By Russ Cohen
Alex Wang is a 6-3 goaltender who currently plays for the Chicago Steel in the USHL. He’s a smart prospect who knows what he likes, and he loved the accommodations at the USHL Fall Classic, which happened to be the Steel’s home rink.
“I love it. It’s my first official year in junior hockey, so that’s pretty exciting. Especially playing in this barn. It’s really nice,” Wang stated.
Wang had a heavy workload in his first game last March.
“I think 46 saves out of 50 shots. We got the win. It’s a lot of work. Yeah, it’s a lot of work, and I, you know, there’s no better way I would have chosen to start it off,” Wang said.
Alex is Chinese, and his real first name is Zihang. He has a reason for letting us call him Alex.
“Yeah, most people can’t pronounce it, so I go by Alex,” he mentioned.
Spencer Knight was watching the tournament, and Wang decided to talk about him.
“I mean, I love this play style, but I am trying to do (Connor) Hellebuyck recently. He’s the best goalie in the world,” Wang admitted.
Bigger goalies can use their frame to their advantage and Wang is following that trend.
“I like to stay over the puck. I have really long arms. I try to use that to my full advantage,” said Wang. “For as long as I can remember, I was always the tallest guy in the room.”
He didn’t play basketball because he said he “can’t shoot,” but he did play lacrosse and a bit of soccer. He played defense and that checks out.
“I was always better at that,” Wang explained.
He’s off to a hot start this season. I like his movements. He hugs the post well, and his rebounds are controlled. I see how he can reach out for pucks, and that’s a strength. His stick work can get better, but overall, it will be interesting to see where he falls in the 2027 NHL Draft.
