan and first-year assistant coach Jason Spence had an afternoon scrimmage to get a quick first impression of the group.

“Spence and I have been going over the roster for the last week and a half,” said Flanagan, who replaced Ian Herbers after the former Chiefs coach accepted an AHL assistant coaching job in Milwaukee. “It’s wide open right now. We have vets coming back, but there are guys looking to show their stuff because there are spots to be won on this team.”

Mayotte, who went 20-13-3 with a .908 save percentage and 2.87 GAA last season, is a lock to make the roster. But that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be here long. Both Flanagan and Spence hinted that AHL opportunities might await the 26-year-old goaltender from Pittsburgh. Mayotte attended an AHL camp in Chicago before coming to Johnstown.

“He was a league all-star last year,” Flanagan said. “We’re excited to have him, but we may not have him here that long. When he’s here he’s our No. 1 guy. We’d like him to get a chance in the American League, but we’ll be darn glad to have him when he is here.”

The two other goaltenders in camp are 6-foot-1 Jimmy Spratt and Shane Connelly.

Spratt, 23, is a former Bowling Green netminder drafted by the NHL’s Calgary Flames in the seventh round in 2004. Connelly, 22, won 19 games last season with the University of Wisconsin.

“Jimmy Spratt is a big guy, a tall guy. He has good side-to-side movement,” Flanagan said. “Shane Connelly is a smaller guy, but he’s going to be athletic. When you have guy like that, if they’re quick and have good angles, they can be real good goaltenders in this league.”