Now then, before I go into my little rant and before I get a
bunch of responses about freedom of speech and entitlement to one’s opinion,
let me state that everyone is entitled to their opinion. All I am imploring is some thought into the
formation of said opinion. Think about
the situation unbiasedly for two seconds before spewing forth the vitriol that
comes forth from sport’s fans mouths and fingers.
I have come to the realization that the vast majority of
sports fans are lazy. No, not
physically, though that is often the case as well. I mean mentally. They look for the easiest target for their
woe and unleash their hate upon that person or persons. While this is true of sports fans across the
board, it seems especially true in the St. Louis area, which I call home. Sam Bradford is a good example.
The Rams quarterback is not and may never be a top 5
QB. However he is talented and capable
of winning a game on his talents alone.
Yet according to the vocal antagonists, he has no talent, can’t hit
receivers, can’t scramble, can’t win games etc. and so on. Very few want to look at the intangibles that
lead to those situations. Bradford went
through a different Offensive Coordinator each of his first few seasons. If you include his college years, he had to
learn four different offensive systems and plays. I challenge anyone to learn the complexity of
NFL offensive schemes and terminology that many times.
However, now to the heart of my argument (and I apologize to
my journalism teachers for burying the lead).
The goaltending situation for the St. Louis Blues has to bring the
biggest section of fools out of the woodwork and has for years, if not
decades. Not since the days of Curtis
Joseph and then Grant Fuhr have the Blues had what many fans would consider a “franchise”
goaltender and there are probably some that would even argue against those
two.
Having been a goaltender in hockey and goalkeeper in soccer,
I have always known that the position inherently brings blame with it. It is the laziness of sports fans to simply
blame the one person who let the goal in, regardless of the situation that led
to the shot being taken in the first place.
Now don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of times that the netminder
could have done something different or let in a softy. It comes with the territory. It is difficult to maintain the mental focus
to be in the exact right position at the exact time needed to make a save every
time. However, sports fans (Blues fans
in particular) are quick to heap fault on the goalies.
Jaroslav Halak has borne the brunt of this. After almost singlehandedly leading the
Montreal Canadiens to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2010, he came to St.
Louis with high hopes and lofty expectations that following summer. Once the team failed to make the playoffs
that season, the laziness went into overdrive and many have failed to
recover. Even during the season where he
and Brian Elliot won the Jennings Trophy as the goaltender tandem that allowed
the fewest goals during the season, Halak never enjoyed much comfort from the
vocal mass. Even then there were calls
for Elliot to be given the reigns. Halak
was the starter in the playoffs that season, and though I don’t know if
goaltending would’ve made any difference the way the L.A. Kings took out the
Blues, it would have been nice to see Halak not get taken out by his own defenseman
in the previous series.
The next season, which was half a season due to the greed of
both players and owners, the fools were given more ammunition due to a series
of injuries for Halak. Despite the fact
that all goalies get hurt throughout a year and Halak hasn’t had all that many
during his career, the vocal mass turned it into the idea that he is always
hurt and not durable enough to lead the team.
Elliot’s stellar play that season did not help Halak’s cause. Halak was still injured come the playoffs,
but many say he was no longer the choice of coach Ken Hitchcock because he was
on the bench and in their minds fit to play.
There is a difference between fit to start and fit to play if absolutely
needed. The Blues only had Halak on the
bench because they were more comfortable in the playoffs using him if
absolutely necessary than using an unproven Jake Allen, if Elliot went down to
injury.
Even the media is prone to this lazy thinking and bias in
regard to goaltending. In the last two
games, the Blues have lost to the Kings and Anaheim. Both Halak and Elliot gave up goals that they
should not have. However after Halak’s
loss, the announcers all but blamed him for the goals. After Elliot’s loss, the post-game
broadcaster said that despite the soft goal, he made several great saves to
keep his team in the contest. This was
true of Halak only two nights before, yet the same consideration was not given.
I am, unashamedly, a supporter of Halak and that is most
likely very clear in my positioning in this article. I take nothing away from Brian Elliot and his
great play since arriving in St. Louis.
He is a solid goaltender which to fall back on. However, I feel he has proven that when he is
given the reigns by himself with no challenger, he has faltered. It was the case in Ottawa and Colorado and
was the case in St. Louis when Halak was injured and the team did not know the
talent level of Allen. Halak has proven,
in the playoffs, he can carry a team.
The Canadiens that year were not as talented as the Blues of the last
two. Yet, Halak (with the help of Carey
Price) led his team past some of the giants of the East in Washington and
Pittsburgh and within a game of defeating Philadelphia. He has not been afforded the same opportunity
in St. Louis, due to poor team play in 10-11 and injuries the following two
years.
On the same token, if you take my own bias out of the
situation, Blues fans’ ideas of a franchise goaltender are quite warped in most
cases. Their definition of a franchise
netminder is essentially someone like Martin Brodeur. Someone who will play 65-75 games out of
82. Those days are gone my friends. Starting goaltenders today play about 55% of
the time. A bit more if there is not a
suitable backup. Lazily, people blame the
goaltending (Halak in particular, but also Elliot on rare occasion) for their
playoff woe. Really, in the Blues' case, there is only one
instance when this is absolutely true and that is way back in the early 2000’s
when Roman Turek was a main reason that talented squad did not go past the
first round. One could also make the
case for Jon Casey being at fault in 97, but that is neither here nor there.
