Don't accuse the boss of not lending a hand!

Maybe you’re one of many humble garage-league goalies who imagines that netminders who have played any sort of pro hockey end up retiring at age 30 to a life of golf and sipping margaritas by the pool all day.  Well, in the case of Patrick Couture this is certainly not the case.  After a 12 year professional career that included stops in the ECHL, AHL and Europe, the former Quebec Remparts goalie teamed up with ex-NHL defenseman Yannick Tremblay to create a professional quality outdoor ice rink that recently was host to Quebec City’s very first Midget AAA Winter Classic game.

Here's hockey the way it was meant to be played- under an open sky...

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Does Roloson bear a striking resemblance to a guy named Jesus? He sure has pulled off a few miracles these playoffs. Besides, any goalie practicing an open toe save must be from another era...(Scott Slingsby photo)

If someone came out of a time warp and tuned in Tuesday night to watch the Bruins beat the Lightning 6-5, they might have easily been convinced that they were witnessing a circa 80′s playoff game à la Edmonton Oilers.  Not only were there goals aplenty, but ones that came as a result of breakaways, pretty passing and laser beam shooting rather than the standard bump-and-grind-it-out fare of the playoffs where checking is tighter and where often one can barely be seen for all the players jamming the shooting lanes.

In this second game the Bruins came out on top, with Tim Thomas staving off a frenetic comeback attempt by the Lightning in the dying minutes of the third.  His game didn’t start out too well, as he was rung for a bad angle deflected goal at 13 seconds, and another on a poor angle five hole marker only seven seconds before the end of the period.  Arguably less than solid, and perhaps a flashback to the first two games of the Montreal series, where Thomas seemed to struggle early on before turning the tables on the Habs’ snipers.

Speaking of Montreal, many hockey fans in la belle province have adopted the Lightning as the team of choice, seeing as their coach is Guy Boucher and 2/3 of their superstar quotient up front is French Canadian (plus the fact that the Bruins have been the enemy in Montreal since the days when handlebar mustaches and spats were the rage).  Meanwhile, even though he is not a goalie expert, former bench boss and  current TV analyst Michel Bergeron had this critique of the goaltending performances in game 2:

Tim Thomas gave up 5 goals in game two and was weak on all 5.  However, I must say that the Bruins’ goalie showed up when it counted, at the end of the game when it was 6-5.  Thomas was brilliant.  I think he stopped at least three breakaways to turn his performance around.  There were saves on Vincent Lecavalier, Ryan Malone, Steven Stamkos and Martin St-Louis.

One of the two goalies will have to finally step up.  Thomas was not the only one who had a difficult night.  The same thing could be said of Dwayne Roloson, who was just average.  Both goalies are over 40 (actually, Thomas is 37- ed.) and for Rolson, playing every second night isn’t easy.  In game one the Lightning goalie faced 33 shots.  For his sake I hope that game two was simply a bad game.

Is fatigue beginning to become a factor?  With the kind of run and gun seen Tuesday night, any goalie is going to be feeling the heat (Thomas faced 41 shots and posted a 0.878 save percentage; Roloson was pulled after two periods and a 0.778 SP).   But as in all things hockey, it is as much the quality of the chances as the quantity.  Here is a look at two breakaway sequences and the particular way that the goalie handles each.

On Tyler Seguin’s spectacular breakaway goal (makes you wonder what Claude Julien was thinking keeping this guy in the pressbox for the first two rounds), Roloson seems to be thinking shot, as he aligns his body to the shooter’s stick (if you stop the video at the right moment you can see how far left of center he is before Seguin goes to deke right).  When the backhand deke comes he tries to barrel roll like Dominik Hasek would, and it almost works out (this technique Rolson has used before, as documented in Ingoalmag).  Had he been more centered in the net his chances of success would have increased.

To reiterate, if you were wondering where the move had its most famous origin, check this replay of Hasek stopping Lindros at the 1998 Olympics (as an aside, compare also the compact, erect and tight body position of Patrick Roy on the save before, and then watch Thomas’ save below):

On Ryan Malone’s breakaway early in the second frame, Tim Thomas displays an impressive amount of patience and guts, waiting out at the top of the blue ice while the attacking player skates in like a freight train at full speed.  While Thomas does take the time to step out and create a bit of backward flow, when Malone arrives in position at the hash marks the Boston goalie is basically standing still on top of the crease, daring the shooter to try to go around him.  Malone tries just that, and Thomas makes a cobra quick stab with the left leg, stretching out in a non-butterfly, sprawling, behind the body pad save.  Maybe not textbook form, but a wonderful display of timing and explosiveness.

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Perhaps the headline seems a bit over the the top, considering that most hockey eyes stateside were firmly fixed on the Bruins-Lightning tilt Saturday (which Tampa Bay won 5-2 in convincing fashion) and the 3-2 Canucks’ come-from-behind victory over San José last night.  Nevertheless, while it is not the first time that such a goal has been witnessed, the lacrosse style tally scored by Finnish youngster Mikael Granlund this past Friday has once again sparked a debate about what place this move has in the game.

For those of you not following the news, the Minnesota Wild 1st round pick embarassed the Russians at the World Championships in Slovakia with what some have called a cheeky goal.  It was in fact the winner in a 3-0 game that saw Team Russia, on a high after having eliminated the Canadians in the quarter finals, bumped from the gold medal game for the first time in 5 years.

Actions speak louder than words, so perhaps any discussion would best be preceeded by an actual replay of the goal itself:

While the announcer’s reaction on the video attest to the wow factor of this type of goal, it is in fact not as revolutionary as some might think. It has been called “a Crosby goal” from time to time in the media, but it wasn’t even Sidney’s using the move in his junior career that could be called a first.

Trivia buffs might know that the guy most often credited with being the initiator is Mike Legg, who in the nationally televised 1996 NCAA championships did the deed when playing for the Michigan Wolverines (Legg’s stick ended up in the Toronto Hockey Hall of Fame to boot). Digging deeper, though, we learn that at the time Legg himself quickly gave due thanks to Bill Armstrong, an AHL and IHL minor pro who had done it long before Legg, and who scored on multiple occasions with what he called the “high wrap”.  In an interview done at least ten years ago (check the previous link), Armstrong goes to quite a length to insist that the goal is not showing off, but rather that it has a real and useful place in the game.

So why all the uproar, when relatively small-time players (OHL and European league journeyman Rob Hisey is another example) are the ones using the move, as opposed to big name NHL stars?  In Granlund’s case, it was as much his age (19) and the fact that in one year he went from playing in the World Juniors to establishing himself as a solid player in Finland’s first division (SM Liiga) with HIFK (40 pts in 43 games) that caused the stir, rather than the move itself.

