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Goalies running on empty

ERIC DUHATSCHEK

Globe and Mail Update

Latest comment posted at 2:22 AM EDT 06/05/08

Eric Duhatschek ponders netminder fatigue and Ottawa's coaching search ...Read the full article

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  1. tom h from Edmonton, Canada writes: Great analysis, as usual, by Duhatschek. I'd always been of the mind that a 2-goalie system is bad news, but here he makes a pretty good case for it.

    As for the Sens, I think that they need a crack-the-whip coach. With some notable exceptions (Alfie, Fisher, Volchenkov, Kelly, and probably a few others), too many players just don't seem able to put in a consistent effort each night. Ottawa's had too many soft coaches now... so many years under Jacques Martin might have done some damage to these players. Like Paddock, he was just too soft-spoken, and didn't have any fire in him. So let's see someone who'll get up on the bench, yell at refs, and inspire his team to fight a little more.
  2. J K GALBRAITH from Canada writes: There is a small typo in the section on goaltenders where you stated that Cam Ward replaced Martin Brodeur. I believe you meant to say Martin Gerber.

    Goaltending is important but it is overated. In both Giguere's first run and Kiprusoff, excellent goaltending carried lesser teams to the finals. At the same time everyone blames Curtis Joseph for Detroit losing to Anaheim in 2003 even when they lost a 2-1 game. Generally, great goaltending can take you deep in the playoffs but it does not usually wing the Cup except about once every 10 year as Patrick Roy demonstrated. In reality, it is usually the team that has the best balance of offense, defense, and goaltending that will win the Cup. Similarly in football, it is usually team that has the best combination of offense and defense that wins the Super Bowl and in baseball the best combination of pitiching, hitting, and defense that wins the World Series.
  3. Dom P from Ottawa, Canada writes: Good article.

    I don't think that saying, "Not sure if that works anymore." about Quinn's coaching style has much validity however. It might not have worked with the Leafs squad he coached his last two years, but it sure did work for the U18 team he coached under a month ago. I think his style can work really well with a group of motivated players.
  4. Life Insurance Bribe from Canada writes: Good goalie site that attempts to answer the questions E.D. is raising:

    http://brodeurisafraud.blogspot.com/2008/04/is-brodeur-tired.html

    -->The usual way to reconcile reality to reputation, therefore, is to claim he was "tired" or make some other excuse. I think a simpler and more accurate solution is that this year, just as last year, Martin Brodeur is playing against a superior opponent in the playoffs, which is something that has been pretty rare throughout his career. He has little margin for error, and is not playing at the very top of his game. The result is that he is getting scored on and his team is losing. No further excuses or explanations needed.
  5. PANIC! At The Ice Floe from Canada writes: I would be shocked if the Sens got Quinn. I thought it would be a good match, but then reading over some of the things he said in the past about Senator players excludes him from the position in my mind.

    I think Pat Burns would be a nice move, Babcock just as well. Paddock made sense at the time. Only seeing the man on TV, I would never have thought the guy would be a push-over. It's too bad really.

    While writing this Dany Heatley just scored Canada's first goal. Funny that he couldn't do that in the playoffs!
  6. Dave The Rave from Ottawa, Canada writes: The two goalie system makes sense, especially with travel, the intensity and the crashing of the net. What goalie who plays the bulk of an entire season can reasonably play another 16-28 games? This year's playoffs tell you. Duhatschek has nailed it. Detroit has made an excellent decision to platoon Hasek and Osgood. It may be that Montreal is looking at a Price-Halak rotation for the future as well. As for the next Ottawa coach, Pat Quinn or Pat Burns (I would favor Burns, as he is a Cup winner) make sense.
  7. brent mclean from b-town, Canada writes: does make sense. The problem is in today's NHL with so much parity, each and every game is so important that coaches are inclined to go with their best netminder. Also, if you have to pay a true #1 about 6 mill a year then realistically are you going to get a decent backup for 1-2 mill? With the cap, how much do you really want to tie up at the back end? Detroit is the blueprint for success and I think Toronto should do whatever possible to lure away Ken Holland although I think he's going to stay in Detroit until after the 2010 Olympics. I think Yzerman will take over in 2010-11
  8. Tom h from Edmonton, Canada writes: I can't see Pat Quinn coming to Ottawa... too much bad blood from his days with the Leafs. Even if Bryan Murray wasn't around then, many of the players (and all of the fans!) wouldn't have a hard time remembering.
  9. Sissy Schuss from Canada writes: I dunno I think Eric is stretching it a bit here looking for a trend when there really isn't one - Price may be the exception to the rule - when great things were expected

    However if there is a need for commentary and analysis its on why so many teams have exited after 4 or 5 games in the 1st and 2nd round? Virtually no one in any pool I know of picked teams to go out without a fight - and hardly anyone selected Detroit to dominate Colorado so handily, SJ to fold, Montreal to collapse, NJ etc etc etc.

    methinks - parity, salary cap and regular season exhaustion have a lot to do with this.....
  10. Scot Loucks from Pickering, Canada writes: Sissy... I think you missed an important part.... Price is 20 years old and can probably handle the work load. Brodeur is 36 and probably can't.

