TonsofPuppies*
Registered User
I know that this thread pops up from time to time every few months, but I just can't help myself. This country is in serious serious trouble in net. There's no other major hockey country in the world going through a drought like we are right now, and it doesn't help that one of our arch rivals (Team USA) is stronger than they've ever been in their history. I had an interesting conversation about our goaltending with another poster recently and the first two games of the WHC have only added to my concern. Examples:
WJC 2010 (Gold Medal Game vs. USA)
Jake Allen: 5 GA on 28 SOG = .821%
Martin Jones: 1 GA on 9 SOG = .889%
WJC 2011 (Gold Medal Game vs. Russia)
Mark Visentin: 5 GA on 27 SOG = .815%
WJC 2012 (Semifinal vs. Russia)
Scott Wedgewood: 4 GA on 13 SOG = .692%
Mark Visentin: 2 GA on 11 SOG = .818%
TOTAL:
17 GA on 88 SOG = .807%
Just for comparisons sake, here are our opponents goaltending numbers in those same games:
WJC 2010 (Gold Medal Game vs. Canada)
Mike Lee: 3 GA on 7 SOG = .571%
Jack Campbell: 2 GA on 34 SOG = .941%
WJC 2011 (Gold Medal Game vs. Canada)
Dmitri Shikin: 3 GA on 18 SOG = .833%
Igor Bobkov: 0 GA on 20 SOG = 1.000%
WJC 2012 (Semifinal vs. Canada)
Andrei Vasilevski: 5 GA on 49 SOG = .898%
Andrei Makarov: 0 GA on 7 SOG = 1.000%
TOTAL:
13 GA on 135 SOG = .904%
I think what infuriates me the most about the whole situation, is that we're losing games with awful goaltending that we could be winning with even average (~.900-.910) goaltending. Sure, I'd love to get another Justin Pogge/Carey Price-esqe performance, but our country is so deep in talent, that all we need is average goaltending to win on any given night.
Lets say we get .892 goaltending in the gold medal game in 2010. That gives the USA 4 goals on 37 shots. Far from fantastic goaltending, but adequate enough to give Canada a 5-4 win.
Lets say we get .889 goaltending in the gold medal game in 2011. That gives Russia 3 goals on 27 shots. Again, far from fantastic, but that gives Canada at the very least a 3-3 tie and chance to win in OT. A .926% performance (more what I'd expect from a country that produces hockey players of Canada's caliber), gives the Russians 2 goals on the 27 shots and gives Canada a 3-2 win.
Now finally, lets say we get .875 goaltending in the 2012 semifinal, Canada beats the Russians 5-3 and advances to the gold medal game.
These of course are all hypothetical possibilities, but bottom line, if you were to plug in the numbers I mentioned above (.892 in 2010, .926 in 2011, and .875 in 2012), that lowers our goals against in those games from 17 GA to 9 GA (a staggering nearly 50% drop) and brings our overall save percentage to .898. .898 is still ****ing awful, and our number of goals against is cut by half. That stat just blows my mind.
That's all WJC, so let's take a look at the WHC, thus far.
Game 1 vs. Slovakia:
Ward allows 2 G on 21 SOG, for a save percentage of .905
Game 2 vs. USA:
Ward allows 5 G on 46 SOG, for a save percentage of .891
TOTAL: 7 G on 67 SOG, for a save percentage of .896
Not only is .896 total garbage, but many of the allowed goals were of the soft variety. The bottom line here, is that if Hockey Canada cannot correct this massive problem, we won't sniff the podium in Sochi. I don't see this happening, with less than 2 years until the Olympics start. For anyone who actually took the time to read my ongoing rant, I'd be interested in hearing about your opinions on this issue.
WJC 2010 (Gold Medal Game vs. USA)
Jake Allen: 5 GA on 28 SOG = .821%
Martin Jones: 1 GA on 9 SOG = .889%
WJC 2011 (Gold Medal Game vs. Russia)
Mark Visentin: 5 GA on 27 SOG = .815%
WJC 2012 (Semifinal vs. Russia)
Scott Wedgewood: 4 GA on 13 SOG = .692%
Mark Visentin: 2 GA on 11 SOG = .818%
TOTAL:
17 GA on 88 SOG = .807%
Just for comparisons sake, here are our opponents goaltending numbers in those same games:
WJC 2010 (Gold Medal Game vs. Canada)
Mike Lee: 3 GA on 7 SOG = .571%
Jack Campbell: 2 GA on 34 SOG = .941%
WJC 2011 (Gold Medal Game vs. Canada)
Dmitri Shikin: 3 GA on 18 SOG = .833%
Igor Bobkov: 0 GA on 20 SOG = 1.000%
WJC 2012 (Semifinal vs. Canada)
Andrei Vasilevski: 5 GA on 49 SOG = .898%
Andrei Makarov: 0 GA on 7 SOG = 1.000%
TOTAL:
13 GA on 135 SOG = .904%
I think what infuriates me the most about the whole situation, is that we're losing games with awful goaltending that we could be winning with even average (~.900-.910) goaltending. Sure, I'd love to get another Justin Pogge/Carey Price-esqe performance, but our country is so deep in talent, that all we need is average goaltending to win on any given night.
Lets say we get .892 goaltending in the gold medal game in 2010. That gives the USA 4 goals on 37 shots. Far from fantastic goaltending, but adequate enough to give Canada a 5-4 win.
Lets say we get .889 goaltending in the gold medal game in 2011. That gives Russia 3 goals on 27 shots. Again, far from fantastic, but that gives Canada at the very least a 3-3 tie and chance to win in OT. A .926% performance (more what I'd expect from a country that produces hockey players of Canada's caliber), gives the Russians 2 goals on the 27 shots and gives Canada a 3-2 win.
Now finally, lets say we get .875 goaltending in the 2012 semifinal, Canada beats the Russians 5-3 and advances to the gold medal game.
These of course are all hypothetical possibilities, but bottom line, if you were to plug in the numbers I mentioned above (.892 in 2010, .926 in 2011, and .875 in 2012), that lowers our goals against in those games from 17 GA to 9 GA (a staggering nearly 50% drop) and brings our overall save percentage to .898. .898 is still ****ing awful, and our number of goals against is cut by half. That stat just blows my mind.
That's all WJC, so let's take a look at the WHC, thus far.
Game 1 vs. Slovakia:
Ward allows 2 G on 21 SOG, for a save percentage of .905
Game 2 vs. USA:
Ward allows 5 G on 46 SOG, for a save percentage of .891
TOTAL: 7 G on 67 SOG, for a save percentage of .896
Not only is .896 total garbage, but many of the allowed goals were of the soft variety. The bottom line here, is that if Hockey Canada cannot correct this massive problem, we won't sniff the podium in Sochi. I don't see this happening, with less than 2 years until the Olympics start. For anyone who actually took the time to read my ongoing rant, I'd be interested in hearing about your opinions on this issue.
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