Sabers: Devon Levi is living the dream one day at a time

UPGRADE DAY

BUFFALO | Landed in Buffalo last week, a few days after the elimination of the Northeastern Huskies, Devon Levi spins the perfect happiness with the Sabers.  

“Every morning when I wake up, I feel an excitement. It's so much fun,” said the goaltender from Dollard-des-Ormeaux.

What would have been even more fun was for him to get the first start of his career against the Canadiens. However, since the Sabers are desperately trying to stay in the playoff race, we can understand Don Granato wanting to make him wait a bit.

“When it's my turn, they'll wave to me. Until then, I'm going one day at a time. I want to improve every day to be ready when the time is right,” said the 21-year-old athlete.

Devon Levi is on the ice

We repeat, Devon Levi is on the ice‼️ pic.twitter.com /THQxdrqzmg

— Buffalo Sabers (@BuffaloSabres) March 24, 2023

The Quest for Perfection

The Sabers may hang around a bit paw, they have what it takes in their training to help Levi's progress. Tage Thompson, with 44 goals, Alex Tuch (32) and Jeff Skinner (31) have the seed of mavericks.

“In practice, the NHL is not that different from the NCAA. It's the same game and I'm still a keeper,” Levi pointed out. But the guys are much more skilled. They know where to put the puck. Their shots are perfect. So you have to be perfect to stop them.”

With three other goaltenders at his disposal (Eric Comrie, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and the venerable Craig Anderson), the Sabers head coach has everything leisure to take his time with his recruit. 

Nevertheless, he has already understood that his work habits are above average.

“He is a boy who learns very quickly. Since his arrival, he has studied all the shooters on our team, noted Granato. So when he hit the ice for practice, he already had an idea of ​​what the guys had in store for him.”

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This statement from Granato did not surprise Jordan Harris in the least. Levi's teammate at Northeastern University, he had the opportunity to see him in action for a season.

“Sometimes he wore a virtual reality headset and he did goalie drills in the locker room. We saw him making stop movements in the void without anyone around, ”said the defender of the Canadian, amused by the situation.

Levi was a distant choice of 7th round of the Sabers . A late selection probably due to its height of “only” 6 feet. Faith of Harris, this is not what will stop him.

“His work and his preparation will compensate for his size, he assured. He's an incredible keeper. His stats speak for themselves. He has a long career ahead of him.”

For the second time in as many seasons, Levi is a finalist for the Hobey-Baker Trophy, awarded to the NCAA Most Valuable Player. He is also one of the nominees for the Mike-Richter trophy, awarded to the best goalkeeper. A prize he won last year.