    Coaches for Ottawa? I think both Quinn and Burns would be good choices.... I prefer Quinn because I would like to see Burns back in Toronto.

    Cheers
  11. Paul I from Rochester NY, United States writes: I think that next season after the All-Star break the teams should use the games to start playing the No. 2 goalies and see if they will have anything to offer in the playoffs. In light of the fact the regular season means next to nothing, why burn out a goalie with 4,000 minutes of ice time? Playoff seeding doesn't mean a thing either. (Ask the Habs for verification) What matters is who is able to handle the most grueling playoff in pro sports. I don't think it's a goalie with 4,000 minutes on the clock.
  12. Dave The Rave from Ottawa, Canada writes: The two goalie system may be the only way a Stanley Cup champion can repeat in the post-lockout NHL (Carolina, Ward unable to repeat, Anaheim, Giguere totally burned out this year). The players are getting younger, faster, bigger and stronger. The physical pounding goaltenders take is only going to get worse. And are goalies really worth the kind of stupid money being thrown at them, i.e. DiPietro? PS IMHO Burns is the man to turn Ottawa around; Quinn would be a better fit for the Leafs. Both men have history in those cities.
  13. Scot Loucks from Pickering, Canada writes: Dave the Rave... check out nhlnumbers.com

    The most important player on the ice is not the most important player on the payroll.... check it out.

    Cheers
  14. Dave The Rave from Ottawa, Canada writes: Goalie salaries...interesting numbers indeed. (Thx Scot) If I read this correctly, talented guys like Fleury, Leclaire, Ellis, Thomas, Miller, Bryzgalov, Price, Toskala, (Halak obviously) are all under $3MM, vets like Joseph and Legace good value. I seem to remember once upon a time teams would have a young talent (ie Rogie Vachon platooned with an old fox ie Gump Worsley). That would be an approach worth considering for some teams. IMO Detroit may be thinking that re: Jimmy Howard (paired with Osgood or Hasek). Not sure about DiPietro, but Turco, Vokoun and Lundqvist are money goalies worth every penny; shame that Vokoun plays for such a crummy team. Luongo puzzles me.
  15. Sissy Schuss from Canada writes: there is already an effective two goalie system in place - the player and his oversized pads
  16. Open Mike from Canada writes: With the NHL regular season already insanely long, plus the intensification of the policy of attacking forwards smashing into the goalie (the gentle euphemism, 'crashing the net' but it really means thumping the goalie if possible) it's no surprise a single star goalie gets gassed by the end of the season and tanks in the playoffs. I've never understood why teams don't get two good goalies and platoon them in favor of getting one great goalie and exhausting him. Thought it was just me wondering about the often-loopy and dumb ways the NHL has of doing things.

    Now, E.D.'s excellent essay has solidified that query. Fatigue may be one thing, but the increased level of hard-impact goalie interference must exacerbate that fatigue to a degree which surely requires further study. If the demands of an extremely long season combined with the physical abuse of being 'crashed' many times per game will become the norm in the NHL, it's clear the best way to cushion that would be the two- (or even three)- goalie system where the workload is evenly split and the recovery and recuperation time can be shared.

    Of course, the sensible solutions of shortening the season and really penalising contact with the goalie will be the last options the NHL will ever look at. Winston Churchill used to say that you could always depend on the Americans to do the right thing, but only after they'd exhausted every single alternative. The same could be said of the NHL, except they never stop trying the alternatives.
  17. John Stanton from Canada writes: ha ha, great comment Sissy on the pads!
  18. Mike Quinlan from Gatineau, Canada writes: Please no recycled Toronto coaches. Quinn and Burns can go elsewhere. In fact forget the high profile coach with 20 years in the NHL. New blood please!!!
  19. bob orr from Amish country, United States writes: The Brodeur point is very well taken. But the Devils don't make the playoffs without Brodeur playing 75 games or so. They're just not that good any more, but Brodeur keeps 'em around. Younger guys such as Lundqvist might be able to carry the load, but Brodeur isn't young any more. [Remember, too, that Brodeur had Mike Dunham, who was a pretty good No. 2 goalie, during some of his peak years.]
    There probably is an optimum number, somewhere around 60 [plus or minus a few], of games your No. 1 goalie should play to avoid playoff burnout. But how many teams have a No. 2 that they would trust with 25 or even 30 games, or that they would trust with the No. 1 job if the starter went down?
    As far as Ottawa's coaching vacancy goes, I don't know as it matters very much if they don't get some goaltending help... and help on D, too, if Redden finds the pastures greener elsewhere [watch out for the Devils on that one].

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