Things have changed over the years in hockey.
Courtesy: USATSI
In years past, you could always count on your #1 goaltender to steal game after game. Goaltenders–the likes of Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, Carey Price, and Henrik Lundqvist–were staples, needed to win a Cup.
Detroit was one of the first teams to debunk this myth. They rode a hot Mike Vernon, and a mediocre Chris Osgood, to Stanley Cup victories. Now you’re seeing the same thing with Corey Crawford. His numbers are good, but would you consider him to be an elite goaltender?
It’s all about the system played in front of the team. If a team plays a good puck-possession and defensive game you can put just about anybody in net … and they’ll look like a star. Take the Los Angeles Kings. Even when Jon Quick isn’t in net, his backups have similar numbers.
Could Ben Scrivens have won a Cup if he was the starter? I’m not sure we can go that far, but it’s a debate, at least. How did Ilya Bryzgalov fare when he was removed from the Phoenix Coyotes trap system? He can answer that after he’s finished counting his buyout cash.
There just isn’t a huge difference between a star net-minder and a decent one. Multiple coaches seem to ride a ‘hot hand.’ Look at what Chicago is doing in the current playoffs. The Blackhawks had no problem starting Scott Darling for a couple of games–to see what he could do. That’s what you can do when there’s a fantastic team in front of the net.
Courtesy: Robert Mayer – USA TODAY Sports
But there is a NHL goaltender who can win a series by himself–Carey Price. You can replace every other NHL goaltender. Have you noticed that European goaltenders can come out of nowhere and steal the show? Consider these names: Antti Niemi, Pekka Rinne, and Frederik Andersson.
There’s a slim margin today between most NHL net-minders. That’s why I think the days of $7-8 million dollar, 7-8 year goaltenders’ contracts is probably over. Sometimes you witness the burden of a contract. Jimmy Howard is somewhat going through that now; and Roberto Luongo just went through it in Vancouver.
It doesn’t matter how great your stats are in the regular season. The team paying big money expects a goaltender to carry it through the playoffs. How many years did we witness a Vancouver Canucks team that couldn’t score and, then, was eliminated from the playoffs early? Luongo would take the blame.
The best NHL teams have systems in place that require goaltenders to make a few key saves. The game plan is to avoid letting in the big goal. Goaltenders don’t need to be spectacular. They just need to be good enough for the team to stay in the game.
We’re seeing that year after year, and we’ll probably continue to see it in the years to come.
Coming from a Philadelphia Flyers fan, this is going to sound weird … but … goaltenders are expendable.
