Meet Jason Missiaen

There's a very good chance you have never heard about Jason Missiaen unless you're the hardest of the core who follow the OHL. It's nothing to be ashamed of, though-- as in his two seasons in the OHL, the Peterborough Petes' goalie has compiled a record of 9-15-1 with only one shutout. Yet, at the same time, he has already created a buzz in Montreal Canadiens' prospect camp.

And why not, Missiaen seems to be a dark horse prospect, he has been impressing scouts and coaches alike, he has been fooling shooters left and right, even drawing comparisons to Ken Dryden, which seems to be cliche for any Habs goalie in this day-in-age.

Oh, and Missiaen is 6'8 as well, that's.....that's something that could be getting attention too.

TSN profiled the Petes' back-up keeper recently, revealing that Missiaen only is a golie due to his mother wanting him to wear the most padding out there on the ice. At the same time, his size hasn't hindered his ability be a smooth moving butterfly goalie. Even though he's only listed at 200 pounds, Missiaen hasn't had the awkwardness most big players have had when it comes to adjusting to size.

Granted, it's not as if the Habs are counting on Missiaen to be the savior like Carey Price is or the franchise like Ken Dryden was. No, the Dryden example was only thrown out in a comparison to Dryden's size in relation to other goalies of that era. I think a better example would almost be Olaf Kolzig in that Missiaen could be a goalie who is able to dominate the net with all-around size rather than all-around skill.

TSN also mentioned if the NHL does go to bigger nets, then Missiaen could be at a big advantage, no pun intended. There's really not another reason behind me using that other than the fact I'm a big proponent of bigger nets.

However, in recent years, it seems that the taller goalie has gone by the wayside. Ben Bishop (6'7, St. Louis), Scott Darling (6'6, Phoenix), Sergei Gayduchenko (6'5, Florida) and Antonie Lafleur (6'5, NY Rangers) are all goalies of reasonable size who have been drafted in the past years. With the exception of Bishop, all of them have come past the fourth round. They all could be diamonds in the rough, but they could also all be guys who never even see the light of the NHL.

With Missiaen making the waves he has had at prospect camp, you have to wonder not only if he'll get the chance (especially being in Montreal where there's two big prospects in the starting line-up all the time in net) or if he'll be able to garner enough attention for himself to get dealt and make his own headway with another club.

Plus, Missiaen (or the others mentioned), if successful, could show another wave of bigger keepers getting a hard look. Depending on what the NHL and PA decide on how to create more scoring chances, the bigger nets or smaller pads issue could make or break a lot of these taller guys. If they decide to go with smaller pads, you'll see a lot of goalies under 6'3 getting a shot, whereas if the bigger nets come in-- the bigger guys will get their time to shine.

Hell, if nothing else, this small coverage of Missiaen could get himself some more time in net for the Petes'-- which could get him more exposure if he does well enough in his appearances.

The above photo comes from a fellow named Chris C. and seems to be the only picture of Missiaen available through Google images. Get this kid more PT, please.