The end of the regular season is in sight, and there is little doubt this season will be known as “The Year of the Goaltender”.
Goal scoring is down, and the quality of goaltending is a major reason why.
Many of the season’s greatest stories revolve around a few startling, surprising, and amazing efforts from goaltenders.
Take the journey of Devan Dubnyk, who made stops with five NHL organizations in a calendar year. His 3.36 goals-against average in Edmonton last season didn’t generate much confidence in the Oilers’ front office, which drafted him 10 years earlier.
After stops in Nashville, Montreal, and Arizona he was dealt to the Minnesota Wild for a 2015 3rd-round draft pick. Dubnyk’s desperation to recapture his form was only matched by the Wild’s desperation to find a goalie that could consistently stop the puck.
There was little doubt that Dubnyk would ever supplant Mike Smith in Arizona, who has a long term, big money deal in the desert, but with input from Sean Burke, Dubnyk tweaked his style enough for Chuck Fletcher to take a flyer on him.
Since moving, Dubnyk’s numbers are staggering: 31 consecutive starts, a 23-6-1 record, 1.71 goals-against average, and a .937 save percentage. And he has moved the Wild from the outside looking in to a Western Conference wild card team.
And consider Andrew Hammond, who has done something no other goaltender has ever done in the 98 years of the NHL by earning points in his first 15 career games.
Hammond’s influence in Ottawa cannot be underestimated. Consider that Dave Cameron’s coaching record almost mirrored Paul MacLean’s until the recall of Hammond. Hammond stopped pucks, and like Dubnyk, instilled confidence in his teammates over the first few games.
Hammond’s road to the NHL was rather unorthodox. He faced some adversity of his own and at one point he quit the game for a short while following his tier 2 junior career. After four years at Bowling Green, and a .500 record in the AHL, Hammond only got his chance because Robin Lehner and Craig Anderson were injured.
Cam Talbot has made quite the story in New York with the Rangers, too. He has been the best insurance policy that Glen Sather has ever purchased in the situation that followed Henrik Lundqvist’s neck injury. Sure, he’s playing behind one of the best blue line corps in the NHL, but Talbot has grown into a quality starter for head coach Alain Vigneault.
Worries of staying afloat in the Metropolitan Division have been replaced with confident chatter around the prospect of winning the Presidents’ Trophy on Broadway. Talbot’s numbers are actually better than the King’s, which has quelled any worry about the Rangers’ season being lost while Lundqvist heals.
Or how about Eddie Lack, the man who has witnessed firsthand the goalie soap opera in Vancouver since coming to North America in 2010. With Ryan Miller shelved by injury, Lack has kept the Canucks’ playoff hopes alive. And while his style can leave fans squirming at times, he has certainly stopped the ones he should have, and won the games he was expected to win.
If Miller’s injury keeps him out until the playoffs, the Canucks will have no problem starting Lack in the first round.
And then there’s Braden Holtby, the man who has played more hockey than any other goalie this season. He has defied the analytics folks by playing in 64 of the Washington Capitals’ 73 games (Holtby has started both games in back-to-backs six times).
Give some credit to Barry Trotz and goalie coach Mitch Korn, who have tried to help Holtby change his style from reflex first to keep the puck in front of him. Holtby has set career highs for appearances, victories, and shutouts this season.
Like Vancouver, Washington has long been a goaltender graveyard. Sure they have had some great short-term goalies, but nothing of any duration. What Holtby has done this season might just stop any questioning of the position in Washington for years to come.
Obviously, no discussion of “The Year of the Goalteneder” can occur without mentioning Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens. Nothing much needs to be said. He should win the Vezina. He should win the Hart.
Price has become the standard that every other stopper is measured in this league, and any league around the world. He plays the game with such simplicity, such efficiency. Price is simply the best.
In this day an age when scouts and managers wonder if the next phenom can play in the league at age 18, just look at the above few men and marvel at their persistence and poise. Dubnyk is 28. Hammond, Lack, Talbot and Price are all 27. Holtby is the youngest at 25. All took roads of varying routes to play in the NHL, including time in the American Hockey League.
Great young goaltenders are hard to find, and even harder to teach the NHL game. It takes as much mental endurance as it does physical endurance. And the patience of the player might only be bettered by the patience of teams that are always looking for that next great goalie.
Yes, this is “The Year of the Goaltender”, but just remember the goaltenders making their marks this season were years in the making.
