A 1 – 2 Goalie punch?
Alot is being said about the goaltenders in Montreal in the media. Will one get traded? When? For who/what? Which one?….etc.
This morning I read this great article on The Hockey News site titled “Top Shelf: Re-packaging the 1-2 goalie punch“.
The author (Ryan Dixon) mentions that there is another team doing a very similar thing that is going on with the Habs as of late. That is, each goaltender has played a substantial number of games.
You see, the Nashville Predators have been playing both Pekka Rinne and Dan Ellis a fair bit. Rinne has played 28 games and Ellis 20. Their stats are also quite similar:
Nashville Predators
Pekka Rinne – 28 games – 2.74 GAA – .906 S%
Dan Ellis – 20 games – 2.75 GAA – .910 S%
It’s quite similar to what’s going on in Montreal between Price and Halak statistically:
Montreal Canadiens
Carey Price – 29 games – 2.67 GAA – .915 S%
Jaroslav Halak – 18 games – 2.64 GAA – .922 S%
Just like the article mentions, if we go back to the days of Patrick Roy he played with Brian Hayward alot. In fact in Roy’s first 4 full seasons in Montreal (85-86 to 88-89) he never played more then 48 games.
Alot has changed since those days of course. I’m not sure if all the money might have influenced more of the battle to be a “number 1″ on a team. I mean, I know athletes are competitive but when you lay the chips down hockey is a team sport and if I put my “fan-gm” hat on for a minute…. it’s much better for a team and for an organization to have 2 strong goaltenders instead of having a “number 1″ and a “backup”.
Food for thought this morning.
It’s certainly better to have 2 strong goaltenders, but only when both are willing to accept split duty.
I’m sure Price is secure in Gainey’s defense of him. He knows that he will eventually be the workhorse. Halak has, for all intents & purposes, asked to be moved, which obviously means that he does not want to be in a split duty role.
The Canadiens find themselves especially vulnerable right now as both goalies are RFA at season’s end. The goalies future is at least partially in their own hands, which means that what they want – they get.
There’s another argument out there that shows that no Stanley Cup has been won in a very long time by a team that splits goaltending duties in the playoffs.
What do you think?
Thanks for the comments Kyle.
Personally, I don’t really think that even if the Stanley Cup champs of the last several years haven’t run with split goaltending duties, it wouldn’t mean it can’t be done. Or would be improbable.
However, I do think that how the player feels… how he thinks the team values him is a definite factor in his play… so I could imagine running with 2 guys and going with a “win and your in” strategy in the playoffs could stifle one’s confidence.
I guess, depending on the goaltenders maturity…etc… it could be more sensitive to run with that strategy.
In 88-89 Roy and Hayward played together very well… but in the playoffs, it was Roy’s show. Roy played 19 games… to Hayward’s 2.
For our current state… I do think Halak wants to go. Without demanding it.