Former Toronto Maple Leafs and Anaheim Ducks GM, Brian Burke, calls him a "guru".
His past and present students, like Hall of Famer Patrick Roy, call him the best goaltending coach in the world.
He is widely renowned for being the first ever official goaltendeing coach in the NHL.
He's a pioneer. A trend setter. A molder of champions.
He's the most interesting man in goaltending.
Stay post to post, my firends.
It should come as a surprise to no one that Patrick Roy today hired his mentor and friend, Francois Allaire, to be the new goaltending coch for the Colorado Avalanche.
Allaire most recently worked for the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, he developed and honed his goalie-centric cirriculum in the '80s while he served as the tenders coach for Roy and the Montreal Canadiens.
In the '90s, he spread the gospel of goaltending and promoted his methods to today's generation of tenders. He even has his own brand name for his style of play:
The 'Allaire Style"
Which stresses sound positioning. It requires the goalie to get down into the butterfly position, and to take up as much of his four by six foot net as possible.
Allaire successfully mentored Patrick Roy, winning Stanley Cups in 1986 and 1993. In 2003, he guided the relatively unheralded Jean-Sébastien Giguère to the Conn Smythe Trophy (an award for the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs). He won a third Stanley Cup championship with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007.
Giguere and Roy will reunite with their mentor in Denver.
Big question now is:
Who will be Roy's starting goalie? Giguere obviously knows the "Allaire Style" having perfected it in Anaheim. Roy knows it well, too. What now becomes of Semyon Varalmov?
Methinks last season's Avs starter, Varlamov, will be on the move. Giguere will no doubt player a bigger role under Roy and Allaire's tutelage. They are putting the old band back together again.
Varlamov is owed $2,833,333 for this season. he'll become RFA next July.
Giguere, who just turned 36, will earn $1.5 million this season and will become UFA July 2014.
Imagine a scenario whereby Roy and the Avs feel strongly enough to trade their #1 overall pick in the entry draft to the Buffalo Sabres for a package of players and draft choices, the centerpiece of which would be Ryan Miller.
Miller plays the butterfly style. He's had Jim Corsi as his coach for the past 10 years in Buffalo. Would Miller embrace the "Allaire Style"? How would Miller adjust to a new coach, with a new voice, teaching the butterfly nuances. Miller is a tall, slender goalie who relies on playing perfect angles while staying in control as he shuttles post-to-post. Perhaps Allaire could work with Miller to fine tune his version of the butterfly that will prevent him from committing to the butterfly so quickly.
Miller could thrive in a goaltender culture in Colorado.
The Pittsburgh Penguins better get their act together, and quick. Otherwise, they will find themselves cleaning out their lockers and heading prematurely to their summer cottages.
Who saw this coming?
The Pens have been disgracefully outscored 9-1 by the Boston Bruins in Games 1 and 2 on their third round series with Tuukka Rask and the Bruins.
Dan Bylsma can blame two things for his team's perpetual failures against the Boston Bruins in the ECF:
1). Atrocious goal tending
2). A hideous, turnstile Defense
Tomas Vokoun has been as porous as a spaghetti strainer in the ECF against Boston. Marc Andre Fleury has been none better.
Before he was given the hook in Game 2 on Monday night, Vokoun allowed 3 goals on just 12 shots (.750 save %) before he was lifted for the equally as inept Fleury. In Game 1, Vokoun allowed 3 goals (.900 save %). The Bruins are feasting on the bad goaltending and poor defensive zone coverage of the Pens.
Vokoun is currently ranked 8th overall in terms of save % amongst all goaltenders who have participated in the 2013 playoffs. Vokoun is 6-3 since taking over Fleury's net in Game 5 of their first round series against the NY Islanders. The back-up was pressed into duty when Fleury fumbled and bumbled his way to the bench. Vokoun's .929 save % and 2.26 GAA make him ordinary.
Fleury has been a yard sale with his embarrassing 3.53 GAA and .883 save %.
In Games 1 and 2, the Penguins' poor defensive zone coverage and atrocious goaltending have served to chum-up the waters of the Three Rivers with blood, and the Bruins are in an attacking frenzy. The series now shifts to Boston where the Bruins and their fans will not relent against the bruised and battered Pens.
*Kris Letang was -3 in Game 2 and -2 in Game 1. He has provided zero offense, landing only one shot on goal per game. The aggressive Bruins fore check has rendered Letang invisible.
