“How often do you stop to admire the view?”

An old college buddy once asked me this question several years ago and, every now and then, I think of it.  It rings so true – everyone is in such a hurry, but they don’t often know what lies ahead or where they’re going.  Once they get there, they look back and realize all the things they missed.

We’re guilty of it in the world of the Idaho Steelheads as well.  Looking ahead to the next homestand, the next game, the next great promotion.  Next thing you know, it’s almost February and the downhill slide toward the end of the season has begun.

In doing so, we may be missing a fabulous view.

Sure, the won-loss record is not what we’re used to (with that said, 5^th in the conference with A LOT of home ice ahead given what this team has gone through is slightly remarkable, actually), but we’ve still got a front-row seat for what has been one of the most remarkable individual performances in team history.

No joke.

Goaltender Jerry Kuhn has been that good this season … and you may not even realize it.

So here’s your reminder.  Stop and enjoy the view.  If you’ve been following the team for more than 20 minutes, you know the transitive nature of minor-league hockey.  No promises we get to see him in person, playing for Idaho, after Tax Day (Why did I capitalize that?  Is it an official holiday or something?).  Given the fact that he’s under contract with another organization and on assignment here, there’s technically no promises that we get to see him play again next week, either.  One tweaked groin in the AHL and it could be bye-bye-Jerry.

I’ll slay you with numbers in a moment, but let’s start with this:

-          “I’d be fine never having to play against that guy ever again.”

-          “I think the Western Conference is finally figuring out how good he is.”

-           “I’m not sure I’d take (Las Vegas’s Joe) Fallon or (Alaska’s Gerald) Coleman over him in a one-game setting.”

-           “The dude is a freakin’ Jedi.”

That’s a brief sample of the comments I’ve heard about Kuhn over the past couple weeks from around the Western Conference, from people who watch and talk about this stuff for a living.  Okay, the “Jedi” comment was me, on the air, last week in Alaska.  I blurt out some strange things during broadcasts from time to time without realizing what I’m saying.

Point is this … a lot of casual fans look at his 3.31 goals-against average (as of Sunday) and may dismiss him.  People who watch him every night understand what he’s doing.

He has stopped at least 40 shots in a game eight times this season.  Eight. In 32 appearances with Idaho.  Alaska, Las Vegas, Ontario, Stockton, and Bakersfield fans have watched their goaltenders do it eight times – combined – in 216 total games.

To be fair, it’s not Joe Fallon’s fault that he faces, on average, ten fewer shots per game than Kuhn does.   But the law of averages tells you Fallon’s goals-against (a very solid 2.48 after beating Colorado on Saturday night) is going to rise if he’s facing 37 shots per night, like Kuhn does, instead of 27.  Based on his current save percentage of .912, math wizards can calculate that adding ten shots per game would, in theory, raise his goals-against average by a bit under a goal per game.

A bit under a goal per game, huh?  From 2.48 to, say, roughly 3.31?

What’s Jerry Kuhn’s goals-against average again?  Oh yeah, it’s 3.31.

Trim that number down a little bit more (3.13) in his 32 appearances in Idaho after two rough outings in Greenville of the ECHL to start the season before being reassigned to Idaho by the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League via a paperwork blizzard that would make the ice planet of Hoth (yes, another Star Wars reference, two in one blog) seem tropical.

I’m not trying to knock Joe Fallon down a peg.  He’s really, really good.  And I’m not trying to poke the Steelheads’ defensemen.  When training camp opened in March, the projected top three blue-liners were Kory Scoran, Matt Case, and Steve Oleksy.  Due to injuries to Scoran and Case and a well-deserved AHL callup for Oleksy, that trio has been on the ice together for all of about six games this season.  Idaho’s d-men have given everything they have on the ice and I have a ton (I actually measured it … one ton on the dot) of respect for the effort and heart those guys have displayed through a lot of adverse circumstances, even though the results have not always been picture-perfect.

What I’m trying to do is help you understand just how good Jerry Kuhn has been, no matter what the stat sheet may say at an initial glance.

Think back to December 2 when Idaho defeated Las Vegas, 3-2, in a shootout.  The Steelheads were outshot by forty (57-17) that night and won.  How ‘bout December 21-22-23?  Three games in three nights, two in a shootout and one in overtime, where Kuhn beat the defending Kelly Cup champion Alaska Aces with 41, 47, and 35 saves, respectively, along with eight out of ten shootout shooters.  Stopped Wes Goldie and Dan Kissel in both shootouts … and they’re only ranked second (Goldie, 25) and fourth (Kissel, 22) in the ECHL in goals so far this season.

You don’t do that by accident.  And you sure as heck don’t do it over and over again, like Kuhn has, without being really, really good.  Not to mention slightly Jedi-ish (three Star Wars references).

Richard Bachman (NHL), Dan Ellis (NHL), Matt Climie (has played in the NHL), Matt Zaba (has played in the NHL), Steve Silverthorn, Tyler Beskorowany … the list goes on.  We’ve been blessed with some outstanding goaltenders in Idaho.  Jerry Kuhn belongs right there alongside them – and may be putting on a more impressive show than any of them along the way.

Stop, indeed.  Enjoy the view.