Mike Lee At World Juniors

Coyotes prospect Mike Lee had a rough time in the gold medal game at the World Junior Championships. He allowed 3 goals on just 7 shots. One of the goals was a bit fluky, but one was pretty dang soft. Has his stock taken a dive?

Probably a little bit from the casual fan's point of view, but don't worry. I go to school close to where Lee does (St. Cloud State), and so I have gotten to see a lot of his games. (I also have a college hockey blog so I have an excuse to watch him a lot) but shallow plug aside, Lee hasn't been too bad.

On the surface, his numbers aren't great. Splitting time with Dan Dunn, Lee is ranked 10th in the WCHA (Western Collegiate Hockey Association) in GAA (2.63) and 9th in save percentage (.909). But the WCHA is the best conference in college hockey, featuring 4 of the top 5 teams in the country, so Lee sees tons of offensive firepower every weekend.

Also, St. Cloud State hasn't been a very good team this year. They have a lot of offensive talent, but their defensemen aren't very good (odd considering they are more highly ranked in defense than offense) but Lee gets hung out to dry often by his teammates getting caught up ice and things of that nature.

Bottom line is Lee is just a Freshman and has tons of time to improve. Goalies don't usually come out of the chute as finished products; it takes more time to develop one than any other position. Also, while Lee has shown some struggles with rebound control and a habit of giving up soft goals, I have also seen him make some fantastic acrobatic saves. Rebound control and preventing soft goals can be taught, making the types of saves he has the ability to make cannot.