Alex Lyon admits to nearly making shocking career decision

In a situation that just about every fan of the Detroit Red Wings didn't anticipate at the start of the year, goaltender Alex Lyon has emerged as the a prime candidate to be named the team's de facto most valuable player thanks to his clutch play between the pipes. 

Lyon, who started the season as the 3rd string goaltender behind starter Ville Husso and veteran James Reimer, has earned the bulk of the starts the last several weeks after the injury to Husso and struggles of Reimer. 

This isn't the first time that Lyon has found himself in this situation, as he emerged as the starter for the Florida Panthers thanks to the struggles of Sergei Bobrovsky. And while Lyon knows that he can't be at the top of his game 100% of the time, he simply goes about his business as best he can. 

"The amount and work load I’ve played is not typical in any situation," Lyon said. "I just prepare the way I prepare and it’s really about preparation at the end of the day, and then you kind of just have to live in the moment in the game and whatever the end result is just what you have to live with.

"That’s the coach’s job, to evaluate and assess, but as a player, I think that you can’t really get bogged down. You’re going to have good games and good periods, and you’re going to have bad periods, and you just really can’t expect to be A-plus all the time. That’s just not reality."

During the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 NHL season, Lyon admits that he contemplated retirement after appearing in only 10 games in the NHL and AHL combined. 

"I think the life of a goalie is somewhat existential," Lyon said. "You live in reality, it gets difficult sometimes. You have to live in unrealistic terms."

"I’ll enjoy it as much as I can," he said. "It’s going to be a little more enjoyable than unenjoyable, which is what a goalie’s normal life is: Torment and torture."

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