Maybe it is not just goalies that find this type of goal a bit of an insult (for proof, check the body language of Russian goalie Konstantin Barulin after the goal).  It would seem that the players themselves are wary of how they will be seen using it too.  How else to explain why the lacrosse goal isn’t already a common sight in the NHL?  If Sidney Crosby could pull it off in junior, it is hard to believe that in six NHL seasons that the opportunity has not re-presented itself.

Maybe it is for the better, at least from the goalie’s point of view.  If this play becomes more popular (youtube videos notwithstanding), goalies are going to have a real headache to contend with.

If the move has its origins in lacrosse, it might be worth examining how lacrosse goalies defend themselves against shots that constantly come from an aerial angle, with a net that is higher than the 4 foot tall hockey goal.  One look at these highlights should be enough to convince hockey fans that a) stopping aerial shots is possible, albeit with a much wider lacrosse goalie stick b) hockey goalies come off looking rather like pansies when one notices the almost total absence of equipment used by netminders in field lacrosse (no leg protection, no arm pads, no pants, tiny player shoulder pads).  Keep in mind that the india rubber ball is almost as hard as a puck and even heavier, and can be shot at 100 m.p.h.

Meanwhile, with the championships just wrapping up yesterday, there was more than a just Granlund’s goal on the agenda of note.  After being on the wrong end of an embarassing highlight against the Finns which was seen by millions, Konstantin Barulin was again in goal for a run-and-gun-fest that saw the Russian defensive corps make a number of costly errors which gave the Czechs point blank scoring chances and Roman Cervenka a hat trick.  End result: 7 goals on only 27 shots.  Atlanta Thrashers backstopper Ondrej Pavelec steered his Czech teammates to the bronze with a 39 save effort, though his first two goals were both shots from above the circles that went under his armpit on the blocker side.  Here is the video evidence:

In the gold medal game, Swedish goalie Viktor Fasth, whom we featured in our last update, had a rough go, allowing 6 goals on 32 shots in a 6-1 rout by perennial rival Finland.  However, the disappointing game did not stop him from being named tournament MVP and 2011 IIHF best goalie.  The final, at least from a goaltending point of view, was arguably the most appropriate end (sorry Team Canada), as Fasth and Finnish netminder Petri Vehanen were statistically the tournament’s two best goalies  (Vehanen: 1.24 GAA, 95.43% SP, Fasth: 1.71 GAA 94.57% SP).

Worth noting is how the wheels totally fall off the Swedish wagon in the third period, as a 1-1 tie turns into a 6-1 disaster.  The fourth goal is a clever set play where the puck carrier shoots the puck in against the dasherboard so that the rebound comes perfectly to a streaking Janne Pesonen, who dekes Fasth with a pretty backhand . In any event, it will be worth following news on the up-and-coming Swede, to see if he indeed ends up being courted successfully by an NHL team for 2011-12. The Lightning, Rangers and Oilers are apparently interested in Sweden’s 2011 player of the year.

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Looking for Rolson’s Mask? We’ve got lots of great shots of that too.

Dwayne Roloson's Pads are not your average off the shelf vareity. Photo by Scott Slingsby, all rights reserved.

With the Tampa Bay Lightning preparing to face off against the Boston Bruins in round three, a number of interesting by-lines come into focus, not the least of which is the matchup between the NHL’s two almost-graybeards, Dwayne Roloson and Tim Thomas.  At 37  Thomas might suddenly feel like a spring chicken compared to the 41 year old Rolson, but that doesn’t mean that the two most senior members of the NHL goalie brotherhood are in any way behind the times.

Consider that Tim Thomas this year had his Sportmask Mage redesigned to his own specs, with a unique cage that offers better protection without compromising vision.  Roloson, meanwhile, showed his avant-gardism by being one of the first to switch to Warrior pads in 2009.  He is one of only two goalies (the other being Ty Conklin of the St. Louis Blues) currently wearing Warrior gear in the NHL. Ray Emery tried them in practice last season and a small number of other NHL’ers had equipment made but never wore it in any games.

For those of us in the normal world who are stuck making do with our old stuff, Ingoal had a chance to take an inside look at Rollie’s custom pads made in Montreal, by Warrior.  Comments and photos (of Roloson’s gear) were generously provided by Chris Paul, Warrior’s Pro Goalie Rep.

Warrior's Keith Perera showing Kevin Woodley the multi-density foam core that goes inside the jen-pro skin of a Warrior pad at the Let's Play Hockey show in Las Vegas.

While many of us think that NHL goalies are always trying to push the envelope by making their gear bigger, taller and wider, in Rollie’s case the opposite almost seems to be true. Examine the back of the stock Messiah pad with its knee channel, full cradle and multiple calf wings. Now compare it to Roloson’s pad. At first glance one might think that the manufacturer had forgotten to finish building the pad: there are no knee cradle and no stabilizing wings whatsoever, just a flat, open surface where the knee falls.

Stock Messiah Pad

Messiah Pad Custom Made for Dwayne Roloson

Said Paul,
He (Rollie) is a guy that knows what he wants. He’s been in the game for so long that he doesn’t necessarily need to have all the bells and whistles that all the brands are coming out with.

When we brought him the first set of Messiah’s it was his style – he liked the pad – but basically took an exacto knife and cut a lot of stuff out. He barely has anything in the pad…he’s got no calf stabilizer, he’s got no knee lock…its pretty much a pad with two landing gears. He has his knee landing and he’s got the leg landing and that’s pretty much it.

Moreover, the landing gear is simply sewn onto the edge of the pad and seems rather thinner than the regulation 2.5″ allowed. One would presume that the idea is to allow faster pad rotation, although Roloson not reputed to be a goalie who relies too heavily on just the butterfly.

Chris Paul:

They (Roloson’s knee stacks) are not as thick”; 3/8 inch HD foam…no soft foam like what we use on a stock pad. Basically on the spec sheet it’s “trim this, trim that, trim the top of the calf stabilizer, thinner HD foams, no exterior calf wrap…”.  It’s pretty much, you know, you look at a 1985 pad – you look at options in the pads back then – it’s pretty much what you had back then.”  He (Roloson) floats in the pad, he doesn’t need anything holding on to his leg…he’s free as a bird. You look at him move around; skating wise he’s very quick. I’m sure having less in the pad is helping him out.

A third noteworthy element of Roloson’s one-off Messiahs is that the entire foot section is offset, not just the boot channel. Sher-Wood was one of the first companies to scoop out the boot section of the pad closer to the inside edge of the pad so the skate and skate blade would fall closer and faster into contact with the ice for pushing in the butterfly (they called it the “ice bite” principle). Roloson’s pad takes this one step further by actually angling the boot section of the pad away from the center axis, presumably  so the skate effectively is positioned closer to the ice when in a crouch or butterfly position.

Roloson likes minimal add-ons to the back of his pads.

