Originally taken by Dallas with the 26th overall pick in the first round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, Jason spent the last two seasons with the AHL’s Utah Grizzlies, where he was a combined 31-37-7 in 78 appearances.
He was acquired by St. Louis from Dallas in exchange for the rights to defenseman Shawn Belle on June 25, 2004 and was assigned to the Worcester IceCats of the American Hockey League.
This season with Worcester, the 22-year-old Bacashihua is 12-4-0 with a 2.14 GAA and .917 save percentage, including wins in nine of his last 10 decisions.
Jason was named AHL Player of the Week for the period ending January 9, 2005, registering a 0.67 goals-against average and a .979 save percentage to go with his 3-0-0 record, while stopping 93 of the 95 shots he faced.
His challenges off the ice are ones of perception: At 5'11" and 175, he is about twenty pounds and an inch or two off of current conventional wisdom for the ideal goalie.
With some more time to perfect his craft in the minors, our sources feel that Bacashihua has the talent and potential to be a number-one goalie in the NHL.
This is Bacashihua's second appearance in the FAB50 Hockey rankings, moving up one from last year when he debuted on the list at No. 17 with the Grizzlies. His appearance is also the first in the top twenty for the Worcester Ice Cats in 2005.
