I mentioned it earlier - a colleague of mine is a STH in Lethbridge and this isn't a new problem for Skinner - he told my essentially he was great if he escaped the first 5 minutes of the game without a GA.
It's largely true too - you can largely tell whether tell have a good game or a poor game off just the first 5 shots. If one of those goes in usually he'll have a sub .800 night regardless of what the scoring chance numbers look like.
Aside from your anecdotal comment from a friend, Skinner had a solid WHL career beginning with grabbing the starter's job at 16 on a mediocre Lethbridge team. His numbers were 43 games, 3.69 GAA and .909 SV% against an age 20 and 19 veterans who were 4.3 GAA and .892 SV% and 4.3 GAA and .881 SV%. Skinner at 16 played double the games than the two veterans. The team had a -102 goal differential. Lethbridge was a trainwreck franchise before Skinner arrived missing the playoffs 5 years in a row.
Skinner's numbers improved next season along with the last to first Lethbridge team playing 44 games, 2.73 GAA and .920 SV%. Third year on a good team he jumped to 60 games, 3.26 GAA and .905 SV%. His numbers slipped a bit in fourth year, before being a critical pick-up by Swift Current who he backstopped all the way to a Memorial Cup
- Skinner in Lethbridge regular season: 31gp, 3.38 .897
- Skinner in Swift Current regular season: 25gp, 2.68 .914
His .905 overall save percentage ranked him
No. 10 among goalies with 25 or more appearances in 2017-18 WHL games. His postseason save percentage (.932 save percentage in 26 games) was a key element in Swift Current’s run to the WHL championship and participation in the Memorial Cup tournament.
A 4 year WHL starting goaltender is exceptionally rare. Skinner came in a won the starter's job and then moved to be a critical piece to drive Swift Current to the Memorial Cup. Context matters.
Skinner's an imperfect goaltender as all are. But he's met each challenge with success and has been forced to sink or swim on a Cup window team because the high paid free agent veteran wilted. Skinner should be building his NHL game and experience as a developing back-up but instead is at the tip of the spear of an aggressive offensive team that often slips on a banana in its commitment to team defending. Sure the Oilers tip the ice the right direction but when they slip from their defensive structure this team gives up exceptionally tasting scoring chances against.
Skinner's more than met expectations at every level since junior. It's an organizational fail that they bet big money and term on Jack Campbell to carry this team's goaltending through this precious winning window.
