Published: October 06, 2008 12:29 am      

Goalies have ties to region

Two goaltenders with strong ties to the region began training camp with the Johnstown Chiefs.

That’s a first for a franchise entering its 21st ECHL season.

The western Pennsylvania connection includes Pittsburgh native Kris Mayotte, who played for the Fresno Falcons last season, and Johnstown’s Chris Cuppett, a Bishop McCort graduate who has served as an emergency backup for the Chiefs and several other teams.

The Chiefs opened camp on Saturday and had a Sunday evening practice. Workouts continue at 10 a.m. today.

“It’s a great opportunity for me and my family,” said Mayotte, who played three years at Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School before embarking on a junior career. “It’s been a long time since I was even remotely close to a place where my family could watch me play.

“I’m very excited. But it’s going to be a tough squad to make with a lot of good competition. I’m just going to work hard and hope for the best.”

The Chiefs also are expecting at least one contract goaltender to be assigned from either their AHL affiliate in Syracuse (Columbus Blue Jackets) or Lake Erie (Colorado Avalanche).

But in the early going, it was Mayotte and Cuppett in net.

“This is fantastic,” said Cuppett, who played in the MAHL with Jamestown and Valley Forge last season.

“I always loved to be back home,” added Cuppett, an emergency backup with the Chiefs, Trenton and Cincinnati in 2006-07. “This is one of the best places to play. This is the first time I’ve made camp. It’s just an honor to be recognized. I’ve been around the country in a couple different leagues. It’s a great feeling to be around the guys, especially with Kris being from Pittsburgh and Josh Piro being from my same high school.”

Mayotte led Central Catholic to a Pennsylvania Cup runner-up finish his freshman season. His teams advanced to the state semifinals and quarterfinals during his sophomore and junior years, respectively.

Cuppett had similar success at Bishop McCort, earning a state title in 1999.

Mayotte played for Sioux City in the USHL in 2001-02 before spending four seasons at Union College. He’s appeared in one AHL game, 28 CHL games and 39 ECHL games.

Last season with Pacific Division regular-season runner-up Fresno, Mayotte went 18-9-4 with a 2.97 goals against average and .901 save percentage.

He had begun the season with Reading in the North Division before landing with the Falcons.

“In Reading they had a guy coming down from L.A., Jon Quick, who was in the NHL last year and obviously a pretty good goalie,” Mayotte said. “Then we had myself, Jeff Pietrasiak and Curtis Darling, who ended up with Wheeling and signed with Wilkes-Barre.

“It was between Pietrasiak and myself. He was there the year before and (coach) Karl Taylor had some familiarity with him. He sent me to Fresno. We had a really good team. I made the most of it and it ended up being a good time.”

Mayotte spent some time in an AHL training camp before arriving in Johnstown.

“I was at Lake Erie’s camp for a couple days and that was good,” Mayotte said.