Glove Save And A Beauty
This is it, this is the greatest save in hockey history
We try not to throw around the "This is it, this is the [insert line about something being the greatest thing ever]" headline lightly here at The Loop. It should be used for rare feats only. This is it, this is one of those times.
The rare, borderline herculean feat came from a high school hockey game in Minnesota, where they take their puck pretty seriously. Kody Niederkorn, a senior goalie for the Hastings High School Raiders, made what the play-by-play man called "the save of the century" on Wednesday, and he wasn't lying. As his team tried to break out of their own zone, they committed a brutal turnover, allowing opponent St. Louis Park a 3-on-0 opportunity late in the second period.
What happened next would make Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy simultaneously stand up and applaud. Not even those two legends could dream of making this absolutely absurd backhanded save:
Save of the century might be underselling it. My goodness. And from a high school kid named Niederkorn, which, let's be honest, is a perfect last name for a tendy. Get this kid to the show, ASAP.
By the way, great catch by the other commentator to call this the "Vasilevskiy," which Niederkorn apparently practices. The Tampa Bay Lightning netminder made a similar save in 2018, and the guys calling that game didn't give it nearly the praise it deserved:
That's why he's won the Vezina, folks. Niederkorn likely never will win a Vezina, but it's never a bad idea to practice things a Vezina winner does. To actually pull it off in a game, though? Legendary stuff. Niederkorn. Remember the name.
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