JANUARY 2010: While an optimistic, Missouri Mavericks coach Scott Hillman is also a realistic. He knew opening the Central Hockey League with nine consecutive road games would be a mighty chore and a burden.

For Missouri Mavericks goal keeper Doug Groenestege nights on the ice do not get much worse than a 9-2 loss to Rapid City in mid-December.

Groenestege was responsible for “only six” of the goals as he came in relief that night.
Coach Scott Hillman challenged his No. 1 goal tender after the game before the Mavericks headed off to a weekend grueling road series in Texas, back-to-back nights at Laredo and Corpus Christi.

“Six goals in a half a game, my confidence was pretty low,” Groenestege said. “It was a tough one.”

Hillman started Groenestege against Laredo and he logged a 1-0 shutout victory. The next night, he was back in the nets for a 3-2 overtime victory over Corpus Christi.

“That couldn’t have come at a better time,” Groenestege said. “I feel a lot better. I’m getting confidence back that I had last year. That was a big weekend for my confidence after losing 9-2. You don’t want your teammates to start talking about the goalie, that they might lose confidence in me. I said, “OK, Doug you had a bad one.’”

But he followed it up two superb games and Mavericks victories and is getting some of the swagger back when he was the best Central Hockey League goalie last season while with Oklahoma City. His 2.10 goals against average per game topped the CHL in the 2008-09 season.

Ironically, Groenestege began last season as the Blazers back up goal. Oklahoma City won its first 12 games with Andy Franck starting all in the nets.

“We didn’t lose the first 12 and the coach didn’t want to change (the lineup),” Groenestege said.

Franck, however, got hurt, suffering a groin injury, so Groenestege stepped in and played so well he became the Blazers’ No. 1 goalie. Groenestege said in the Central Hockey League teams need a quality back up if they are going to compete for a playoff spot.
“You never know when the No. 1 goalie might get hurt and you’ve got be ready all the time (if you are the back up),” he said.

While the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier trilogy might have been the fights of the last century, Groenestege is undefeated in two slugfests with opposing goalies that were foolish enough to challenge him. Groenestege, who is listed at 6-2, 215 pounds, duked it out the past two Januarys and those “bouts” can be found on the internet.

“It’s very rare, but it’s happened twice to me in the past two years,” Groenestege for goalies to fight each other.

On Jan. 23, 2009, Tulsa goalie Kevin St. Pierre challenged Groenestege.

“We were winning 5-2 and I had to skate the total length of the ice,” he said. “I landed a couple of good ones. The other guy had a couple of bumps on the noodle.”

Groenestege’s first fight came on Jan. 11, 2008 while he was with Austin against New Mexico goalie Andrew Marte and can be viewed on YouTube.

”It was my birthday,” Groenestege said. “It was the spur of the moment. He challenged me, coming out to the blue line. His parents and some of his friends were there. It was a quick little brawl.”

Groenestege, who turns 26 this month, is from Stratford, Ontario, which is about a two hour drive southwest of Toronto toward Detroit.

He grew up playing baseball and ice hockey, but when a summer hockey league program started he chose to give up baseball and concentrate on hockey.

“I loved baseball, but hockey had my heart,” he said.

Groenestege has a reputation for killing franchises. Four of the past five teams he has played for are defunct.

He turned pro in 2005 with the Richmond Riverdogs in the United Hockey League, but they went defunct. Richmond, this time called the Renegades, switched to the Southern Professional Hockey League. He played the 2006-07 season with the Renegades.

In 2007, he moved to the Pensacola Ice Pilots in the East Coast Hockey League, but after the season the team ceased operations.

Groenestege moved to the Austin in the Central Hockey League in 2007, but they folded after the season. It seemed impossible for the Oklahoma City Trail Blazers, who have been called the most successful minor league hockey club in history, would turn out the lights. That, however, is what Oklahoma City did after the 2008-09 season, as they are hoping to join the American Hockey League next season.

“Oklahoma City going dark was a new one for me,” he said. “Pensacola and Austin, both teams folded. I try not to take credit for Richmond, since they came back in another league.”
So when Hillman offered a contract, Groenestege joked he wanted a clause inserted.
“I said, “how long is the team going to be in the arena (Independence Events Center)?’ I want stability,” he said.

The Mavericks are drawing well at their new building and are molding into a formidable team after struggling early – the first nine games on the road while their arena was being completed and being a new franchise.

“We’re starting to gel,” he said. “After starting 0-5, we’re nearly .500 (starting January). You can see the amount of improvement. We’re going to get better and make the playoffs.”