Not strictly directed at this quote, just using as a segue.
Was Tuukka's success prior attributed to the good team in front of him? Or was Tuukka also better then? Are Tuukka's stats worse because of the crappier team in front of him. Or is he playing worse than he was then? It's probably a little bit of all of those things for various reasons, if we can actually reasonably discuss it, wherever we are looking at it from.
I think all goalies benefit from a better team in front of them, not least because they are going to face lower-quality shots and probably fewer of them. Tuuka might not be playing as well, but it is hard to tell when the team in front of him can't score enough or generate momentum, when they get continually pinned in their own by heavy forechecking, and when they constantly turn the puck over inside their own blueline or fail to clear it out at all. For my part, I've seen very few horrible goals this year where a neutral observer would say "he should have had that one." That said, there have been saves I wish he could have made, and a whole lot of saves that he should't have had to make because of bad turnovers, blown coverage etc.
I can admit I am Tuuka fan, and think he's a great goalie, but I can also see that he is not having a lot of success so far this year, and at least some of it is down to him, whether it is related to the concussion or another nagging injury, or demoralization watching that defensive clown show in front of him on many nights, or perhaps that he really is in decline I have no idea.
