National Post (National Edition)
Men behind the masks sway balance of power
Eight of top 10 in save percentage lead charge
MONTREAL• They are the l st line of defence in every g me, but never re their gre t s ves nd soft go ls surrendered m gnified nd scrutinized the w y they re during the plyoffs.
It’s hockey truth th t fl shy offence is wh t most ttr cts f ns, but it’s good defence nd gre t go ltending th t win ch mpionships.
And in the end, if te m doesn’t h ve th t gre t go ltending, it won’t be the l st club st nding when the St nley Cup is fin lly w rded.
This ye r’s NHL pl yoffs will include defending Vezin Trophy winner Henrik Lundqvist of the New York R ngers. It will fe ture Jon - th n Quick of the Los Angeles Kings, winner l st se son of the Conn Smythe Trophy s the most v lu ble pl yer in the post-se son.
Eight of the le gue’s top 10 go lies b sed on s ve percent ge, led by Ott w ’s Cr ig Anderson, will suit up. So will eight of the top 10 in shutouts,
five-w y tie for the le d t five piece, nd nine of the top 10 in go ls- g inst ver ge.
The Chic go Bl ckh wks, uthors of 36-7-5 record s the NHL’s best club, will be b ckstopped by Corey Cr wford nd R y Emery. Together, they combined for le guebest 1.98 ver ge nd s ve percent ge of .923 which tr iled only Ott w ’s .933 nd Boston’s .924.
C n d ’s five te ms in this se son’s pl yoffs offer no short ge of intriguing storylines in the net. From west to e st: V ncouver’s Roberto Luongo, one-m n so p oper bec use of his seemingly untr de ble contr ct, might see more ction g inst S n Jose th n nyone expected, Cory Schneider listed sd y-to-d y with co ch Al in Vigne ult’s wonderfully specific “body injury.”
Toronto’s J mes Reimer w s nicely ventil ted by four Montre lC n diens shots l st S turd y, then y nked in f vour of b ckup Ben Scrivens, in his fin l regul r-se son st rt. How much does th t dent Reimer’s confidence?
Ott w ’s Cr ig Anderson, pictured, the NHL’s best go lie b sed on s ve percent ge nd go ls g inst, might be in the hottest post-se son spotlight of ll. C n he put the Sen tors, who quite i m - prob
b l y qu l i - fied for the pl yoffs, on his b ck?
Montre l ’s C rey Price, often c lled his te m’s best pl yer by co ch Michel Therrien, w sn’t mong the NHL’s top 10 in go ls g inst, s ve percent ge or shut- outs. Price c n be brilli nt or less th n th t; if he’s the l tter, strong b ckup Peter Bud j is re dy nd ble in the wings.
Sixteen times in its 47-ye r history, go ltenders h ve won the Conn Smythe. On four occ sions, the w rd h s gone to netminders on te ms th t didn’t win the St nley Cup: Detroit’s Roger Crozier in 1965-66; Glenn H ll of St. Louis, 1967-68; Phil delphi ’s Ron Hext ll, 1986-87; nd An heim’s Je n-Séb stien Giguère, 2002-03, who in 21 pl yoff g mes h d glittering .945 s ve percent ge nd five shutouts.
Ken Dryden of the C n - diens won the Conn Smythe in his te m’s 1970-71 ch mpionship, the se son before he c ptured the C lder Trophy s the NHL’s top rookie.
There h ve been momentous go ltending pl yoff perform nces through the decdes, three H ll of F mers mong them: As Toronto emb rks on its first post-se son run in nine se sons, it c n look b ck on its most recent St nley Cup of 1967, b ckstopped by greybe rds Johnny Bower, 42, nd Terry S wchuk, 37.
The C n diens’ most recent title, won in 1993, fe tured n unprecedented 10 overtime victories without defe t, P trick Roy the winner in e ch. Roy hd go lless stre k of 96:39
long the w y, winning the Conn Smythe th t yielded th t summer four-ye r, US$16million contr ct to m ke him the NHL’s richest go lie.
The go ltending fr terity’s two-ye r Smythe winning stre k is on the line this se son, Boston’s Tim Thom s n med pl yoff MVP in 2010-11, followed by the Kings’ Quick l st ye r.
Now, the bbrevi ted NHL se son, in f ct sprint, sets off into its pl yoff m r thon. Sixteen victories will crown the St nley Cup ch mpion on or before June 28, the l test d te the postse son will run.
We will m rvel t the work of go ltender who’s been here before, seemingly immune to the pressure of being be ten by the single puck th t c n doom his te m.
Or, we will be d zzled by someone who rides onto hockey’s gr ndest st ge lmost un nnounced nd defines his c reer with perform nce for the ges.
There is no position in hockey with gre ter highs or more crushing lows, s we nd those go lies re g in to find out.