Like all honeymoons, it was over too soon. Paradise in a blink.
Darren Hersh has been coaching goaltenders, good ones, for 26 years. The five months with Philipp Grubauer were among the fastest of his career. Also, the sweetest.
“They were just doing regular warm-up drills and Grubi grabs a puck and starts passing back and forth with me between shots,” Hersh said of the Avalanche’s No. 1 net-minder, the last line of defense against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday in Game 4 of their second-round Stanley Cup Playoff series.
“I’ve never seen a goalie do that.