Linus Ullmark is a 24-year-old goaltender trying to find his way through the professional ranks of hockey, in hopes of one day locking down a permanent role at the National Hockey League level.
The Buffalo Sabres prospect was recently called up from the AHL’s Rochester Americans to practice with the Sabres for just one day. One day? Yep, one day, one practice.
Starter Robin Lehner needed a maintenance day, and since players and coaches despise it when there’s only one goaltender in net for practice (playing posts gets tiresome, okay), Lehner was recalled and joined Chad Johnson for Sabres practice on Thursday.
Ullmark is a pretty bubbly and charismatic, so it should come as no surprise how pumped Ullmark was to be up at the NHL level.
When Ullmark was interviewed about the brief promotion, he gave a terrific speech about being up with the big club. There’s some terrific life advice here, folks.
We might have our next Ilya Bryzgalov right here.
Ullmark lead the AHL in total saves, games, and minutes played last season. This year, he’s picked up right where we left off. With a 6-0-2 record in his last eight appearances, Ullmark leads the AHL in saves again with 444, is third in wins at nine, and has a solid .919 save percentage. The Americans sit second in the AHL’s North Division with a 16-5-0-0 record, good for 32 points.
Let us remind you that he rocked a Minions themed mask a few years back.
Linus, you’re a beauty.
