DON HAMMACK
THE SUN HERALD

RICHMOND, Va. - Maxime Gingras has turned the ECHL record book into his own personal playground this season.

After a regular-season where the Richmond Renegades rookie set new marks in the major goaltender statistics, his strong play has carried over into the playoffs.

Gingras and Mississippi Sea Wolves goalie Travis Scott, his opposing netminder in the ECHL Kelly Cup finals, have leapfrogged over each other in goals-against average in the postseason, both down around the 2.10 level.

Ironically, it could have all been different. Gingras nearly started the season in a Sea Wolves jersey.

"That was a real mess," Gingras said. "I didn't have a team to play for at the beginning of the season. I was in camp with the (International Hockey League's Michigan) K-Wings. Then I went to Dayton and they already had two goalies under contract so they put me on waivers."

That, of course, ruled the Sea Wolves out of Gingras' picture even after he was signed by the IHL's Orlando Solar Bears.

With John Gagnon owning the Mississippi and Dayton franchises, he was not eligible to play for the Sea Wolves after his Dayton camp experience.

Instead, Gingras, who turned 21 last month, wound up in Richmond trying to prove himself. He left the Laval Titans of the Quebec Major Junior League with one year of eligibility remaining.

"I was ready to play pro, that's why I came right away," Gingras said.

The numbers certainly supported Gingras' notion.

Gingras set ECHL regular-season records for shutouts (seven), goals-against average (2.26) and save percentage (.924). His four postseason shutouts are also a league record.

When the playoffs end, he may need his own secretary to type up his resume listing his individual awards. Gingras was the first to earn both the ECHL Rookie of the Year and Goaltender of the Year awards.

In addition, he was Goalie of the Month once and Goalie of the Week four times.

Oh yeah, his teammates voted him team Most Valuable Player.

But Gingras' size gets brought up as much as his talent between the pipes.

The 5-foot-6, 165-pounder relies on technique and mind-boggling quickness to make himself appear bigger than he actually is.

"I'm big in the net," Gingras said. "I take up a lot of space. I play a big butterfly and I place myself really good on the angles."

Gingras says he doesn't know what he'd do differently if he was magically transformed into a 6-foot-3 guy.

"I don't know about that because I've never been big," he said. "But for a goalie, I don't think there's a big difference between being big or being small.

"If you play big, that's the key."

Players trying to score on him this season second that emotion.

Don Hammack can be reached at (228) 896-2326 or at dthammack@sunherald.com