In his first full month with the team, Everett Silvertips goalie Raiden LeGall earned WHL Goalie of the Month for December 2024, the Western Hockey League announced.
The 18-year-old from Morden, Manitoba signed with Everett on Nov. 20 from the Niverville Nighthawks (Junior A MJHL). At the time of the signing, Silvertips general manager Mike Fraser said the team placed LeGall on its Protected List two years ago.
“In my initial viewing of him, I just liked his competitiveness and his athleticism,” Fraser said. “The quickness and his feet were very good. Then the more digging I did on him, you realize he’s a bit of an athlete and a good-character kid, so we added him to our list pretty quick at that point.”
LeGall is committed to play college hockey at Bemidji State, and after the NCAA voted on Nov. 7 to make CHL players eligible to play Division I hockey beginning in 2025, Fraser thought it was the right time to bring him in. For LeGall, it allowed him to realize his childhood dream of playing in the WHL.
With No. 1 goaltender Jesse Sanche out with an upper-body injury, LeGall was thrust into a large role right away. After winning his first two games at the end of November, LeGall went 4-1-0-0 with a 1.41 goals average against and a .948 save percentage in December. Despite being dropped into the WHL’s standings leader midseason, he didn’t miss a beat.
“It’s always hard having long gaps in between games, and I was sort of getting put into probably more games than most goalies get put into when they come into the league, so I feel like that sort of helped,” LeGall said.
LeGall’s signature performance of the month was a 3-0 win against the Wenatchee Wild on Dec. 8, where he posted a 29-save shutout to spoil the Wild’s ‘Teddy Bear Toss’ night. However, the game that stands out to Fraser and Silvertips head coach Steve Hamilton is LeGall’s 30-save performance in a 4-1 win against Tri-City on Dec. 14.
“I thought as a group, we did an excellent job that night. Raiden was obviously a big, big part of that,” Hamilton said. “I just think he has a very business-like, calm demeanor the way he goes about his business. He’s not shown at all to be intimidated by the change of levels or anything like that.”
After allowing three goals in a shootout loss to the Victoria Royals on Jan. 4, LeGall is 6-1-0-1 on the season with a .939 save percentage and 1.61 GAA. With Sanche healthy again and LeGall acing his WHL audition, Hamilton now feels comfortable rolling out either netminder on any given night as Everett continues to surge atop the WHL standings.
“I think we’ve got probably one of, if not the strongest, teams in the league right now,” LeGall said. “Especially defensively, I feel like that’s our strong suit.”
In addition to LeGall’s monthly accolade, the WHL named Landon DuPont as Rookie of the Month for December. The 15-year-old exceptional-status defenseman scored five goals and 11 assists last month, and he leads all WHL rookies with 41 points and 31 assists this season.
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