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Luck of the Goalie Gods a notable factor in Stanley Cup success |
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We talk a lot in NHL circles about “the hockey gods” – a concept that, in reality, is comprised of bumps in the ice surface, slight indentations in stanchions and rink boards, and good, old-fashioned puck luck – as an explanation for the unforeseeable events that play out despite our best projections, scientific models and examinations of recent history. But there’s another type of mysterious god that has a huge influence on the result of games, and we don’t reference its unpredictable nature nearly as much.
I’m referring to the Goaltending Gods. Although there are hundreds of smart goalie coaches and analysts whose role is to explain and train the technical and emotional elements of the position, there remains an ‘X’ factor at play that leads to unlikely comebacks, shocking come-out-of-nowheres and a myriad of other surprises.
This year’s Stanley Cup playoffs have been a perfect example of the Goalie Gods’ unpredictable influence. In the first round, five of the top seven league leaders in wins by a netminder – including Montreal’s Carey Price, Columbus’ Sergei Bobrovsky, Minnesota’s Devan Dubnyk, Boston’s Tuukka Rask and San Jose’s Martin Jones – were on the losing end of their series. Bobrovsky’s struggles were especially stark: after setting career highs in games-played (63) and wins (41), after posting stellar numbers in goals-against average (2.06) and save percentage (.931), after performing with sufficient consistency to be named a finalist for the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player and the Vezina Trophy as its top goalie, Bobrovsky fell apart in the Blue Jackets’ first-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, posting a 3.88 G.A.A. and .882 SP.
He’s never been a particularly impressive playoff performer, but the difference in results is remarkable. But that’s not to say there’s no hope for him turning things around down the road, because this post-season has featured the stunning riches-to-rags-to-riches story of Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who once labored under circumstances similar to Bobrovsky. The 32-year-old Fleury was integral in Pittsburgh’s 2009 Cup victory, but in the four years that followed, his playoff SP dipped below the .900 mark – and in the Pens’ 2016 championship run, he was relegated to the bench in favor of rookie Matt Murray. Fleury might still be pine-riding were it not for an injury Murray suffered in the warm-up of Game 1 against Columbus this year, but the Goalie Gods opened the door for him, and he’s grabbed the opportunity by the throat, recording a .935 SP through nine games and in the process becoming the Penguins’ Conn Smythe frontrunner.
However, for every heartwarming tale like Fleury’s, there’s at least one goaltender who thought they had a handle on things, only to have that handle slip through their grasp when games mattered most. Besides Bobrovsky this season, there’s Capitals goalie Braden Holtby, another Vezina finalist who had a career year in the G.A.A. (2.07) and SP (.925) departments and who tied his personal best in shutouts (nine). Unfortunately for Washington fans, Holtby has been unable to replicate that dominance in these playoffs: the 27-year-old didn’t look at all comfortable with the puck in the Caps’ first-round win over Toronto (putting up two games with a sub-.900 SP in that six-game series), and in his current showdown against the Penguins, he’s had two games below the .900 mark and one below the .800 mark.
All in all, Holtby’s SP has come in at a disappointing .909 in 10 playoff games this spring, and nobody’s quite sure why. It’s true Washington’s defense has regularly been porous in front of him, but he’s working with the best goalie coach in the business in Mitch Korn, and while there are still some stretches where he looks like his regular-season-self, that’s just not good enough when, at the other end of the ice, Fleury has frustrated Capitals skaters time and again with superb saves that take the air out of any Washington push. Holtby has been outplayed, plain and simple, and for as much as he deserves credit for the Caps’ regular-season successes, he also must share in the blame for what’s happened to them thus far in the playoffs.
A lot of what happens to any NHL goalie at this time of year is attributable to easily-definable factors: self-confidence, technique, support from teammates on both offense and defense. But sometimes, there’s that little bit extra in the mix that boosts a netminder to heights he’s never seen before and might never see again. Indeed, the league’s history books have no shortage of goaltenders who’ve benefitted from being in the right place at the right time with the right team, and who’ve had major trouble finding their way back to that place: Cam Ward, Steve Penney, and Andrew Hammond, to name a few.
Just as any team needs a nod from the Hockey Gods to thrive amid the rigors of the playoffs, so too do goalies need a little love from the Goalie Gods to eventually hold up the Cup.
Because if they’re not getting it, you can be sure another goalie is.
Blogger •NHL Columnist • 
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