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02/23/02
Calgary Roughnecks rookie goalie Matt King made 73 saves
in a thrilling 14-13 overtime loss to the Toronto Rock. It's
been a whirlwind season for the Victoria Shamrocks junior,
who didn't even think he'd make the roster in training camp.
King talked about it with PLPA correspondent Ben Knight
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Well, I know you would have liked it to have ended
differently, but that was one hell of a lacrosse game!
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Yeah, it was a sweet game for the fans, a sweet game for
TV. It was a lot better than last time, when I had probably
one of my worst games of the year. I was having the whole
team harping on me the last two weeks, so it motivated me to
play well. I knew before the game I was going to have a
good one, but I wasn't expecting to see close to 90 shots!
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You were with the Jr. A Victoria Shamrocks. Are you still
playing junior?
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I still have one more year of junior, yes.
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Traditionally, you don't get a lot of players - goalies,
particularly - who make the jump like that. When you came
here, you weren't expecting to be the first-string goalie, were
you?
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No, I wasn't even expecting to make the bench! It was
just a shock, really. It just worked out that I happened to win
the backup spot. The coaches told me from day one to be
ready to play, and after the first game, I was the starter.
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As I recall that unbelievable first game (the record-
shattering 32-17 loss to Montreal), you got thrown in there
early, and it just kept coming. 32 goals against! I'm sure
you've never been in a game like that. What were you
thinking in the middle of it? It's your first game in the NLL,
they're going nuts, scoring more goals than anyone in NLL
history. What was going on in your head?
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I want to go home! It was ugly. It was tough, my first
game. It motivated me to play harder. I forced myself to
watch that game tape, and I just wasn't an NLL goalie at that
point. We'd had a couple of exhibition games against teams
that played half their squads, so it wasn't the same calibre.
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And then the next week in Montreal, they pumped 32 more
past you guys. Confidence is everything. Did you come out
of that thinking you maybe couldn't even play in this league?
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Coming off 32 to 23 was a big success. I felt better,
anyway. And then, the next game, we won 17-11 against
Ottawa. The coaches game me every confidence in the
world. They said "you're our goalie, go out there and do it.
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What did you think when you heard Derek Collins had
been released, and it was your season?
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By that point, I knew it was mine anyway, so it really
didn't affect me much. He's a good guy. He
helped me out and I feel really bad for him. But that's what
happens, I guess, if you've got a big contract and are just
opening the bench.
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Now you're used to a cozy little four-foot-wide net in Jr. A.
Every goalie I've talked to is changing his game this year.
What changes are you making to cope with the fact that the
net is almost five feet wide?
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Well, I don't know really. It favours goalies like me, who
aren't 300 pounds. The day of the big, fat goalie is gone, and
I'm glad to see it, honestly. There's nothing more frustrating
than a four-by-four goalie guarding a four-by-four net. I like
playing the big nets. I feel I have an advantage over some
guys.
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But if you come out and cut down the angle, you're really
vulnerable to the back post. Is it hard to make that leap, and
come out and cut down the angle?
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I tend to stick in my net more than a lot of guys. I just
rely on my reactions, and having the plastic stick, moving
away from the wood one in junior, makes a huge difference
as well. It's a lot lighter, and a lot easier to move from side
to side.
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Calgary's had a tough time putting a Toronto Rock-style
defence in front of you this year. When you look at the way
those guys play, do you think of the effect it could have if the
day comes when the Roughnecks have guys like that in front
of you?
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It would be nice, but they weren't getting a lot of wide-
open shots today. They had a few breakaways, but that'll
happen. As a whole, we played pretty strong on defence. A
lot of the shots I was getting were just catch-pass. I don't
think the shots were really indicative of how we played. We
played well.
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Are you going to be able to concentrate on junior lacrosse
after this? There seems to be a tendency that players who
come up here and do well never seem to have a great last
year in junior.
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Well, there's not really that many guys who do it. I'm the
first goalie, I think. We'll see. It's going to be a come-down
playing for 200 people in South Fraser as opposed to 17,000
here today.
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So, if you had to sum this season up, how it's been going
and how you feel about it?
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We've had some really close games. Buffalo, we lost by
one. Rochester, we lost by one. These guys, Toronto, we
lost by one. It's a bummer to lose those games, but we're
competitive. Even though we lost today, this was an up.
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Just before Kim Squire scored the overtime winner, you
made a couple of incredible arms-and-legs-all-over-the-place
saves. Are you even thinking at that point, or is it all
reaction?
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No. If I'm thinking, it's going in.
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Is there anything you could have done on that shot he
uncorked?(At this point, Roughnecks coach Chris Hall strolls by, slaps
his goalie on the back and says "No!")
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It was a good shot - a partial screen. I did see it, and I
went for it. It was clean, it wasn't like that under-the-leg or
whatever that shot was earlier in the game.
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I imagine you really enjoyed that one!
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I'd rather have him score that way than over the shoulder
or between the legs.
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Thanks a lot, Matt.
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You're welcome.
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