Roman Basran continues to roll in Steelheads’ net
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — Signed just days before the start of the 2021-22 regular season, there wasn’t a palpable sense of excitement in Mississauga surrounding goaltender Roman Basran. He was a good netminder, of course, but the question was up in the air whether he could earn, and keep, a roster spot, especially with Joe Ranger and Justin DiLauro both ahead of him on the club’s depth chart between the pipes.
Basran, however, is making the most of his overage season, coming off his first OHL shutout on Friday night against the Hamilton Bulldogs. While the game was scoreless through the first 40 minutes, Mississauga broke through early in the third thanks to goals by Luca Del Bel Belluz and Owen Beck.
Basran, who was flawless through the first two periods, stepped up his game in the third, stopping all 10 shots he faced, 20 in total, to keep the Bulldogs off the scoresheet and give Mississauga the win on home ice.
Steelheads leading scorer James Hardie iced the game with an empty-net goal before all was said and done.
I spoke with Mississauga head coach James Richmond about Basran’s solid play last Friday.
“Roman has fit in very well with the team both on and off the ice,” the Steelheads coach noted. “It’s always great to see your goalie earn a shutout. He’s worked his butt off since coming to Mississauga so it’s awesome when all that hard work is rewarded.”
As for the club’s less-than-stellar offense, the head coach addressed that during last Friday’s contest.
“In the second intermission, we talked about staying with the game plan,” recalled the Steelheads coach. “The guys were going really well and all I said was, ‘Don’t get frustrated. The goals will come.’”
And they did.
The 6-foot-2, 192-pound netminder has certainly been of good help for the Steelheads so far this season, and Richmond and the club only hope and expect that to continue.
To cap off his weekend, Basran earned a second win on Sunday afternoon.
As was the case on Friday night, the Steelheads were scoreless through the first two periods on Sunday on home ice. However, in the third and trailing 1-0, the Steelheads scored four unanswered goals, courtesy of Ty Collins, Del Del Belluz and two from Chas Sharpe, to pick up the 4-1 victory and extend their winning streak to four.
As for Basran, he turned away 21 of 22 shots on Sunday to earn his second win as many games.
A Vancouver, British Columbia native, Basran spent the previous four years playing for the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets, amassing a record of 52-40-8 record with a 2.97 goals-against average and a save percentage of .903.
With his wins on Friday and Sunday, Basran improves to 5-3-0 on the young season with a 2.37 goals-against average and a save percentage of .894.
The latter statistic may not seem very impressive on paper, but one needs it to consider the high level of the netminder’s work ethic as noted by Coach Richmond, and they’ll see just what an invaluable member of the Mississauga Steelheads Basran has been thus far.
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