James Reimer is in the midst of one of the best stretches of play in his professional career, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by Don Cherry.
Appearing on Coach’s Corner with Ron MacLean, Cherry offered extreme praise for the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender.
Cherry pointed to Reimer’s performance Friday night against the Carolina Hurricanes, making 33 saves on 34 shots, as a prime example of how valuable the 27-year-old has been for the Maple Leafs over the last month.
“They got outshot. (They were less than) 60 per cent on the draws,” Cherry said of the Maple Leafs. Five guys were (in the) minus. They won the game because of (Reimer). Right now, he’s the best goaltender in the NHL. He’s terrific.”
Reimer is 5-0-0 over his last five starts, prior to Saturday’s start against the Boston Bruins, with a .960 save percentage and 1.35 goals-against average.
He entered the season as the primary backup to incumbent starter Jonathan Bernier, but Reimer appears to have taken over the No. 1 job.
The homegrown Leafs goaltender is in the final season of his two-year contract and is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2015-16 campaign.