Goalies don’t so much rise to prominence as they have prominence thrust upon them.
It was like this 50 years ago with Ken Dryden and the Montreal Canadiens.
It was like this in Ottawa six years ago when a third-stringer named Andrew Hammond, aka “The Hamburglar,” was thrown into the starting job — too startled to be nervous — as Craig Anderson was out with a hand injury and Robin Lehner suffered a concussion when teammate Clarke MacArthur crashed into him.
Senators fans know the rest of the story. The Hamburglar ran off a late winter miracle, a 20-1-2 record to carry the Senators into the playoffs and the Hamburglar yarn into franchise lore.
Will Joey Daccord do likewise?
The current NHL standings would suggest it’s impossible, although no one is doubting Daccord today. Also, this: Daccord has decidedly more career upside than Hammond did at the time.
With regular backup Marcus Hogberg out with an injury, and starter Matt Murray getting hurt pre-game, Daccord was tapped on the shoulder to face the first-place Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday night and wrote himself a storybook finish.
“I’m going to win, we’re going to win,” were Daccord’s first thoughts, as he related them to Sportsnet’s Kyle Bukauskas in a post-game interview, following Ottawa’s at-times harrowing 4-3 win over the Leafs.
The rookie doesn’t lack gumption, calling his Ruthian shot in his first career NHL victory.
“I don’t even have the words right now,” Daccord said, close to tears as the emotion caught up to him on camera.
Now, Daccord, 24, has played this season, and played pretty well in five previous appearances. Although he was touched up for six goals by the Oilers in his most recent start, Friday in Edmonton.
Then, he at least knew he was starting. On Sunday, he only got an indication just before warmups when Murray told Daccord to stand by as Murray wasn’t 100 per cent, and would test his condition in the warmup. That didn’t go well and Daccord received a signal from one of the trainers on the bench.
“I was like, ‘OK, let’s do it!’” Daccord said, recalling the moment post-game.
“I tried to get ready as fast as I could … tried to get into it, buzzing around in warmups. It’s a funny feeling. You get a split second of uncertainty and right away it’s like, ‘I’m gonna win tonight. We’re gonna win tonight.’
“I just kind of had a feeling we were going to win, pretty early on there. Once I found out I was playing.”
As you can tell, there isn’t a more personable goaltender around, and so it figures that his team battled for him, chasing Michael Hutchinson from the Toronto net with two quick goals and hanging on against a late Leafs rally.
At 4-1, with the Toronto net empty and six-plus minutes left in the third period, Daccord, a noted puck handler and shooter, didn’t deny thinking about taking a shot at scoring himself.
“I was like, ‘Give me the puck, I’m shooting this thing!’ But your primary focus falls back on winning the game,” Daccord said. “It’s a goalie’s dream to score and if the opportunity presents itself and it’s the perfect situation for it, I’m not afraid to try. I shot a couple of times in college and just missed against Boston College in my junior year at school.”
Daccord’s journey to his first NHL win was not typical. He cut his NCAA teeth in the Arizona desert of all places, as documented here in a story I wrote about him two years ago.
As a Boston-area product, Daccord dreamed of playing for Boston College, like his hero Cory Schneider. Schneider, as it happens, was coached by Daccord’s father, Brian, a former pro goalie who runs a well-known goaltending academy in Boston. Brian Daccord was a goalie consultant for the Leafs as recently as 2019, making his son’s victory against the Leafs all the more sweet.
When he wasn’t invited to BC, Daccord settled for beating Boston College, and shutting them out, while playing for a brand new hockey program at ASU. ASU Sun Devils head coach Greg Powers was beyond bullish on Daccord, when I spoke to him for that story. Daccord, at that time, was playing virtually every minute of every game for the surging Sun Devils.
“He’s mentally tough,” Powers said of Daccord, a Hobey Baker nominee. “He is a leader, a guy players look up to, especially the freshmen. Most importantly, to match his personality, he has fun every day. He’s loose. And that approach and attitude resonated throughout our entire group.”
Standing in Sunday’s spotlight, Daccord was quick to share it with Powers and ASU director of hockey operations Andrew Matheson. He also thanked his family and friends on the occasion of his inaugural NHL victory.
“So many people it takes to make one dream come true,” Daccord said, poignantly.
“What an incredible feeling,” Daccord said. “The effort the guys gave was outstanding.
Just a really special moment. I hope my family and friends were watching, because they probably didn’t know I was playing!”
He laughed out loud at his own line.
“Such a special night. To do it against a really good team like the Leafs, too, and do it at home. Incredible.”
At their Canadian Tire Centre home, although bereft of fans in the stands due to the pandemic. At least there were fan cutouts, including many of the “Sickos” fan group that have taken to celebrating the depths of Ottawa’s rebuild.
“It puts in perspective the journey it’s taken to get here and all the people and places and the things that I’ve done, all the work that’s gone into it,” Daccord said. “It’s incredible.”
Daccord has a way of sharing his innermost thoughts that is so refreshing and endearing.
His special night was nearly over as soon as it began — on the very first shift Toronto’s William Nylander crashed into him, hard. He was asked what he was thinking at the time, just 22 seconds into his start. And his first thought was of the kid dressed as his backup, 20-year-old Kevin Mandolese, in his first year out of junior.
“I said to Mando (during the first intermission), how nervous were you when I got smoked on the first shift?
“He said, ‘I knew you were fine.’ That would have been crazy (if Mandolese had to go in).”
As the ice chips settled following the Nylander crash, Daccord told a referee nearby, “there’s no better way to get into it!
Oh, what fun he had.
“I’m happy I made the first save this time,” Daccord said, a self-deprecating reference to allowing the first Edmonton shot to beat him the other night.
Senators head coach D.J. Smith was thrilled for Daccord, and for his entire group.
“Joey came in, battled, he did everything he could to give us every opportunity and we finally give him some goal support and the kid gets his first win,” he said.
On Monday morning, Smith had no update on Murray’s condition, but it’s a safe bet that Daccord will get an opportunity for an encore to his 33-save performance against Toronto when the Vancouver Canucks visit the CTC Monday evening.
The Daccord Encore. The fan cutouts say — bring it on.
“I’m really grateful for the opportunity,” said Daccord, signed to a friendly contract of $750,000 per year through 2022-23. “I’m so fortunate to have the people I do in my life and to play for this hockey team and this city.”
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