Olivier Roy Gets Some Company In Stockton

by Derek Zona on Oct 17, 2011 6:45 AM MDT in Prospects

As part of their affiliate agreement, the San Jose Sharks optioned goaltender Harri Sateri to the Stockton Thunder last night. The Thunder are affiliated with the Sharks and Oilers at the NHL level and the Oklahoma City Barons and Worcester Sharks at the AHL level. The Thunder announced the assignment on their website.

From a team press release:

The Stockton Thunder announced that goaltender Harri Sateri (Sah-TAIR-ee) has been reassigned to the Thunder from San Jose.

Sateri, 21, was selected by San Jose in the fourth round (106th overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft and was ranked #2 among European goaltenders by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau before his selection.

The 6-foot-1 and 190 pound goaltender appeared in seven games with the Worcester Sharks of the American Hockey League last season and went 1-3-1 with a 2.56 goals against average and .918 save percentage. He also played in 37 games for Tampere of the Finnish Elite League, notching a 9-19-8 record with a 2.96 goals against average.

How will this affect Olivier Roy, the first of the four goaltenders in the Oilers' system to graduate to the professional ranks? From the moment the Oilers signed David LeNeveu, barring a significant injury to a goaltender in the AHL or NHL, Roy has been destined to spend the season with the Thunder, presumably working on his game. Roy improved his game incrementally during his QMJHL career and had both a very good prospects camp and training camp with the big club in September. However, his performance was overshadowed by that of Tyler Bunz, the next goaltending prospect in line for his professional debut, and the man most likely to hurdle Roy on the organizational depth chart, especially with Bunz headed to the world's largest Junior stage in December.

But goaltender development is an exquisitely non-linear exercise and a big season in Stockton would establish his legitimacy and put some distance between Roy and the rest of the goalies in the system. That's why playing time is so important to Roy this season. The Sharks are going to ask the Thunder to give Sateri significant playing time, setting Sateri's development at odds with Roy's development.

Olivier Roy

#31 / Goalie / Stockton Thunder

Height: 6-0

Weight: 165

Born: July 12, 1991

Drafted: 5th Round, 2009, 133rd Overall

	GP	MIN	W	L	GA	SA	SV	SV%	SA/60
2011 - Olivier Roy	2	124	0	2	6	61	55	.902	29.5

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I was not too thrilled to read this bit of breaking news on the Stockton website last night. The situation in Stockton was perfect for Roy’s development, in that he would have got the majority of the starts. Of course San Jose is going to want Sateri to get at least half of the starts. That said, Roy needs the consistent work. I watched him closely during the game in Stockton on 10/14, and while it was not a stellar performance, you can really see the potential he has. Losing ice time to another team’s prospect isn’t going to help his development at all. With luck, Sateri’s time in Stockton will be brief.

by T Ambrosini on Oct 17, 2011 11:50 AM MDT reply actions

Even if he goes back to Worcester, the Sharks will have another goalie down there. They have Tyson Sexsmith and Thomas Heemskerk in Worcester already, and will have three goalies at the NHL level once Antero Niittymaki is ready to come back from injury (which probably means Thomas Greiss going down to Worcester). Hopefully the competition for starts brings out the best in Roy.

The biggest fanana of the Havana Bananas.

by Scott Reynolds on Oct 17, 2011 12:06 PM MDT up reply actions

Hopefully the competition for starts brings out the best in Roy.

This is the best case scenario.

Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.

by Derek Zona on Oct 17, 2011 3:44 PM MDT up reply actions

San Jose is in an enviable position with that many quality goalies at their disposal. I hope you are right and Roy benefits from being "pushed" by some competition… We’ll see. For me, I can’t help but feel Stockton is over saturated with two NHL affiliates, while there are three ECHL teams without NHL affiliation thus far this season (including geographic rivals Las Vegas and Bakersfield). From a fan’s standpoint, it is nice having one of two NHL prospect goalies starting on a given night. It also absolutely sucks when both are gone due to call-ups and/or injuries, as seen with the Pitton/Sexsmith tandem last season, leaving the goaltending duties to marginal emergency back-ups. Personally, I would prefer for Stockton to have a single affiliation, give the NHL prospect the majority of the workload, and have a capable ECHL goalie in the second spot.

by T Ambrosini on Oct 17, 2011 4:58 PM MDT up reply actions

while there are three ECHL teams without NHL affiliation thus far this season

Wow, I didn’t realize that. Did they lose affiliations or just not have them?

Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.

by Derek Zona on Oct 17, 2011 5:05 PM MDT up reply actions

I suspect there are affiliations pending for two of the three teams. Alaska was affiliated with St. Louis last season, and St. Louis does not have an ECHL affiliate so far. Same goes for Bakersfield, who was affiliated with Minnesota last season, and Minnesota is also without an ECHL team. Las Vegas appears to have lost its affiliation with Phoenix who is currently affiliated with the Gwinnett Gladiators. Of course, this is the ECHL and everything could be different by sunrise tomorrow…..

by T Ambrosini on Oct 17, 2011 5:36 PM MDT up reply actions

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