Hurricanes’ Stuart Skinner embracing veteran role: ‘I love that pressure’

One of the most reliable Lethbridge Hurricanes in the early portion of the season has been their goaltender, Stuart Skinner. He’s been a consistent performer and a life without their star net minder is not one Hurricanes Head Coach Brent Kisio likes to invasion.

WATCH: Lethbridge Hurricanes ready to roll on new season

“Yeah, that wouldn’t be a good scenario,” Kisio said with a grin. “He means a lot to our team. He’s one of the best goalies in the league. His work ethic is something that rubs off on other guys.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Yeah, that wouldn't be a good scenario," Kisio said with a grin. "He means a lot to our team. He's one of the best goalies in the league. His work ethic is something that rubs off on other guys."

The Hurricanes goaltender might just be the team’s most valuable player.

“He keeps us in all our games. He’s something else, he’s at the top of the league obviously,” Hurricanes defenceman Calen Addison said. “He keeps us in it all year — playoffs, regular season, doesn’t matter. He’s our guy and we’re real grateful for him.”

Skinner’s been a workhorse, playing all 11 games this season. With uncertainty in the backup position, the Hurricanes are counting on Skinner.

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“He knew coming into this year that he was going to play a lot of games,” Kisio said. “That’s part of being an older goalie in our league and a dominant goalie, you’re going to play a lot of games.”

The increased workload is just fine with Skinner.

“I love that pressure and I love playing every game,” Skinner said. “If any general manager came up to me and asked me if I could play every single game this year, I’d say yes for sure.”

Eventually he’ll get a night off, but in his fourth year with the team, Skinner is now the big man on campus. He’s been drafted by his hometown Edmonton Oilers and he’s often relied upon to keep the Hurricanes in games.

Skinner’s gone from a highly touted 16-year-old rookie to team leader, a transition that’s still hard to believe.

“When I was 16, I looked up to Nick Walters and Jamal Watson and think these guys are 20, these guys are old, now I’m that guy,” Skinner said with a smile. “I had really good mentors. Now I get to do that. I’m excited to be that leader now and show the young guys the ropes.”

The Hurricanes all-time saves leader is invaluable to the organization and his team knows when the moment is big number 74 is ready.

“Even though he’s a young kid, he’s been in a lot of scenarios where there’s been a lot of pressure on him,” Kisio said. “So I think he just kind of feeds off it. When the pressure is higher and the game is more important, you can trust Stuart Skinner to show up.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Even though he's a young kid, he's been in a lot of scenarios where there's been a lot of pressure on him," Kisio said. "So I think he just kind of feeds off it. When the pressure is higher and the game is more important, you can trust Stuart Skinner to show up."