Sarah McLellan

PNI

His profession requires him to wear a mask, one he chose to decorate with blood-stained teeth and the bulging eyeballs of a yeti, but even without it on, Coyotes goalie Thomas Greiss still seems to be hidden.

The mellow, easy-going facade is genuine but plenty more lurks behind it — like a passion for mountain biking the Alps, a trip to Chile on his to-do list and an affinity for "Forrest Gump."

Pull back the same exterior on the hockey player, and there's more to discover there, too.

Greiss' job description reads backup goaltender in the NHL and the Coyotes signed him to a one-year contract last summer to do just that for them, but a desire to be a starter has been percolating.

"For sure my goal is to be a starting goaltender," the 28-year-old German said.

And that's what likely kept the Coyotes in playoff contention when Mike Smith was sidelined with an apparent right knee injury almost two weeks ago.

Greiss wants to be a No. 1, and the Coyotes needed one to stay afloat in the standings. Four consecutive losses have dimmed the team's playoff outlook to grim, but that isn't Greiss' doing.

Instead, this late-season promotion might finally be the springboard he's been waiting for to land more responsibility.

"We'll see what happens," Greiss said. "I still have lots of time in the off-season. Just worry about that then. Right now just worry about what's going on here."

His recent credentials certainly haven't hurt his cause. Since taking over for Smith in a starting capacity, Greiss has posted a 2.09 goals-against average and .920 save percentage despite going 11 games in-between starts.

His lack of playing time this season was a sticking point in the discussions the Coyotes tried to ignite for a contract extension over the Olympic break. Greiss had played in only 15 games before Smith was injured.

But, in keeping with his personality, Greiss never hinted at any discontent. He continued to slog through lengthy practices, and that attention to his craft didn't go unnoticed.

It's actually what won him the confidence of his teammates once he took over as starter.

"He's out every day when he's not playing with the extra guys," goaltending coach Sean Burke said. "He does extra shootout stuff at the end. When he goes in to play, I don't feel like there's a guy in that dressing room that doesn't feel like he's going to go out and have a good game."

The San Jose Sharks, who drafted Greiss in 2004 in the third round, felt just as encouraged. For the 2010-11 season, they had planned to let Greiss compete with Antero Niittymaki for the starting job.

But once Antti Niemi was released by the Chicago Blackhawks after the netminder won an arbitration case that was too rich for the Blackhawks, the Sharks scooped Niemi out of free agency.

"Niemi kind of fell into our lap and had just won a Stanley Cup," Sharks Assistant General Manager and goalie coach Wayne Thomas said. "For me, it was a hard conversation to tell Thomas that we just signed Antti Niemi and had just signed Niittymaki a month earlier."

Greiss ended up playing that season in Sweden and when he returned, the Sharks wanted to sign him to a new contract. So did the Coyotes.

Ultimately, Greiss remained with the Sharks for two more seasons before jumping ship with the hopes of working toward shedding his backup tag.

"In some ways I'm surprised he's not there already, and I guess opportunity is a big word," Thomas said. "Everybody needs it."

Still, absorbing this newfound role late in the season couldn't have been easy. Although Greiss had been steady in previous games, the pressure to replace Smith could have buried him.

"I don't think it's bad pressure," he said. "You just have to be confident in yourself and go out and play."

So Greiss didn't change his mentality. He didn't alter his preparation, aside from leaving the practice ice earlier. It's as if he's covered in Teflon, and nothing can infiltrate him.

"Just me," he said. "Don't get too high. Don't get too low. Pretty relaxed."

As he's revealed, though, in snippets assembled into a conversation like coins dropped into a jukebox to continue the music, he wants to play. And the more, the better.

"He's a little quieter than most guys and reserved," Thomas said. "But I think he doesn't like to get scored on and he doesn't like to lose and some of that quiet demeanor, I think there's a fire in there."

Up next

Coyotes at Blue Jackets

When: Tuesday, April 8 at 4 p.m.

TV: FSAZ Plus.

REMAINING REGULAR-SEASON SCHEDULE

Thursday, April 10 at 5 p.m.

Coyotes at Predators

TV: FSAZ

Saturday, April 12 at 6 p.m.

Sharks at Coyotes

TV: Channel 3

Sunday, April 13 at 6 p.m.

Stars at Coyotes

TV: FSAZ