Chris Paul:

His style, his positioning, he’s so crouched down that we tapered out quite a bit on his inside boot …maybe two inches.  And being the wise man that he is and playing within the rules, since we took two inches off the inside he thought, it’d be a great idea to add it on the outside. The boot on his pad is kind of on an angle, sort of like the blockers in the 80’s…if you measure it’s clearly 11 in wide across, it’s just that he took off a little form the boot and added it on the other side. When you look at the pad up close it gives it that unique look.

Last, notice how Roloson’s toe tie has been modified so that is is once again offset, bringing the skate as close to the center axis of the pad as possible:

Do all these tricky mods make a difference in the long run? Judging by the result of round two of the Lightning’s playoff run, something has been doing the trick. Much to almost everyone’s surprise, Tampa Bay has eliminated the top team in the East in four games straight. And while Roloson’s play in games three four was not the primary deciding factor, he was oustanding in the game 2 OT win and is currently riding a 7 game winning streak, which pretty much makes GM Steve Yzerman look like a genius for bringing in the 41 year old goalie who seems to have no fixed expiry date. Here is a look at Roloson (unintentionally one would presume) thinking like his former teammate Dominik Hasek, making a save with his head where the force of the shot literally blows the mask off the goalie’s face.

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The Canadians should have seen it coming, especially against the Swiss.

Few will forget Martin Gerber’s 49-save shutout of Canada at what quickly became a miserable 2006 Olympics in Italy. At the Vancouver Olympics they needed overtime to defeat Jonas Hiller. And then at last year’s IIHF world championships one of their most notable losses was a 4-1 defeat at the hands of a spirited Swiss squad led by former Dallas backup Tobias Stephan. It was a harbinger of things to come, as the 2010 maple leaf squad fell flat, finishing in an uninspired 7th place after bowing out to Russia in the quarter final.

This year the venue has changed from Germany to Slovakia, but the expectations and pressure are just as present for visiting teams from the US and Canada, made up mostly of players eliminated from NHL playoff competition.

With so much interest in the NHL Stanley Cup on this side of the pond, hockey fans often forget that for Europeans, the IIHF World Championships ARE the biggest show in town. For proof, look no further than last year’s opening game in Gelsenkirchen between the USA and Germany, for which a world record 77,803 fans crammed into Veltins Arena to cheer on the host team (Winter Classic, stick that in your pipe and smoke it…)

Getting back to Team Canada in 2011, luck or destiny had them again placed in a first round pool with the giant killer Swiss. Go figure – the brush with disaster almost happened again for the Canadians, as they needed a repeat of overtime and a whopping 61 shots to secure first place against the relentless Swiss with a 4-3 win.

The big surprise this time around was that instead of Tobias Stephan between the pipes, it was Leonardo Genoni who got the call in his first World Championships (Gerber and Hiller were passed over because of injury) despite the fact that Stephan had the lowest save percentage of the tournament – .9808 at the time, down to .9481 now.

Of particular note is how much the bigger Olympic ice seems to make a difference in this case, with lots of wide open play, odd-man rushes and east-west movement typical of European hockey.  Also worthy of attention in this highlight reel, for Canadians anyhow, is an amazing desperation diving save by Toronto Maple Leafs No.1 James Reimer early on, unfortunately followed by a stinker goal from an impossible angle shot. Suffice to say that if Reimer didn’t play so solidly in the rest of this game, Genoni and the Swiss would’ve continued their hex on Team Canada.

So who is Leonardo Genoni? For starters, he is the present Swiss League holder of the lowest goals-against average and top save percentage (1.92 and 0.939 respectively); plus he just backstopped his HC Davos team (the same one Hiller used to play for) to the league championship. As we see from this highlight video, Genoni can flat out play, and despite standing just 5-foot-11, the 23-year-old plays big enough in the net to be attracting a least some buzz among the countless NHL scouts in attendance.

Besides, anyone that already has his own TV commercials must be some sort of national hero:

Surprises and upsets among some familiar names at Worlds

InGoal had a collaborator onsite at the World Championships and the skinny coming out of Bratislava is that many of the teams are very closely matched, with nobody safe from upsets. The biggest surprise seems to be the Germans, who went from playing just to stave off relegation to pool B a few years ago to finishing first- read that twice if you have doubts- first- in pool A this year, ahead of Russia (backstopped by Evgeni Nabokov, who according to some reports injured his groin at the games), host Slovakia (with Jaroslav Halak struggling in goal) and Slovenia.

Once again, fans who follow hockey in Europe will probably take this opportunity to cluck their tongues at those in North America. Those with doubts about the Deutschlander’s Uberforce need only look to goalie Dennis Endras, who was named 2010 IIHF Championship tournament MVP, elected to the media All-Star team and was also chosen best goalie. Maybe that’s the reason that former NHLer Dmitri Patzold (San Jose Sharks 2007-08) is having to share the net. Here’s a look at Endras, who many expect to join the Minnesota Wild next season, in action during a game against Slovenia that ends in a shootout victory for the IIHF’s newest potential superpower:

Finally, another Cinderella team is France, who came to life in an OT win over Belarus, assuring their spot in the next round and sentencing the White Russians to relegation status. Their netminder is none other than Cristobal Huet, much maligned since his Chicago days but still alive and kicking for a different bleu-blanc-rouge team. Here are the highlights of a tense game that called on Huet to show flashes of the brilliance that made him a hero in Montreal (as an aside, note the amount of net-crashing and, curiously, the almost funereal tone of the announcer’s voice):

Another lesser-known (to casual observers) European attracting NHL interest

Genoni isn’t alone among European goalies atop the statistics and attracting NHL interest. Swedish stopper Viktor Fasth, a 28-year-old who was named the Swedish Elite League’s top goalie this season, was second only to Endras with a .9636 save percentage after three games and widely rumoured to be fielding at least five NHL offers.

Edmonton General Manager Steve Tambellini was on record as being interested as early as March, and reports from a Swedish newspaper indicated interest from the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning, with the first making sense given a lack of organizational goaltending depth and the latter less so for the opposite reason.

Fasth, who just completed his first season in the SEL (highlights below), is under contract to AIK for one more season.

Now that the first round is over and the qualifying round has begun (as of today), there may be more surprises.  Keep posted to InGoal or to the official IIHF website for more details.

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Jimmy Howard proves snow angels, if not snow showers, can be useful; Tim Thomas serves up a 52-save OT highlight reel, Boucher finds new way to add to Flyers goalie swapping; this and more in the May 3rd update

Boston Bruins Goalie Tim Thomas goes all out to stop pucks. (Scott Slingsby photo)

Most goalies can appreciate the esthetic beauty of a perfectly executed butterfly push, backside recovery or classic arching glove save. However, when push comes to shove the bottom line is that if the puck stays out, no matter what the goalie looks like, then he is doing his job.