* Paul Martin was -2 in Game 2, and -1 in Game 1. Martin's bone headed shot block that led to a goal against the Pens in game 1 is his only highlight in the ECF.
* Douglas Murray could lose a foot race to a dumpster and the Bruins have exploited his lack of foot speed. He was -2 in Game 2.
* Brooks Orpik is a combined -3 in Games 1 and 2 and he too is being run over by the Bruins' top line.
* Matt Niskanen has been overwhelmed by the Bruins' pass rush as well. he's -3 in Games 1 and 2.
The Pens don't have an answer for Krejci, Lucic, Seguin and the Bruins, who are experiencing little to no resistance at the the Pittsburgh blue line. The Pens' end of the rink looks a lot like Woodstock did back in 1969: a crap load of people showed up, pitched their tents, partied for days, and then left a huge mess behind when they bolted town.
Marc Andre Fleury allowed a goal on the first shot he faced in a 3-1 game, just 27 second into a period. What has caused The Flower to wilt so badly and dramatically?
Did you know that Fleury has won just one playoff series since his Stanley Cup win-preserving save on Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom four years ago?
I blame Fleury for the Pens' goaltening demise. Vokoun is 6-3 in his 9 games played. He's a vet and he came to the playoff party ready to compete for the Pens. Fleury has been a head case since the Islanders series. He's been useless to his team. He failed them miserably when they needed him the most on Monday night. All he had to do is make one save on the Marchand breakaway. Epic fail. How can the guys in the room trust Fleury if he is re-inserted as the Game 3 starter? He's living off his reputation, not whet he's done lately. I think its time for Fleury to put up or shut up.
Have you ever seen Sidney Crosby look and sound so befuddled?
Thanks, Pens TV
I'll tell you this much:
If the Pens are sent packing for the summer, the Pens will be looking to immediately upgrade their goaltending for next season and beyond.
'
Might that mean a trade for Ryan Miller? Its very possible., however, the Pens will have to clear some serious cap space in order to acquire Miller.
I tweeted the below synopsis as I watched the Game 2 blood letting in Pittsburgh.
Pens have $7.8 in cap space, but, Iginla, Morrow, Cooke, Dupuis, Adams, Murray, Eaton all UFAs #caphell
The Sabres could really dictate the terms and conditions in a trade with the Penguins for Miller, who has one year at $6 million remaining on his current deal in Buffalo.
Were a trade to Pittsburgh to be executed at the NHL draft, Miller wouldn't be the first American-born Sabres goalie to be sent to the Penguins. Tom Barrasso, who won the Calder Trophy and the Vezina Trophy in his rookie season of 1983-84, was traded to the Pens at the beginning of the 1988-89 season. He would go on to win two Stanley Cup championships with the Pens.
***
Bylsma is not without blame for his team's unpreparedness in the ECF.
Did you know that Bylsma's Pens teams have lost 3 of 4 in series ( each time against lower-seeded opponents since winning the Stanley Cup in 2009)?
The Penguins are a mediocre 10-12 on home ice since 2009.
Perhaps Lindy Ruff could make a difference as head coach of the Penguins.
Kevin Sylvester welcomed Sabres head coach Ron Rolston to Sabres Hockey Hotline on Tuesday morning.
Rolston did a masterful job breaking down the Eastern and Western Conference Finals, respectively. Rolston nailed it when he called Boston a "systems team" and Pittsburgh a "star team". The system is beating the stars right now. Rolston nailed it.
Great insight.
At the end of the interview, Rolston was asked about whether or not his brother Brian (recently retired from NHL). Rolston said:
Rolston: "Not right now, but in the future". His bro Brian not a Sabres assistant coach candidate
Brian and his wife have their hands full with their four kids at home, including a two year old. Ron and Brian will coach together in the future when its more conducive for both men.
Rolston is taking his time hiring replacements for James Patrick and Kevyn Adams who were let go last month.
Amerks head coach Chadd Cassidy has been a Rolston protege for years and is expected to get a job in Rolston's regime.
The Sabres missed out on hiring Phil Housley when the Nashville Predators hired the Sabres Hall Of Famer late last month.
Jim Roque, the head coach at Lake Superior State, has been rumored to be heading to Buffalo to re-join his long time friend Ron Rolston. The two coached in college together. Roque denied the rumor last month.
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