David Poile and Team USA have yet to announce the goaltenders that will represent the United States during the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, but it appears that Cory Schneider won't be among them.
Poile and the U.S. management crew have reportedly elected to bring Jonathan Quick, Jimmy Howard and Ryan Miller to Sochi rather than Schneider, according to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press.
I watch a ton of Western Conference hockey so I saw a lot of Schneider before he became a member of the Devils, and I think his play over the last few years has been good enough to earn a roster spot - especially with the numbers he has posted.
Ryan Miller was a lock, in my opinion, and will likely be a starter. I have no issue with that and agree with the decision. What I don't understand is why USA is bringing two goaltenders in Jonathan Quick and Jimmy Howard who have dealt with injuries this season and have struggled when they've actually played. I'd argue neither has been the best goaltender on their respective teams this year.
Considering we're only halfway through the 2013-14 season and Howard and Quick have both missed a fair amount of starts, it's probably unfair to base everything on this year's play as it's a small sample size. With that in mind, I decided to pull up the numbers for each goaltender since the beginning of the lockout shortened season. Each goaltender has played in at least 48 games, and no goaltender has surpassed 67.
I have a few takeaways from those numbers:
1. Ryan Miller is a freak. Sometimes it's easier for a guy to post an impressive save percentage when facing a lot of rubber, but the Buffalo Sabres are flat out bad and Miller has managed to post all-star caliber numbers anyways. He deserves to be USA's No. 1 goaltender.
2. Jonathan Quick has made 53 appearances over the last calendar year, and his save percentage is a hair over .900 despite playing for the best defensive team in hockey. That's pretty bad, and it looks even worse considering Ben Scrivens and Martin Jones, two inexperienced goaltenders, both have at least a .938 save percentage playing behind the same team Quick does.
3. Cory Schneider has been more durable than Quick and Howard, although he's yet to be fully anointed a No. 1 goaltender, and has posted the best save percentage of the group. It's hard to argue he doesn't deserve to at least be USA's third string guy.
If that sample size isn't large enough, I'll leave you with this: no goaltender with 100 or more appearances has a higher save percentage than Schneider since he entered the league. He should be on the team.
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10 thoughts on New Jersey's 2-1 win over the Islanders
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