The last InGoal update featured a save made by Pekka Rinne falling on his back to follow a lateral play, then kicking a leg up in tribute to Dominik Hasek’s best moments, and the latest NHL Saves of the Week package sometimes looks like a crease clinic on scrambling saves.

Apparently Jimmy Howard must have watched the same Hasek highlight reel, because in Game 2 of the Red Wings series against San Jose, he made a save on his back, flailing his arms a la snow angel to stop Patrick Marleau from stuffing the puck in the short side. The save was a throwback to Hasek not only for the finish, but also for the start, because contrary to what many people presumed, Hasek’s first save was more conventional than people think.

Here’s what Goalies World said about the Dominator in a 2005 analysis of his style:

As far as the long and reacting game (first shot) is concerned, Hasek is pretty much standard… While he often uses the butterfly to make the first save, it’s afterwards that his uniqueness stands out. On goalmouth scrambles, rebounds and lateral plays, instead of pushing from a butterfly position he often falls to his side to make that second save.

In the contemporary context of butterfly-block-push-reposition, falling on one’s side or reaching behind might be considered a desperation measure rather than a planned move. But as Hasek once explained to InGoal Magazine, there was more method to the madness than most realized.

Check out this highlight as Howard similarly makes a first save with a butterfly drop, followed by falling backwards with his arms extended to close the gap with the post. Hasek would have been proud of this one:

From snow angels to snow showers

Snow angels were just one the snow-related themes in the Detroit series.

The other was the Sharks repeated tactic of spraying snow into the goalie’s face at or after the whistle. Jimmy Howard and Joe Pavelski got offsetting minors for an altercation that was an outcome of this, and in Game 2 the scene repeated itself four more times. In contrast to the game referees that night, who let these intimidation attempts go unpunished, retired official Kerry Fraser, now working as a studio analyst for the TSN network in Canada, said he would have put a stop to the practice:

As a referee, I wanted players to STOP before running into the goalie. The method and purpose here, however, is blatantly obvious. Action must be taken by the referees. Here’s how I would have handled the situation.

The second time it happened I would have approached the San Jose bench and … said, “Todd (McLellan), we have a pattern here that you and I need to address. The next Shark player that stops hard for the purpose of deliberately throwing snow in Jimmy Howard’s face will receive an unsportsmanlike minor penalty! Can I count on you to take care of this please before I have to?”

If, however it did happen again my greatest hope is that the act would be committed by the worst offender – Joe Pavelski! One call would take the snow plow off the road until next winter and justice would be served.

It’s not the first time these two teams have engaged in a round of in-game showers. It was a hot topic after Joe Thornton sprayed Howard in Game 1 of San Jose’s playoff victory last season, and as he did then, Sharks coach Todd McLellan says now the only thing he won’t tolerate more than silly antics is forwards doing a fly-by of the net:

“I have no time for gimmicks and that type of crap. If our players are doing that, they’re going to hear from me first,” McLellan said. “But they’re going to hear from me even more when they don’t go to the net and stop on a loose puck. If you go back and look at them the pucks are bobbling around. They know it’s not a circus and it’s not about a clown show. We want them going to the blue paint just like the other team is.”

Snow or no, Howard may have to pull off a small miracle to get this team back on track. Even with a .952 save percentage and only four goals on 83 shots, his team finds itself in a hole.

Worse, in the last seven playoff games against the Sharks, the Wings have lost all but one.

Bad news arrives late in Flyers’ loss

Flyers goalie Brian Boucher came off the bench to win Game 6 Sunday. (Photo by Ken DeNardo)

It’s bad enough when you go up 2-0 in the first ten minutes of a game, only to see it wither into a overtime loss.

Worse is the feeling when the winning goal is obvious to everyone but the referee, who needs to consult the video replay and drag on the agony by making the losing team hang around on the ice. This scene was played out Monday in Philadelphia, where the game was decided late in the first OT period on a shot that hit the inner cross bar and bounced out, creating some doubt as to whether it in fact was a goal.

Worth noting is Brian Boucher’s save selection on the shot: he gets square to the one timer that follows a cross ice pass, but elects to go with a butterfly block and stay almost on the goal line. As we have seen in other instances in these playoffs, failing to challenge, even for today’s bigger goalies, can have immediate and costly consequences.

Perhaps more egregious was the tying goal on Boucher with five minutes in the first period, a top-of-the-circles wrist shot that could only be explained away by his own teammates taking away a view of the release:

At the other end of the ice, Tim Thomas made 52 save on 54 shots, 32 in the third period and overtime alone, and 13 more than his two counterparts (yes, plural as Boucher left the game with a hand injury in the second period but returned to take his place back from Sergei Bobrovsky to start the third, the fifth Flyers swap in nine games).

Since we’ve already paid tribute to Hasek’s style, here are some highlights of Thomas’ performance. Of particular note are his technique (is that a technique?) of sweeping his pushing leg back behind his leading leg when doing his version of a sliding butterfly save (to block the 5-hole it would seem) and also his tendancy to use a paddle down, all-fours type of block on players that try to cut from a sharp angle towards the net (as opposed to the much discussed VH position):

With the Flyers down 2-0 in the series and heading to Boston, there is bound to be a lot of talk about last year’s epic collapse from a 3-0 series lead against Philadelphia. One important thing to remember, however: Thomas was never a part of that, having lost his starting job to Tuukka Rask because of a hip that required offseason surgery.

Healthy again, he was back in Vezina Trophy winning form during the regular season, and after a slow start to the playoffs, is again looking like goalie that will be tough to beat in four of five games, let alone four straight.

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Plus: Playoff experience elsewhere helps Neuvirth stays cool, calm in the Stanley Cup storm; Maple Leafs sign rap-star Swedish stopper; conflicting styles at work in NHL postseason, and more in the April 30 update

Ask the back of the mask says, Detroit Goalie Jimmy Howard is indeed ready to roll in the playoffs. (InGoal File Photo)

It’s a question the Red Wings No.1 has evidently heard a lot in his two seasons as the starter.

When you tend twine for a team with Stanley Cup expectations every spring, it’s part of the job description.

If Chris Osgood is any indication, the question don’t stop even when you win.

“When isn’t it a defining moment for me?” Howard responded to the Detroit Free Press with a good laugh. “Whenever I turn around, it’s a defining moment for me.”

Howard then pointed to Chris Osgood’s stall.

“That guy is still proving himself,” he said, “and he’s got three Cups.”

Howard was one of the few Wings that went into Game 1 against San Jose Friday openly talking about revenge, but he did so while also making it clear he couldn’t try any harder to exact it. For Howard, it’s all about maintaining the same game that got him the job and into the second round again – an aggressive, top of the crease style that the Coyotes failed to break down in the first round – and not trying to do too much to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

“(Last year) is in the back of a lot of guys’ heads,” Howard told the Free Press, “And that will be motivation. I’m just going to try and play the same that I did against Phoenix. I’m not trying to be spectacular, but make the saves when called upon. And try to come up with the one or two that you shouldn’t.”

