Plymouth Whalers' Alex Nedeljkovic a Star on the Rise

Plymouth Whalers goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic is busy these days – even more so than normal.

Nedeljkovic is currently playing for Team USA in the World Under-18 Championships, being held in Finland through Sunday.

Team USA has advanced to the tournament quarterfinals and will play Slovakia on Thursday.  Nedeljkovic has done his part for Team USA, posting 2.01 goals against average and .905 save percentage in three games.

In the middle of all of this, Nedeljkovic was named the Ontario Hockey League’s Goaltender of the Year – an honor well deserved.

The Ontario Hockey League announced Nedeljkovic’s award last week and in preparation needed comments from him.  The OHL expected a couple of sentences, but instead received well-thought out answers to some questions.

If you’ve never met Nedeljkovic, please take the opportunity over the course of the summer or sometime next season.  You’ll meet a thoughtful, intelligent person who doesn’t act like a star.  

There’s a reason Nedeljkovic is one of the more popular Whalers among the current group.

Here are Nedeljkovic’s answers to four questions posed to him about winning the OHL Goaltender of the Year Award:

1-There are plenty of good goaltenders in the Canadian Hockey League – and many of them are better statistically - yet you’ve been named to OHL Goaltender of the Year.  Trite question – how does this feel?  Humbling?  Great?  Both?

To receive this award is an incredible honor. There were many other goaltenders in league this year that also had great seasons, some of which are still continuing theirs in the playoffs today. But credit must be given to all of my teammates that helped me to achieve this award. Game in and game out they would do their best to help make my job easier, and I would try my best to do the same for them. Blocking shots, clearing guys in front, clearing away rebounds, and reducing the amount of high quality scoring chances are what allowed me to be as successful as I was this year. This award recognizes what a goalie has accomplished throughout the season, but it is also a symbol of what the entire team did over the course of the season to be as good as they possibly could defensively.

2-You do not wear a “C” or an “A” with the Whalers, but I see you as one of the leaders of this team.  How do you help lead the team?  Through example, on and off the ice? Through work ethic?  By recognizing there are time when a goaltender has to make a key save at a critical time?

It is very rare to see a goaltender wearing a “C” or an “A”, but for a team to be successful, especially a young team, the goalie needs to lead in many different ways. Both on and off the ice, the goaltender needs to lead by example by giving 110% effort in every drill, every situation, and every workout. If your teammates see you working hard for them, then in turn it will make them want to work even harder for you.  During games a goaltender leads more by executing all his movements and save selections to as close to perfect as he can. Making the big save that nobody expects you to make shows your teammates that you won’t give up on any play no matter what, but also making the key saves at critical times like in the last minute of a one goal game, or making a save and freezing the puck after a lengthy shift in the defensive zone to give your guys some rest and get fresh guys on the ice without any trouble. Making these key saves, big saves or just any other save, are what gives your teammates confidence in their goaltender and allows them to focus on their jobs in the game.

3-You are never shy about facing a lot of shots or playing in a lot of games.  You love to compete.  Where does that trait come from?

This trait has always been a part of me. Knowing the effort that I have put into making myself the best goalie I can be every day, I want to utilize all that energy and time that I have spent, and make every ounce and second of it count, because if I don’t use every last bit of energy I have, then all the training and preparing I have done goes to waste.  As a goaltender, you want to show everybody that you can be counted on in big moments and in big games. You want to be the guy that plays every night and plays most of the games, because unlike being a forward or defenseman, that see ice-time no matter what a majority of the time in games they dress, a goalie either gets the opportunity to play the entire game, or watches from the bench the entire game. There’s always that thought inside of a goalie’s head, “well if I made this save things may have been different,” or “had I done this differently the play would have ended soon after.” It seems as though the position of goalie in hockey is the most scrutinized, so if one is to play this position, one should be able to accept the challenges that come with it, no matter what they are. The goalie should be able to embrace them with a grin on their face and looking at playing a lot of games and facing a lot of shots as an opportunity to make himself better. 

4-How has Mike Vellucci and Stan Matwijiw helped you?

Coach Mike and Stan have both been tremendous mentors to me in my time in Plymouth.  I have worked with Stan now for 3 years, and in that time period, my game has gone to an entirely new level that I never thought it could reach. He has taught me that mental training is just as important as physical training. That no matter how strong your body may be, if you don’t have the right strength inside of your head, it will be very, very difficult to achieve anything you want to accomplish.  

Coach Mike has been one of the most flexible coach’s that I have worked with. By this I mean he has the ability to take the team that he has, and can do incredible things with it, whether it is a team of 3rd and 4th year veterans, or a team with 14 guys that are playing their first year in the league.  He teaches us new systems and ways to play the game, but he also learns new things from his players, and they help him see the game from a new way as well. The game is always changing, so one needs to be open to change and new things; Coach Mike knows this and embraces it. The best way I can describe what Coach Mike has done for me and the team is that he forces us out of our comfort zone to be better as he demonstrates when coaching us.

Alex Nedeljkovic played in 61 games during the regular season, compiling a 2.88 goals against average and .925 save percentage while going 26-27-0-7. Plymouth scored 158 goals while Nedeljkovic was in goal while giving up 165.

Nedeljkovic was named a star in 24 games out of 61 appearances.  He was a first star 8 times, a second star 9 times and a third star 7 times.  Plymouth went 16-5-0-3 in the games in which Nedeljkovic was named a star and was 7-0-0-1 when Nedeljkovic was named first star.

Sault Ste. Marie’s Matt Murray finished second in the OHL’s Goaltender of the Year voting.  Murray – a Pittsburgh draft signed by the Penguins – posted a 2.57 goals against average and .921 save percentage while going 32-11-1-5.  Sault Ste. Marie scored 188 goals when Murray was in goal while giving up 128.

Murray was named a star in 21 games out of 49 appearances.  He was named a first star 11 times, a second star 4 times and a third star 6 times. The Soo went 16-2-0-3 in which Murray was a star and won all 11 games in which Murray was a first star.