This vocal portion of Blues fans, much the same as Bradford
haters, have unrealistic expectations.
Martin Brodeurs don’t just grow on trees. Also, “franchise” goaltenders don’t always
mean Stanley Cups. Ryan Miller has no
Cups. Roberto Luongo has no Cups and has
only been to one final. No Cups and no
finals for Henrik Lundquist. Ed Belfour
could not win with all those talented Blackhawk teams and only won late in his
career with a different team. Look at
the Stanley Cup winners from the last decade and it’s about 50/50 whether the
winner was a “franchise” goaltender.
2003 NJ Devils – Martin Brodeur: Of course a franchise netminder. Possibly one of the best ever.
2004 Tampa Bay Lightning – Nikolai Khabibulin: Quality goalie, but has bounced around three
times since then.
2006 Carolina Hurricanes – Cam Ward: Again quality. Great when hot, but not “franchise” in Blues
fans eyes I'd bet.
2007 Anaheim Ducks – JS Giguere: Hot goaltender, was the reason they won. All but disappeared in the league now.
2008 Detroit Redwings – Chris Osgood: Yes Hasek was on the team, but Osgood won and
Blues fans know all too well about Osgood.
Seemingly only capable of winning in Detroit.
2009 Pittsburgh Penguins – Marc-Andre Fleury: Franchise goalie, yes, but also faces similar
problems to Halak as fans are often clamoring for someone else to take over.
2010 Chicago Blackhawks – Anti Niemi: Possible franchise, but not with the Hawks. In San Jose now.
2011 Boston Bruins – Tim Thomas: One can make the case either way. I would lean toward him being a franchise
goalie until his awkward “retirement”.
2012 LA Kings – Jonathan Quick: Franchise.
Pure and simple.
2013 Blackhawks – Corey Crawford: Possibly a franchise goalie, BUT one could
argue he isn’t top 5 or top 10 in goalies you would pick if the league was
blown up and everyone put in a draft.
What does all this mean?
It means that there is no science to winning a Cup and whether you need
a goalie that will be there for years.
Again, if someone does not like one goalie or the other, that is not my
business. I will argue for my favorite
and others may do the same. I ask for
fairness and to stop the lazy thinking behind some beliefs. To blindly blame goaltending as the end all
reason why the Blues have not won a Cup or even a game during a season, is ludicrous. To say Halak gets all the blame but give
Elliot credit when the situations game to game are so similar is just dumb.
Please, just think before you open your mouth the next time
at the game. Think before you write your
post on Facebook. Again, both Halak and
Elliot have given their detractors plenty to hold on to for reasons they don’t
believe in them. But be fair about it
when you sit and calm down and think about the situations clearly. I still hold out hope for the day when Halak
is given his time to shine for the Blues in the playoffs the way he did in
Montreal. Perhaps I will never see that
day. Perhaps Elliot will stay and Halak
will go. Perhaps both will go and Allen
will be the man next year. All these are
possibilities that as fans, we thankfully, have no control over. It will be as it will be. But stop the laziness. Quarterbacks that take you to the playoffs
right out of the draft are rare. Goalies
that lead mediocre to decent teams all the way to championships are even
rarer. Bring expectations closer to
reality. Think. See the game beyond the borders of your TV
screen and realize that more happens than the singular instance you want to
place your blame. And as always realize
that this is just my opinion and it may be different from yours…but I’m right.
Now, if you’ve managed to stick around through that rat’s
nest of a thought process, here’s a few quick hits.
- - The Tampa Bay Lightning’s radio announcer is a
joke. He makes Ken Wilson sound like he
needed anti-depressants. Ridiculous that
he’s employed and I am not.
- - Along the lines of my rant, Blues fans need to
give up on Ryan Miller. The Sabers would
ask too much and his contract is too rich. Ah, but these things don’t exist in those fans’
fantasy world.
- - 1-7 will not suffice against California hockey
teams. The Blues have to find ways to
summon the will to win right from the get go.
- - I hate the Patriots. That is why they will win…sigh
- - I love the show ESPN FC, but their anti-MLS
slant on everything is irritating. If
the football/soccer is so terrible then go back to England and cover the sport
for them.
- - I like that Michael Bradley has come back to MLS
and the idea that his skills will deteriorate to dust because of the league is
beyond stupid.
- - The more I see of Andrew Wiggins and all the
other great freshman in college basketball, the more I am convinced that both
college basketball and the NBA would benefit from a rule change that allowed
high schoolers to come out right away if they wish, but a player has to stay
2-3 years if they go to college. There
is so much development both physically and mentally that would occur during
those years and the on-court product would be all the better for it.
- The more I get back into soccer, the more I’m ok
with hockey going back to a system that allows ties. Nobody likes them, but shootouts are kind of
a joke. Oh well. Isn’t going to change.