Howard certainly had a few of the latter while making 44 saves in the first one, but might consider the overtime goal in a 2-1 loss one of the former, as he was late establishing his signature well-beyond-the-blue positioning and got caught moving by a deflection that went between his legs before he could get down and sealed:

Calm, experienced Neuvirth lets actions do the talking

Michal Neuvirth never seems rattled, especially in the playoffs. (Scott Slingsby photo)

Judging by netminder Michal Neuvirth’s playoff performances, Boudreau must be following the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” adage. In reality, things between the pipes are just a tad better then not broken.

In the first-round series against the Rangers, Neuvirth stopped 140 of 148 shots, posted a 1.38 goals-against average and .946 save percentage, put up two wins in overtime, and a shutout in Game 2. The 23-year-old rookie simply was better than New York star Henrik Lundqvist, who by no means failed to perform in the five games.  

After disposing of Lundqvist, Neuvirth and the Caps faced the NHL’s most senior netminder, Dwayne Roloson, in the second round, and in Game 1 Friday it was the 41-year-old master who imposed his will on a younger accolyte, with Roloson surviving a somewhat shaky start to win the game 4-2 (with an empty net goal). Going into the second period leading, Neuvirth was rung for two goals, one a rather fluky deflected pass through the crease, the second a power play marker by Steven Stamkos in which he got pulled off his post. A review of the highlights (below) shows that Neuvirth’s play was not lacking; if anything, the game-changing deflected goal was an unlucky one:

The Capitals have good reason to put their faith in Neuvirth bouncing back quickly from the loss. It starts with his calm, collected mannerisms both on and off the ice – he plays with quiet, efficient, but still explosive when needed style reminiscent of a smaller Carey Price – that has a settling influence on those in front of him.

“He doesn’t get rattled,” defenseman Scott Hannan, who tipped the goal in, told the Associated Press on the eve of the second round. “It’s a good thing to have in a goalie. Bad bounces can happen, and good shots, and sometimes there’s nothing you can do. And the way he’s able to leave those in the past and move forward, it’s a great demeanor to have, especially in a goalie.”

For Neuvirth it comes from experience. For all that was made of his lack of NHL playoff pedigree as the Capitals juggled three goalies down the stretch and arguments abounded over whether to use him, Semyon Varlamov or even Braden Holtby, in the postseason, Neuvirth has never lost a series. And he’s played 14 of them.

In 2007, Neuvirth went 14-4 and led the Plymouth Whalers to their first Ontario Hockey League title and a Memorial Cup berth. Two years later, he was named American League playoff MVP after backstopping the Hershey Bears to a Calder Cup championship, and last season he won a second straight AHL title.

“It’s not always easy,” Neuvirth, who was 30-10 in the past two AHL playoffs, said of being the No. 1 goalie come springtime. “You have to go through tough times, and you’ve got to handle the pressure in the playoffs.”

So far, so good, though goalie coach Arturs Irbe knows there’s a competitor beneath that calm.

“He’s just as dry as they come,” Irbe told the Associated Press. “No, it’s the surface. And that’s the way we want that surface to be. … He’s a fiery, competitive guy, but you won’t ever see it.”

Luongo, Rinne another great example of contrasting styles

A fair amount of discussion has taken place these playoffs about the contrasting styles of the various goalies, in particular the depth issue. Whereas goalies like Lundqvist and Roberto Luongo have priorized a deeper, inside out style, others like Rinne, Howard and Roloson have a wider range of movement, regularly venturing out into the white ice.

On Thursday night, Rinne’s technique proved effective, as he maintained a high stance and an aggressive positioning in spite of many shots with screens, traffic and low-post rebound options in front. Also of note was his velcro-esque ability to stifle rebounds, as shown in these clips which were only two of a number in his first star performance:

Price’s status unquestioned even with loss to Bruins

Carey Price answered a lot of questions, even in a playoff loss (Scott Slingsby photo)

Surprising and inspiring considering that a year ago he was completely lost in the shadow of Jaroslav Halak.

On a technical note, it is worth pointing out how Price brought some changes to his game, both in an obvious mental sense and a more subtle strategic one. Virtually absent this year were the goals where he seemed to stop fighting on a rebound, or where he ended up deep in the goal and down early, playing percentages more than reading the play.  

A clear example of this focus is seen in the following clip, where Price makes three saves that require a long lateral push. Of particular interest is how he regains a more erect position between each save, even while in emergency mode, pushing back to his feet with his torso square and high rather than just stretching with his legs.  

A year ago he might more likely have played this entire sequence on his knees:

Contrast that with Roberto Luongo’s reaction on the winning goal in Game 6 versus the Blackhawks, where a first save leads to a loss of body balance and a subsequent vulnerable belly spread position on the following shot (it is worth noting that a rather similar circumstance occurred in the first goal the Hawks scored in Game 7 as well):

What up? New Leafs’ prospect knows how to bust a rhyme

Those of us old enough to remember how radical it was when the 1970′s era Leafs signed the first Swedish players to their roster can now delight in the news that Toronto has just come to terms with a new breed of Swede. Forty years after Borje Salming and Inge Hammarstrom arrived in Toronto comes Mark Owuya, a goalie who not only can bust a move on the ice but can do it on the mike as well. No one has ever accused deadpan GM Brian Burke of being a publicity stuntman, but one look at MC “Mark in da park” on stage might at least raise an eyebrow or two:

Before you ‘diss Owuya outright, consider that he was one of the goalies on Sweden’s 2009 silver medal world junior team. He also posted a 2.18 goals against average and league leading .927 save percentage with Djurgarden of the Swedish Elite League. Burke signed the 6-foot-2 netminder to a two-year entry level deal despite the fact San Jose had also made a bid for his services.

Should Owuya ever crack the roster, he’ll join the list of Maple Leaf goalies with eclectic monikers like “Optimus Reim”, “Jiggy” and “the Monster.” Hey, maybe they’ll form a band…

Almost every hockey player has been told from the start that it is necessary to have a backup plan should the dream of the big leagues not pan out.  Here is one goalie who has obviously taken that advice to heart.  For more on Mark in da park, check his website at wwwmarkindapark.com

Visentin bounces back from gold medal loss as OHL Goalie of the Year

Knowing how for millions of Canadians the World Junior Championship occupies a position of importance on par with Christmas turkey, it is clear that goalie Mark Visentin was under the microscope last December, having been the country’s starting goalie.  When the Canadian team squandered a 3-0 lead to Russia and lost the game 5-3 it was called the “greatest collapse in the history of WJC”.

