Joel Hofer: How a conversation with a teammate relaxed the Blues goaltender

ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Blues were on the road a couple of weeks ago, and backup goalie Joel Hofer was sitting in a hotel room with defenseman Scott Perunovich. The two are close friends and can be completely honest with one another.

“Yeah, I can say whatever to Joel, and he can say whatever to me,” Perunovich said.

So, Perunovich took the opportunity to tell Hofer exactly what he thought. He had noticed that the netminder wasn’t playing soccer with teammates before games as he had done before. He wasn’t as chatty on the ice as he’d been in the past. He wasn’t talking between periods, either.

“I said, ‘You used to be way more relaxed and have more fun,’” Perunovich said. “When we were in (the American Hockey League), we were always chatting. We’d have full conversations throughout the game, and that seemed to be when he was at his best.”

In his two starts since that conversation, Hofer is 2-0 and has allowed just two goals on 78 shots for a .974 save percentage. That includes 39 saves in a 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Wednesday at Enterprise Center, helping the Blues match their season-high three-game winning streak and improve to 5-1 under interim coach Drew Bannister.

“Not thinking at all,” Hofer said. “I’m just going out there and having fun. I’ve been fortunate enough to do this for a long time and every day is a blessing. Yeah, just going out there and having fun.”

It was sort of surprising that Hofer got the start against Dallas. The Blues were coming off a three-day holiday break and trying to piggyback off their 7-5 come-from-behind win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.

But with a heavy schedule coming out of the break, Bannister turned to Hofer, who made 38 saves in a 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers in the game before Chicago.

“He deserved to be in net,” Bannister said Wednesday morning. “He had a great game for us in Florida so we want to get him back up and running. We have three games in the next four days, so it gives us that ability to rotate our goalies. But Joel deserved the start and we expect him to be on his game.”

Hofer was on his game, making 14 saves in the first period, which included two Stars power plays. He stopped five of six high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.

“He was incredible,” Perunovich said. “He seems to be having a lot more fun. He’s playing soccer before the games, and laughing. He’s not as dialed in. He’s more relaxed.”

DON'T
HASSLE
THE
HOF. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/3s3zZcYbk1

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) December 28, 2023

Finding that familiarity wasn’t the only comfort level Hofer had been seeking lately. He played a career-high 47 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds last season when he was 27-15-5 with a 3.22 goals-against average and .905 save percentage. That was under Bannister, who coached the affiliate until his promotion on Dec. 12.

Though Hofer has made just 13 appearances with the Blues in 2023-24 (11 starts), the NHL schedule is a lot more rigorous than the AHL’s, and Bannister senses that the goalie was feeling it.

“The schedule early on maybe wore him down a little bit,” Bannister said. “He’s getting into a groove a little bit where he was able to get some rest and get his strength back. I think we saw that in the Florida game. He looked more like the goalie that I’ve seen over the past couple years playing for us in Springfield. The rest gives him a little bit of time to reset himself and get his game back to where it was.”

After a 5-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 8, when Hofer gave up four goals on 21 shots, he went 13 days before his next start against Florida on Dec. 21. (He did relieve starter Jordan Binnington in a 6-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Dec. 19 but played just half the game.)

“Yeah, it’s a tough schedule,” Hofer said. “It’s hard adjusting with all the travel. It’s a lot different than the AHL. It’s pretty important getting sleep and lots of fluid and eating a lot, which is the most important.”

That’s a steep learning curve for many young players, not just goalies.

“It’s a long season,” Blues defenseman Marco Scandella said of the NHL. “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon, and you just have to stay composed every day. I just feel now like (Hofer) is relaxed and poised out there, and he’s making hard saves look easy. He’s seeing where the puck is going before the shot is taken.”

When do you ever remember seeing a goalie go to the bench for high-fives after his team scores?

Joel Hofer does it EVERY time. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/4bihA24E0A

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) December 28, 2023

Scandella scored midway through the second period Wednesday for a 2-0 lead on Dallas. The Blues looked like they might cruise their way to a win when they went on a five-on-three advantage shortly after taking the two-goal lead.

But despite having eight shots on goal on the five-on-three, the power-play unit couldn’t convert against Stars goalie Scott Wedgewood, and instead of a 3-0 game, it was 2-1 when Jason Robertson scored for the visitors.

“What can you do about it?” Hofer said. “The guy made a good shot and, like I said, you can’t go back on the past. It is what it is. They’re going to score, it’s a good league, and you just try to put it behind you as quick as you can.”

There’s that newfound relaxation again.

“When that happens, they kind of let the play come to themselves and they’re able to read and react to plays,” Bannister said. “I saw that (Wednesday with Hofer), where he was able to fight through a lot of traffic. There were some tip plays in the high slot that he reacted really well to and was able to seal the ice.”

Dallas added 15 more shots in the third period, including a shot by veteran Joe Pavelski out of midair that Hofer came up with.

“(Pavelski) looked at me and said, ‘That was lucky,’” Hofer said. “I kind of laughed at him. It’s part of the game. There’s luck everywhere. But yeah, I had a good chuckle.”

Coming from Pavelski, Scandella said, that’s “a very nice compliment.”

This is another post about Joel Hofer because he was THAT GOOD.#stlblues | @pncbank pic.twitter.com/r7mdEkkmuF

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) December 28, 2023

That allowed the Blues to hang on for victory in which they were outshot 40-30.

“I thought Joel was outstanding,” Bannister said. “He was great on the PK. He made some key saves for us in the third with some difficult saves in tight. He did a really good job controlling his rebounds. He was outstanding from the beginning right till the end.”

It was the team’s second win in 12 days over the Stars, including a 4-3 overtime victory on Dec. 16.

“It was a good challenge,” Hofer said. “Those are the kind of games you look forward to, especially a divisional rival. So yeah, it was a lot of fun, and we got the win, which made it even better. It’s obviously good for the confidence to get a couple wins against good opponents. I’m just trying to have fun out there, go day by day and enjoy it as much as I can.”

Hofer was enjoying it just fine until after the game when Perunovich approached him about the goal he allowed.

“I told him to make that save,” Perunovich said. “I said, ‘C’mon,’ and he said, ‘I know.’ He said, ‘I got a piece of it,’ and I said, ‘A piece of it isn’t enough.’ He said, ‘I know.’

Just two teammates being honest.

(Photo of Joel Hofer blocking a shot against the Stars: Joe Puetz / NHLI via Getty Images)