It’s more than a feel-good story, though, as Greaves has earned the call. He showed up in training camp ready to go, as the jump in his game from last year – when he made his NHL debut with a memorable 46-save performance in a loss in his hometown of Toronto – to this year was palpable.
He’s always been thought of as a prospect in the eyes of the Blue Jackets, but Greaves appears to have taken another step in his development this year and has nine wins at the AHL level, one off the league lead.
“He was one of our best goalies, and we could argue he was the best goalie, at camp,” Vincent said. “He deserves it. He deserves to stay here for now.”
The head coach noted Greaves was under siege at times last night, especially as the Blues pulled their goaltender for the final five-plus minutes, and the stats bear that out. Greaves had 18 saves on 19 shots against in the first two periods – beaten only by Robert Thomas’ breakaway goal – but had to stop 23 of 24 in the final frame as the Blues pushed.
His 41 saves are the most ever for a CBJ goalie in his first career win, and Greaves’ workload in his first two starts is of a historic proportion. He’s the first NHL goalie since saves started being tracked in 1955-56 to record 40-plus saves in each of his first two NHL games, and his 87 saves through two games are the most on record for a goalie in the league.
Greaves wasn’t about to complain about the workload postgame, though, crediting the Jackets in front of him for a solid performance.
“Yeah, it was fun,” he said. “I thought the guys were great in front of me. I thought it was really a good 60 from us, especially in the back-to-back, it's tough. But I felt really vibes from everyone. I'm just really grateful for all the guys tonight.”
Named after noted martial artist and actor Jet Li – though Jet is his middle name; his first name is Calvin – Greaves did take a bit of a long path to get to where he is, even at just 22 years old. He was undrafted coming up through the ranks, perhaps because he doesn’t have ideal size in today’s world at just 6-foot-0, and wasn’t able to play his final season of junior hockey in the OHL because of the COVID pandemic.
Still, Greaves stuck it out, and he caught some eyes with the Jackets after signing with the Monsters and playing well in stretches with the team during the Traverse City Prospects Tournament as well as training camp in 2021. His performances with Cleveland led to him signing an NHL deal in February 2022, and now he’s showing what he can do at the highest level.
“There's just so many steps, so all of this is really just a dream come true,” he said after the game last night. “So for me, it's all about enjoying every day and learning from it and working hard, but obviously enjoying the little things along the way. And that's definitely one I'll remember for a long time.”
And with the Jackets icing the win in the final seconds on an Alexandre Texier empty-net goal, Greaves had the chance to savor the victory for a moment before his teammates streamed from the bench to celebrate. Nick Blankenburg, Greaves’ teammate in Cleveland for the first two months of this season, skated up to the goalie in the dying moments to share in it, kicking off a celebration Greaves will never forget.
“Maybe a little bit,” he said when asked if he could take it all in. “I think after we scored the empty net goal, Blanks kind of came up to me. We were just talking, smiling, so I think then it kind of set in. It was a lot of fun.”