While Visentin did not escape criticism after the return home from Buffalo, he clearly put the heartbreaker behind him, this week being named the OHL’s goalie of the year. Moreover, he was the first ever member of the Niagara IceDogs to win a major award. It was the logical outcome to a banner season, with the 18-year-old putting up a 30-9-4-2 record, league-best 0.917 save percentage and twice earning CHL Goaltender of the Week honours.

While the gold medal meltdown caused much debate among fans, it did not prevent the Phoenix Coyotes from signing Visentin to a three-year entry level contract. Although big things seem headed his way, the promising netminder seems well-grounded, as he commented to the St. Catherines Standard:

It’s nice to find out you’re rewarded for hard work, but at the same time, it’s things that you can’t really let affect yourself. I’ve seen a lot of players in the past who have signed a pro contact and put it to waste by just becoming lazy and not working out. The way I look at it, I take my past success and just keep it with me, and that allows me to work harder in the future. The biggest thing for me is to not get too high on myself and realize what the task is for the upcoming summer and next year.

Well said indeed.  And as far as the albatross of the WJC “epic fail”, as some put the 5-3 gold medal loss, one need only look at a goalie named Marc André Fleury, who survived scoring into his own net in the gold medal game defeat in 2004 to go on to a rather bright career in the NHL. For a look at Visentin in action, check this save reminsicent of several that we have seen these NHL playoffs:

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Plus: Bryzgalov looks for warmer climes, Rinne looks forward to the next game and Miller looks for payback time, all in the April 22nd update.

After two wins in Montreal TT won't have to hide his face in Boston (Scott Slingsby photo)

What motivated a five-year-old Tim Thomas to be a goalie was nothing less than the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, when the US men’s “Miracle on Ice” team overcame near-impossible odds to win a gold medal.

The event was so riveting for the Bruins goalie that for years he wanted to do just what his hero Jim Craig did and play in the Olympics, some he finally got to do last year in Vancouver.

“I already had some inkling that I wanted to be a goalie,’’ Thomas said. “Jim Craig sealed the deal. That’s why I became a goalie. My goal, from age five until really 20, was to play in the Olympics, not the NHL. Not that I didn’t want to play in the NHL. But the main goal was the Olympics.’’

Maybe the Bruins’ management deciding to sequester their team in Lake Placid rather than staying in Montreal had something to do with the magic of the locale rubbing off on their players. Whatever the case, something special was in the air for the Bruins tonight as they overcame a deficit three times to defeat the Canadiens 5-4 in overtime.

After surviving a first period shotfest and then going down 3-1 in the second period, Thomas and the Bruins turned the tables on the stunned Habs to even the series. The playoff defeat was four losses in a row for Carey Price at home, going back two years against the same Bruins.  By the same token, even though Thomas’ lifetime record there is nothing to boast about (a mediocre 6-10-3), when it mattered most he silenced the critics (some of whom were calling for Tuuka Rask) and 21,000 towel-waving  Canadiens fans.

All night the Canadiens peppered him with shots, but their technique of seeking goals off of Thomas rebounds failed to work as it had in the first two games:

About the only thing Thomas didn’t do well was celebrate, instead face-planting at the final buzzer:

And lest you think Price was only wearing goat horns, he deserved hero’s praise for saves like this one:

Bryzgalov sold on the sun belt

Earlier this week we made reference to an article by the Globe and Mail’s James Mirtle, in which he talked about how Phoenix netminder Ilya Bryzgalov’s middling performance in the playoffs could compromise his value on this summer’s free agent market. With the Coyotes sent packing in four straight and Bryzgalov- by his own admission- one of the reasons for their early demise, the always quotable Russian has dropped a new bomb on the media and public with an outspoken avowal that he would sooner go back to Russia than play in a city like Winnipeg:

Not many people live there, not many Russian people there. Plus it’s cold. There’s no excitement except the hockey. No park, no entertaining for the families, for the kids. It’s going to be tough life for your family… I’ve been there for just once, maybe twice, when I play in minors (with Cinncinati). It was really cold; I used the tunnels between the buildings to get to the arena. Because it was minus 40-something. Real cold.

Maybe his comments shouldn’t come as a surprise, not only because of Bryzgalov’s reputation as an off the cuff type of guy, but also because he has made similar statements before. Check this interview from back when he was with the Anaheim Ducks, as he sympathizes with Chris Pronger, who after only one year in Edmonton (on a five-year, $31.25 million contract) asked his agent to bail him out of the city of champions.

As the rumours of Phoenix’s impending move back to Winipeg circulate, it certainly seems clear that at least one Coyote will not be making the potential trip north. But after this week’s playoff collapse, it remains to be seen who may take a chance on free agent Bryzgalov. Keep in mind that he wouldn’t be the first Russian netminder to head back to the  KHL (think Evgeni Nabokov), where some salaries are even higher than those paid in the NHL (the former Sharks’ goalie signed for $6 million to play for SKA St. Petersburg last June).

All he’ll have to do is find an KHL city with a balmy climate like the one in Phoenix. By the way, maybe somebody should fill Bryzgalov in that Winnipeg is the second sunniest city in Canada, after nearby Portage la Prairie.

Can Preds win if their goalie isn’t stealing the show?

For every team that aspires to the Stanley Cup with a seemingly just average goalie, like the Red Wings with perenniel get-no-respect Chris Osgood, or most of the Philadelphia Flyers teams of the past 30 years, there seem to be a whole lot more who pile their hopes- and a heap of pressure- on the backs of their star netminder to lead them to the promised land.

Nashville is one of the teams whose fortunes will either rise or fall with the play of Pekka Rinne.

However, the likely Vezina trophy candidate was less than convincing in Game 4 of their series against the Ducks, who at one point scored three times in just over five minutes, going on to a 6-3 win.

Even though Rinne got an ovation when he was pulled in that game, his save percentage has slipped to 0.860, as compared to the stingy 0.930 of the regular season. Ducks’ coach Randy Carlyle paid a complement to Rinne, but at the same time alluded to the idea of putting bodies in front, a strategy which, while not pretty, is one of the only ways to beat a goalie who usually stops whatever he can see clearly. Said Carlyle after the game four scoringfest:

I don’t think you can say he is not a good goalie. He’s a great goalie. But if you get traffic to the net, there are some tendencies with the way he plays and where his positioning is that we feel we can exploit.

Rinne didn’t seem fazed, either by the loss or by the fact that he was pulled.

“The best part of the playoffs is that you get to bounce back right away,” he said. “There’s no other choice.”

For a team that has only seen the playoffs five times in their 11-year history, never exiting the first round, that notion of having no choice might be an accurate statement indeed.

Former teammates spar on the ice and off

Even without the verbal jabs between Ryan Miller and former teammate Daniel Briere, the Sabres-Flyers series has had its share of heated exchanges, both on the ice and off.

