23 Intently Staring Goalies http://www.kuklaskorner.com/intently/ 23 Intently Staring Goalies en lsefton@gmail.com Copyright 2013 2013-05-20T15:32:55+00:00 Quick can’t afford to dwell on Saturday night’s game http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/quick-cant-afford-to-dwell-on-saturday-nights-game http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/quick-cant-afford-to-dwell-on-saturday-nights-game "If you keep thinking about the last goal. you'll soon be thinking about the next, last goal." Good advice if you're playing goal. You spend your time thinking about that last goal, and you won't see the next one coming. That extrapolates to playoff games--if you spend your energy thinking about the previous game, you won't have the energy to play well. If you're grumbling to yourself in the next game, you're not paying attention to the play. The puck goes in, and now you have more to dwell on. That's how games can go hyperbolic in a very short time. "If you keep thinking about the last goal. you'll soon be thinking about the next, last goal."

Good advice if you're playing goal. You spend your time thinking about that last goal, and you won't see the next one coming. That extrapolates to playoff games--if you spend your energy thinking about the previous game, you won't have the energy to play well. If you're grumbling to yourself in the next game, you're not paying attention to the play. The puck goes in, and now you have more to dwell on. That's how games can go hyperbolic in a very short time.

Continue reading "Quick can’t afford to dwell on Saturday night’s game"

]]> 2013-05-20T15:32:55+00:00 lsefton Flyers Goalie Conundrum http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/flyers-goalie-conundrum http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/flyers-goalie-conundrum There are teams who develop goalies. There are teams who trade for goalies. And then there are teams that go through goalies like a bowl of salted peanuts. The Philadelphia Flyers fall into that last category. Even before Bobrovsky was named a Vezian finalist, there have been questions about the Flyers ability to get and keep even a decent goalie. Even when they trade for what appears to be at least a midlist goaltender, within a season they're either out the door or on their way out of town with a sub .900 save percentage, and a goals against on the wrong side of 2.5. Here's a sampling of who's been between the pipes in the post-Hextall era: There are teams who develop goalies.

There are teams who trade for goalies.

And then there are teams that go through goalies like a bowl of salted peanuts.

The Philadelphia Flyers fall into that last category. Even before Bobrovsky was named a Vezian finalist, there have been questions about the Flyers ability to get and keep even a decent goalie. Even when they trade for what appears to be at least a midlist goaltender, within a season they're either out the door or on their way out of town with a sub .900 save percentage, and a goals against on the wrong side of 2.5.

Here's a sampling of who's been between the pipes in the post-Hextall era:

Continue reading "Flyers Goalie Conundrum"

]]> 2013-05-11T14:39:40+00:00 lsefton Crawford Proving the Naysayers Wrong http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/crawford-proving-the-naysayers-wrong http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/crawford-proving-the-naysayers-wrong There was a lot of "Good News/Bad News" in the Chicago Blackhawks chatter in the past few weeks. The Good News: First in the West,  won Presidents Cup, and the team is trending up. The Bad News: Emery's hurt. There was a lot of "Good News/Bad News" in the Chicago Blackhawks chatter in the past few weeks.

The Good News: First in the West,  won Presidents Cup, and the team is trending up.

The Bad News: Emery's hurt.

Continue reading "Crawford Proving the Naysayers Wrong"

]]> 2013-05-04T18:30:28+00:00 lsefton Josh Harding Minnesota’s Nominee for Masterton Trophy http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/josh-harding-minnesotas-nominee-for-masterton-trophy http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/josh-harding-minnesotas-nominee-for-masterton-trophy From nhl.com: "The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is an annual award under the trusteeship of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association and is given to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey." I could write a frothy paragraph, but you know, I don't think I could add anything. Mike Russo at the StarTribune says it all: From nhl.com:

"The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is an annual award under the trusteeship of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association and is given to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey."

I could write a frothy paragraph, but you know, I don't think I could add anything.

Mike Russo at the StarTribune says it all:

Continue reading "Josh Harding Minnesota’s Nominee for Masterton Trophy"

]]> 2013-04-24T22:45:01+00:00 lsefton Becoming “The Richard Bachman” http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/becoming-the-richard-bachman http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/becoming-the-richard-bachman Right now, if you look up "Richard Bachman", you're more likely to get an article about Stephen KIng than the Dallas Stars goaltender.   And while Stephen King is an immednsely popular author, I have my suspicions he wouldn't make the cut as an NHL goaltender. Maybe Stephen King can meet us halfway and wrote a book featuring a really scary NHL goaltender.Or maybe one where the goalie's psychological gotchas parallel the supernatural badness he's having to face. And back to reality.... Right now, if you look up "Richard Bachman", you're more likely to get an article about Stephen KIng than the Dallas Stars goaltender.   And while Stephen King is an immednsely popular author, I have my suspicions he wouldn't make the cut as an NHL goaltender. Maybe Stephen King can meet us halfway and wrote a book featuring a really scary NHL goaltender.Or maybe one where the goalie's psychological gotchas parallel the supernatural badness he's having to face.

And back to reality....

