Pipe Dreams - Where Have All the Goalies Gone?

So I wasn't sure if anyone was actually reading these blogs or not, but after my post regarding the monotony of game 1's in the NHL playoffs I am starting to believe I may have an avid following of NHL players, coaches and, more specifically, goaltenders alike.  Here is an excerpt from that particular post: "if the eight game 1's are any indication of what is to come we may be in for a low scoring and borderline monotonous opening round of the playoffs."  Boy oh boy did I not fully anticipate what was to come in the near future.  Since I took my stand against the dull and lifeless opening of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, teams have combined to score 223 goals in 34 games.  That works out to be almost 6.6 goals per game on average.  Now please, don't get me wrong, I don't deserve all of the credit for revitalizing playoff hockey and rescuing it from the depths of borderline boredom.  I shouldn't be praised either for waking up any sleeping giants and salvaging the NHL from being compared to an offensively explosive and riveting game of soccer.  So what can account for this offensive barrage at a time when fans fully expect the games to be lower scoring and tighter checking?  Ummm, I can think of one fairly obvious explanation; the goaltending has been awful!

This April has got to be the worst display of goaltending in recent playoff memory.  Only one series is complete at this point and already we have managed to see 10 different games in which a starting goaltender has been pulled from a game.  There have only been 42 games played people.  I think you can do the easy math and figure out that a goalie pulled once in every four games isn't quite synonymous with playoff hockey is it?  Here is the quick and dirty list of playoff performances to forget this year.

• Bobrovsky in game 2 -- 3 goals on 7 shots
• Boucher in game 5 -- 3 goals on 11 shots
• Leighton in game 6 -- 3 goals on 8 shots
• Fleury in game 5 -- 4 goals on 14 shots
• Luongo in game 4 -- 6 goals on 28 shots
• Luongo in game 5 -- 4 goals on 12 shots
• Niemi in game 3 -- 4 goals on 10 shots
• Niemi in game 5 -- 3 goals on 4 shots
• Ellis in game 1 -- 4 goals on 24 shots
• Rinne in game 4 -- 6 goals on 29 shots

Just so we are on the same page as well, I would like to point out that within that list are 2 current Vezina candidates, an Olympic gold medal winner from last year, last years starting goaltender for the Stanley Cup finalists and last years Stanley Cup winning goaltender.  Yes, it has been an abysmal display to say the least. 

At this point we can look to only 2 series where the goaltending has been consistently decent: Washington - New York and Boston - Montreal.  All 6 other series have either had goaltenders pulled, starters changed, or in the case of Ilya Bryzgalov a failure to change the starter may have been the downfall in Phoenix.  Any way you look at it, it feels as though we are witnessing the emergence of some old time hockey.  The death of the goaltender era, a changing of the guard from defense to offense, however you want to put it; it may in fact be upon us.  No longer are we seeing Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur and Ed Belfour of the 90's carry teams year after year to playoff glory.  It is beginning to feel like the Oiler's of the 80's where Grant Fuhr won a Vezina trophy with a 3.43 gaa and an .881 save percentage.  Are you serious?

If you look at the previous 10 winners of the Vezina trophy, 6 different goaltenders have received the award with the only repeat winner being the aforementioned Brodeur who has claimed 4 of those.  With Brodeur seemingly being at the end of his storied career, I'm not sure if there is a legitimate threat to take over the claim as the greatest goalie in the NHL.  Is it Roberto Luongo?  Bobby Lou has all the numbers and a gold medal to his name, but can he win in the playoffs?  Well judging by Cory Schneider's start in game 6 it doesn't seem like Canucks upper management thinks so.  Is it Tim Thomas?  Well let's just say this guy wasn't even allowed to start in between years where he could possibly win 2 Vezina's, go figure.  How about Carey Price?  See similar reasoning to Tim Thomas and Roberto Loungo, combine them both and you have Carey Price. 

The bottom line is this revolving door of masked men has severely changed the complexion of playoff hockey.  A decade ago the Hasek's, Belfour's, Brodeur's and Roy's captivated us with a constant onslaught of stellar regular seasons and deep playoff runs.  Today's fan is merely looking for the next Michael Leighton or Antti Niemi, someone to get hot and give their team just enough to win.  Where does this flaw in hockey logic stem from?  Isn't it clear that better goaltenders will always be better goaltenders?  Or is it possible the game itself has changed so much that goaltending can be in a constant state of flux and a team can still be successful?  We've watched as the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers have been two of the more successful teams over the past few years and I don't have enough fingers or toes to count all the tenders they have used combined.  The shift in today's game seems clear: substitute goaltending for offensive firepower and bring in more fans.  It was clear with last year's Stanley Cup winners as the Blackhawks went to arbitration with Niemi and declined to pay him what seemed to be a reasonable amount for a young and talented goaltender who has just won a Stanley Cup. 

I'm not sure if I am biased because I grew up with the game of the 90's watching the Jersey trap and Hasek's acrobats, but I love the 2 - 1 nail biters.  The gritty game where every mistake looms so large because getting pucks past the tailors of the tangled twine (to steal a quote from Joe Bowen) was virtually impossible.  Today you sometimes need a calculator and your own score book to keep up.  I realize high octane offenses bring in fans, but I still can't help but feel we lose something from within the game when we lose faith in the last line of defense.  Confidence levels must be at an all time low for goaltenders around the league with the knowledge that this game could be their last.  That's how I feel the games changed, the hockey world seems to have lost faith in goaltending itself, and consequently it seems that goaltending has lost faith in hockey.