Reports had Miller saying the series would be payback time for Briere’s leaving the team after their president’s trophy 2005-6 season.  Miller went on to respond to what he said was Briere’s talking to him on the ice, trying to get him off his game, stating “It’s all fluff coming from him after the amount of years we’ve known each other. You can’t automatically hit a light switch and be a hard ass to me. It’s not going to do anything.”

Miller didn’t just do his talking at the mike, he did it on the ice as well.  After Briere scored the winning goal from his familiar sweet spot in front of the net in game two, he got a golden opportunity to tie game four, mid-way through the third period.  This time, though, Miller stoned his former teammate one on one and went on to earn the shutot and the game’s first star.  For the rather soft-spoken Miller (who used the actual word “expletive” when speaking to journalists this week, rather than swear) the save made more of a statement than any post-game press conference could.

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Plus: The good, the bad and the ugly of VH as 1-pad down remains in the playoff spotlight; Ducks send Jonas Hiller home with recurring vertigo symptoms; and more in the daily playoff update

Philadelphia goalie Brian Boucher spent most of the season stopping practice pucks, but made the transition to playoff hockey smoothly overall (InGoal File Photo)

Asked about overcoming the adversity of coming into a series cold and pulling out two hard-fought wins against the Sabres, Boucher pointed out during his post-game conference that it was nothing new for him:

”It’s year eleven… my whole career has been adversity,” he told reporters. 

Adding to the challenge of his first start in Game 3 was the distinct possibility any miscues could result in new backup Michael Leighton – Bobrovsky went from starter to press box as a healthy scratch – jumping into the driver’s seat on the Flyers’ first-round goalie-go-round. So what did Boucher do with so many calling for him to come up “big,” a common refrain for coaches who often tell their goalies to ”play big,” even if the meaning is not always clear?

Boucher played small and got caught on his goal line for the first Sabres’ goal by Drew Stafford:

Contrast that clip with the video below of Coyote’s No.1 Ilya Bryzgalov, who comes off the post and a paddle down block, gets back to his feet and charges into the scrum, asserting his position and making a save on a shot by Red Wings’ defenseman Brian Rafalski:

Ilya Bryzgalov has struggled to fight through traffic in the playoffs (Photo courtesy of Clydeorama, please check bottom of post for his Flickr link)

Coyotes captain Shane Doan said his team needed do a better job clearing the crease, but that was before the Game 3 loss, and is always easier said than done when you are dealing with Detroit’s Tomas Holmstrom.

“Bryz is our best player, hands down,” Doan told reporters. “He has the ability to win games by himself. We need to give him the opportunity to do that by getting people out of his face as much as we can.”

As we see from the first goal Monday night (below), that’s not happening:

He got caught sliding outside his coverage chasing a puck going wide on another long shot less than a minute later, and the Coyotes never recovered from the early 2-0 deficit, and Bryzgalov’s stunned, slumped-shoulder start:

“Just alright,” head coach Dave Tippett told reporters in Phoenix when asked to describe Bryzgalov’s performance after Game 3. “I think Bryz got us to this point, so we’re going to try to rely on him to get us out of this.”

That hasn’t happened so far, which has The Globe and Mail newspaper in Canada wondering if Bryzgalov is costing himself money as an impending unrestricted free agent this summer.

The irony amid all the talk about Bryzgalov not getting off his goal line aggressively enough, is Canucks’ star Roberto Luongo is having his best season after coming back into the blue ice, shortening up his shot-preparation patterns around the crease, and his recoveries after making a save. In fact, Luongo said after a Game 3 win in Chicago he couldn’t have made this save off Patrick Kane last year (though it must be pointed out they were killing a 5-on-3, so he probably would have been playing deeper anyways):

With the exception of a couple of goals in Game 2, Luongo has also managed the traffic well against the Blackhawks, which probably has something to do with the departure of Dustin Byfuglien since last season, and the people-moving improvements in his own defense. But it also proves being deeper doesn’t mean you can’t fight through screens.

Old-man Roloson demonstrates the perfect VH

For a guy who broke into the NHL when pad stacks, open toe kicks and full body saves were the norm (in fact he made two splendid saves using the latter Monday), 41-year-old Tampa starter Dwayne Roloson showed he is no dinosaur when it comes to technique, correctly using the VH on this tight, poor angle attempt by Tyler Kennedy.

Note in the highlight below that the Lightning goalie takes the position only when the opposing player is very close to the net (not along the corner boards) and is prevented from cutting in front by a defender. Note also that Roloson does not end up getting locked on the goalpost.

Instead, he is able to push off and follow the rebound parallel to the goal line, remaining square to the puck at all times. In short, it’s a textbook example of how and when to use a save technique that has taken a lot of heat these playoffs (too bad that both announcers are too busy chatting about something completely unrelated when the save happens)

Tim Thomas and Carey Price: more VH samples (we think)

Tim Thomas regularly solicits both love and hate opinions for his rather unorthodox style and tendency to improvise under pressure. Even though his Bruins won Monday night to climb back into the series, he has been doubted for precsiely that aspect of his play in all three games; that is, being unpredictable and making play in his zone a Cracker-Jack box of surprises.

Last night he was a standout in the third period when the Canadiens threw everything at him in the hopes of tying the game. Before that though, he allowed two rather similar, bad angle goals that squeaked through his legs.  

The second of these, on a spinorama shot from the corner boards by Tomas Plekanec, may be yet another example of the dangers of 1-pad down. A close look at the replay below shows Thomas beginning to drop his right knee before hesitating slightly, leaving a monstrous and unnecessary hole between his legs for the puck to go in.

Of course knowing Thomas and his wide array of half-butterfly type stops, it may not even be an example of the VH, something we’ve rarely seen him engage in on angle attacks. Then again, given the way he struggled on both sharp-angle plays in this game, he might want to consider it. Properly executed it probably would have kept this goal out:

To his credit, Thomas shook off both goals with a stellar third period to keep the Bruins ahead.

“He made a lot of big saves, and the fact he was able to do that showed a lot of character,” coach Claude Julien told reporters. “He’d want to have back the two goals that went in on him, but the goaltender could have had negative thoughts in his mind and not been sharp at the end. For him to do what he did meant he was willing to redeem himself and make the big saves. They were huge. Instead of a tie game, we were able to score an empty-netter.”

Price, meanwhile, was victimized in a manner similar to Bryzgalov when he overslid his crease in pursuit of a shot going wide, leaving him out of position for a sharp-angle bank shot by Nathan Horton. And his puck-handling gaffe led to the winning goal in Game 3, but he at least provided a good example of VH gone good in Game 2. Watch how fluidly Price pushes off the post and into the middle of the ice, not getting locked up like so many others:

Ducks send ailing Hiller home as head problems persist

Anaheim Ducks Goalie Jonas Hiller is trying to come back from vertigo symptoms (Scott Slingsby Photo)

With Hiller gone, prospect Igor Bobkov will serve as the team’s third goaltender behind Dan Ellis and Ray Emery, who returned from a lower body injury of his own after Game 1 to start the last two. The good news is Emery, whose amazing comeback from career-threatening hip surgery, has been well documented, is enjoying the playoffs.