Continue reading "Becoming “The Richard Bachman”"

]]> 2013-04-12T15:52:51+00:00 lsefton Reimer Shows Class and Cool in Toronto Trade Frenzy http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/reimer-shows-class-and-cool-in-toronto-trade-frenzy http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/reimer-shows-class-and-cool-in-toronto-trade-frenzy If you watched the trade deadline coverage on TSN/NHL Network/Rogers Sportsnet, their respective trade trackers, monitored Twitter feeds, hung out on Facebook, or otherwise, the biggest story of the day was what didn't happen. No Luongo Trade And its little brother: No Kiprusoff Trade And wow, James Reimer is being nice about the whole thing (via a headline from the National Post: "Leafs goalie James Reimer calls lack of trade activity a ‘vote of confidence’"   If you watched the trade deadline coverage on TSN/NHL Network/Rogers Sportsnet, their respective trade trackers, monitored Twitter feeds, hung out on Facebook, or otherwise, the biggest story of the day was what didn't happen.

No Luongo Trade

And its little brother:

No Kiprusoff Trade

And wow, James Reimer is being nice about the whole thing (via a headline from the National Post:


"Leafs goalie James Reimer calls lack of trade activity a ‘vote of confidence’"
 

Continue reading "Reimer Shows Class and Cool in Toronto Trade Frenzy"

]]> 2013-04-04T18:20:58+00:00 lsefton The Goalie, the Puck, and Physics http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/the-goalie-the-puck-and-physics http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/the-goalie-the-puck-and-physics Randall Munroe of xkcd takes a look at the physics of pucks hitting a goalie, and what can and can't happen. Here's the full discussion at "what if?" Randall Munroe of xkcd takes a look at the physics of pucks hitting a goalie, and what can and can't happen.

Here's the full discussion at "what if?"

]]> 2013-04-03T14:46:34+00:00 lsefton Goalies to lose more padding—Engineering the answer? http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/goalies-to-lose-more-padding http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/goalies-to-lose-more-padding Goalies are natural-born structural engineers. Given a challenge, they'll figure out a way to make equipment do things that not only were never intended, but until that point, no one else had thought of those intentions.  I have seen leg pad that could be patted back into legal size, side padding that flared out on sudden movement, and interior kneepadding that rotated out to cover a five-hole when the goalie went down into a butterfly. It's come a long way since the 1970's  when the "modification d'jour" was making culottes out of your goalie pants. Goalies are natural-born structural engineers. Given a challenge, they'll figure out a way to make equipment do things that not only were never intended, but until that point, no one else had thought of those intentions.  I have seen leg pad that could be patted back into legal size, side padding that flared out on sudden movement, and interior kneepadding that rotated out to cover a five-hole when the goalie went down into a butterfly. It's come a long way since the 1970's  when the "modification d'jour" was making culottes out of your goalie pants.

Continue reading "Goalies to lose more padding—Engineering the answer?"

]]> 2013-04-01T15:05:49+00:00 lsefton More Goalies Down at Crunch Time http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/more-goalies-down-at-crunch-time http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/more-goalies-down-at-crunch-time It's proving to be a rough season for NHL goalies, and in the shortened season, having a goalie down is being felt a lot harder across the teams. The lucky teams, like St Louis, had a hot spare such as Jake Allen, who's continuing to carry them forward. Other teams are finding out, like Los Angeles, that their backup, Jonathan Bernier, is ready to take the mantle of the number one goalie for the team. Some, like the Coyotes, are going to find out if their backup, Jason LaBarbera can gain the confidence of the team. Mike Smith's condition at this time is still unknown,  but LaBarbera may be taking over the reins again, sooner than later It's proving to be a rough season for NHL goalies, and in the shortened season, having a goalie down is being felt a lot harder across the teams. The lucky teams, like St Louis, had a hot spare such as Jake Allen, who's continuing to carry them forward. Other teams are finding out, like Los Angeles, that their backup, Jonathan Bernier, is ready to take the mantle of the number one goalie for the team.

Some, like the Coyotes, are going to find out if their backup, Jason LaBarbera can gain the confidence of the team. Mike Smith's condition at this time is still unknown,  but LaBarbera may be taking over the reins again, sooner than later

Continue reading "More Goalies Down at Crunch Time"

]]> 2013-03-22T18:48:03+00:00 lsefton Goalie Fight! http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/goalie-fight http://kuklaskorner.com/intently/comments/goalie-fight There's one area where the advent of improved and lighter goalie equipment made a radical change in goalie behavior that just never seems to be discussed by the tv/radio announcers, and that's fighting. Way back when (and we're talking about when bench clearing brawls weren't punishable by multi-game suspensions) goalies would skate out to the center of the ice, make a game attempt at grappling, and then fall down, hopefully far enough away from the action to keep from getting involved.  The old leather pads with the horsehair and who- knows-what stuffing were heavy--especially after they got wet. There's one area where the advent of improved and lighter goalie equipment made a radical change in goalie behavior that just never seems to be discussed by the tv/radio announcers, and that's fighting. Way back when (and we're talking about when bench clearing brawls weren't punishable by multi-game suspensions) goalies would skate out to the center of the ice, make a game attempt at grappling, and then fall down, hopefully far enough away from the action to keep from getting involved.  The old leather pads with the horsehair and who- knows-what stuffing were heavy--especially after they got wet.

Continue reading "Goalie Fight!"

]]> 2013-03-12T17:16:26+00:00 lsefton