St. Germain will be the main goalie

Youngstown will play its only preseason game tonight in Toledo.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Although Quebec natives David St. Germain and Simon St. Pierre are expected to split time in goal in tonight's Youngstown SteelHounds exhibition game, count on the former, a Central Hockey league veteran, to start the majority of games this winter.
Tonight at 7:30, the SteelHounds will play their only preseason game in the Toledo Sports Arena against the Storm of the East Coast Hockey League. WBBW-AM 1240 will broadcast the game.
Barring injury, St. Germain, 25, of Brossard, Quebec, and St. Pierre, 24, will be the team's backstops for the 64-game CHL season.
"I feel very fortunate to have two players such as David and Simon to go into the season with," LaForest said. "David is an experienced goaltender who has seen play at higher levels and whose confidence will help the demeanor in the locker room."
LaForest recruited St. Germain to come to Youngstown after he became available when Topeka folded its CHL franchise in the spring.
In 45 starts for the Tarantulas during the 2004-05 season, St. Germain posted an 11-28-3 record with a 3.63 goals against average and one shutout.
Distraction
The goalie admitted that last year's off-ice struggles were a distraction.
"Folding? Yeah, we knew about that in about February," St. Germain said. "Some of the guys had wives who were working in Topeka so they would need to know to be advised about finding another job.
"It was hard after that to be focused, knowing that there wasn't going to be a team there in the next year," St. Germain said. "We had a great [general manager] in Chris Presson who made sure that everyone got paid at the end of the season."
The former New York Islanders prospect has some American Hockey League experience, but has played the majority of his four professional seasons in the ECHL, seeing action in Trenton and Charlotte.
In 102 ECHL games, the Brossard, Quebec, native registered a 45-35-15 record with a 2.79 goals against average and a .905 save percentage
"I heard about Youngstown early last season," St. Germain said. "At the time, I didn't know that the Tarantulas were going to fold and I was going to be available to come here."
LaForest called St. Germain
Not long after he became SteelHounds coach in June, LaForest called St. Germain.
"I was glad to hear from him and I'm glad that I signed here," St. Germain said.
St. Pierre, 24, was the starter in each of his four seasons at Bentley College where he compiled 33 career wins and a school record 3.48 goals against average.
"Simon has already shown in a short time that he can be counted on and he will see a lot of action," LaForest said. "I trust having both goaltenders in the mix and feel they will both be solid contributors to this hockey team."
Tonight's game marks the end of SteelHounds training camp. On Wednesday, the CHL expansion team will board their bus to journey to Tulsa, Okla., to play the Oilers in their CHL opener.
"We didn't fly at all," St. Germain said of the Tarantulas. "The road trips here are going to be longer [but] our bus here is great. In Topeka, we had a smaller bus for smaller road trips. It will be fun to be on the road with the rest of the guys. "
Nothing new
Long trips won't be a new experience for St. Germain.
"I'm used to them. I played major Junior A in the Quebec League for Nova Scotia, so all my road trips were like 12-, 13-hours long."
LaForest is taking 10 forwards to Toledo: Darryl Lloyd, Shawn Mamane, Troy Kahler, Jeff Christian, Chris Richards, Rob Ouimette, Scott Barnes, Paul Vincent, Dan Buccella and Lorne Misita.
The SteelHounds' six defensemen are Kris Mallette, Kelly Sickavish, Kevin Harris, R.C. Lyke, Matt Nicholson and Marc-Andre Roy.
The CHL permits teams to have 17 players earning no more than $8,500 per week.
The SteelHounds' home opener is set for Nov. 4 against the Oklahoma City Blazers at 7:05 p.m. For ticket information, call (330) 747-PUCK.
williams@vindy.com