“I felt pretty good,” Emery told the Orange County Register after Game 2. “It’s a fun time and I think for a goalie … for me it’s a time where you can make up for a lot of things with work. Guys don’t have that extra second to use their skill on you. It’s a lot of bang and crash and traffic. Just battling goes a long way.”

~ Special thanks to Clydeorama for the Bryzgalov photo, please check out his Flickr photostream for more great hockey images.

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Plus: VH, or one-pad down technique, in NHL spotlight after several big goals against it; Sergei Bobrovsky gives way to gracious Brian Boucher; Jonathan Quick ends 9 year drought for LA; and more in the April 18 update.

Lundqvist loves to play at MSG- and it sure helps when you're the game's first star

Sometimes high shot totals aren’t the best way to decide how difficult a game has been for a goalie.

Case in point: in what was pretty much a must-win game yesterday, Henrick Lundqvist made 23 stops en route to the game’s First Star and a resurrection for his New York Rangers, who come back to life with a 3-2 win after two road losses to Washington.

In the post game interview Lundqvist, visually relieved, mentioned how coming home for a playoff game in New York is always a source of motivation.

“It’s so fun to come back to New York and play playoff hockey,” he said, ”Especially after what happened last year (when the Rangers missed the playoffs), to feel the excitement and the atmosphere – that’s why we work hard all year.”

This comment after two games in which Capitals sort-of playoff neophyte Michal Neuvirth (he had one game of playoff experience in the NHL but two straight AHL championship runs) outplayed the veteran Lundqvist, with a shutout and a .980 save percentage going into the Game 3 loss.

InGoal recently talked to injured Rangers’ backup Martin Biron about his subtle style changes and how to incorporate goalie coach Benoit Allaire’s mantra about playing from the goal line out into his game.  Lundqvist is perhaps one of the best examples of this technique, as shown the following two highlights from Game 3:

In the first we see a cross ice pass and that calls on Lundqvist to dynamically T-push across to stop a one-timer by Jason Arnott. Notice how he comes across deep, properly prioritizing angle over depth, and on his skates rather than in a butterfly slide. Then at the last split second adjusts his depth by moving out after he is square to the shot.

The second highlight is a 2-on-2 with a shot from the top of the circle by Alexander Semin, where Lundqvist stays deep in the goal even though the shot distance and narrow positioning of the option player could have allowed him to step out farther. His great patience on the skates (few goalies make more saves up these days) rather than dropping into a straight butterfly on every shot, allows Lundqvist to sacrifice depth without necessarily giving up the corners.

Sergei Bobrovsky: wide and low not always the way to go

Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled after getting caught deep and down in Game 3. (InGoal file photo)

In a recent feature on Sergei Bobrovsky we talked about the Russian rookie’s ultra wide and low stance, which potentially could be an attraction to shooters who feel that the 6-foot-2 goalie appears smaller than he really is. While he certainly cannot be blamed entirely for the Flyers’ poor start in Game 2, he was pulled after giving up 3 goals on 7 shots. Here is the last of those, one where going down early, combined with that low, hunched-over stance and backwards flow against the rush that leaves him deep in his crease, exacts a high price:

Veteran backup Brian Boucher came in to shut the Sabres down in what was a wild game of fights, hits and net-crashing, which obviously opens up a can of worms as to whom coach Peter Laviolette will call on for Game 3.

It was a question he seemed a bit annoyed by in a later interview, given the official “any goalie can play” policy they have been preaching all along. Boucher, however, showed a measure of veteran diplomacy and class by supporting his coach in a tough call:

“He’s trying to juggle (Bobrovsky’s) psyche, how he’s feeling, and at the same time he’s trying to win playoff series so we can move on and try to win a Stanley Cup,” said Boucher. “I’m sure it’s a high-pressure situation for Lavi… He’s been pretty good at pushing all the right buttons since he’s been here. We’ll see what happens.”

(UPDATE: Boucher was named the Game 3 starter after Monday’s skate, with Michael Leighton, who spent most of the season in the AHL, likely dressing as the backup and Bobrovsky a healthy scratch).

Emery, Luongo, the VH technique and back-door plays

While Ray Emery’s play in the Ducks’ 4-3 loss was by no means the outstanding cause for the loss, the third goal (video below) could serve as a pretext for re-opening the debate on the VH (Vertical-Horizontal) or one knee-down position, which has been previously discussed here at InGoal and vociferously criticized by Goalies World Magazine, among others.

One school of thought suggests reserving the move only for plays that are lower than the bottom of the circle and tight on the net. The logic is that once in this somewhat awkward position, readjusting is not always easy if the play shifts. Take a look at the goal, where the puck is passed by Shea Weber from against the boards, through the blue ice, to the backdoor option (David Legwand) who scores. It could be argued that the VH position makes it harder to defend against this type of play because the goalie is in a locked position with his back to the back-door shooter.

And for those, like Vancouver goalie coach Rollie Melanson, who teach goalies to wrap their post side arm for stability, it locks up the stick as well, making it harder to intercept cross-ice passes through the crease (Luongo got burned on it in Game 2 against the Blackhawks):

Capitals Neuvirth caught in another VH gaffe

The VH technique was also criticized (though in somewhat comical fashion by announcers who mislabeled and clearly mis-understood it) after Neuvirth got caught using it by a perfect, water-bottle buckling, sharp-angle power play shot by the Rangers in Game 3 on Sunday:

It was quickly derided as poor use of the technique – sharp enough angle but too far out – and that may be true. But at what point does poor execution of VH, rather than poor selection of when to use it also come into play?

Neuvirth holds his glove up, but outside the post where it protects nothing, rather than over this shoulder in the net space the puck goes in. He also gets caught cheating off the post, which begs the question: Would it have gone in anyway if he’d been squared up to the shooter in a traditional butterfly, especially if he cheated to the middle again?

Quick quenches a nine-year drought in Los Angeles

For those trivia buffs amongst the readership, consider the following: the last Kings goalie to shut out the opposition in the playoffs was Felix Potvin, way back in 2002. Suffice to say it has taken a long time between zeroes.

After a nail-biter 3-2 OT loss in Game 1 in which Jonathan Quick made 42 stops and almost stole a game in which his team was largely dominated, the Kings’ netminder posted the shutout to even the series and garnered the second star. Having talked about Lundqvist and his goal line out style above, watch the following replay to see exactly the opposite: Jonathan Quick with an aggressive positioning that frequently takes him beyond the top of the blue ice and necessitates strong communication with his defensemen to clear loose pucks and rebounds:

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