Colorado Avalanche Goalie Prospect with Save of the Year

Colorado Avalanche prospect Nathan Lieuwen made a highlight reel save against the hated Minnesota Wild in the preseason opener.

Colorado Avalanche goalies have been battling for position for the last couple years. The previous two years it’s been a little ménage à trois between Semyon Varlamov, Reto Berra and Calvin Pickard for who would get the starting goalie position and who’d be the backup.

The Avalanche traded Berra for tiny forward Rocco Grimaldi over the summer. That seemed to put paid to the issue — Varlamov was the starter, Pickard his backup. All that remained to be seen was what the ratio of time would be.

Well, that and how long before Varlamov’s groin inevitably gave out. Then we’d have Pickard starting and… it seemed to get a little scary from there.

More from Mile High Sticking

Then goalie prospect Spencer Martin started showing his stuff at camp and at the Rookie Showcase. He earned both wins, against the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks rookies. His backup was Chase Marchand.

Interestingly enough, none of the above-mentioned goalies is the one who threw the save of the year in the preseason opener against the Minnesota Wild.

Jeremy Smith, whom Colorado signed over the summer to fill the San Antonio Rampage roster, got the start in Minnesota. He’s done a little NHL time with the Nashville Predators, Boston Bruins and, of course, Columbus Blue Jackets, but he’s a career AHL-er.

He’s also not the one with the highlight-reel save. That man is Nathan Lieuwen.

Without further adieu, let’s look at the save:

Turns out Lieuwen, who didn’t get a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent this summer, had quietly signed with the San Antonio Rampage over the summer.

Nathan is the new style of goalie in that he’s lanky — 6-foot-5, 191 pounds. He’s not considered an elite talent. But I think it’s safe to say he knows how to make the splashy save when necessary.

Lieuwen spent last season with the Rochester Americans, the Buffalo Sabres’ AHL affiliate. In 28 games the 25-year-old went 14-11-2 with a .909 save percentage and 2.98 goals against average.

Truthfully, it’s doubtful that Nathan will get tapped as Pickard’s backup unless something weird is going on with Martin. However, if he were an NHL goalie, and this were the regular season, his behind-the-back-swipe-access-your-inner-George-Jefferson move would be the undisputed save of the year.

This article originally appeared on