Monday, March 09, 2015
Who Wants to go in the Net?
A little more than a month ago, I was
privileged to sit at a dinner table on the ground floor of the B B & T
Centre in Sunrise, Florida. That is the home of the Florida Panthers. The room
is a bit of a hangout for hockey folk before the puck drops. I had entered with
Nick Polano, a veteran of the hockey wars as a player, coach, scout and
administrator. Nick works for the Ottawa Senators, keeping an eye on hockey
talent in South Florida.
Another scout at the table was Mark
Dobson, who works for the Winnipeg Jets. I remembered Mark from long ago when
he played university hockey in San Diego. He hailed from Stirling, Ontario, and
always had the best tan at the Quinte Sports Centre when he came home on
breaks. Greg Stephan played goal for the Red Wings, and now scouts the league
as well. As we settled in, another hockey guy dropped by to chat. His name is
Scotty Bowman, and he is revered in hockey circles.
Scotty has a mind like a trap door,
and really enjoys chewing the fat about hockey history. He recalled the game in
Belleville when an errant elbow caught Claude Ruel in the eye, virtually
ruining Claude’s career. That was in the days when the Ottawa Hull Junior
Canadiens played against the Mcfarlands. Those were exciting days for us as
young fans. The Canadiens wore the bright red Habs jerseys, likely handed down
from the NHL team. They looked like
the Habs, and that was all we needed. They played that dashing game so typical
of young teams from that era, exciting hockey.
The conversation at one point got
around to the use of backup goaltenders. Scotty remembered “Lefty” Wilson, the
venerable Red Wing trainer, who would strap on the pads if Terry Sawchuk got
knocked out of a game. Others threw out a story or two about other curious
incidents that came to mind about odd goaltending incidents.
Lo and behold!! In last week’s
momentous game for the Toronto Maple Leafs, when they won 3-2 against the
Panthers to end the 16 game road loss record, the backup goalie question arose
in a major fashion. In the first period, Panther goalie Roberto Luongo took a
shot to the head. After a brief delay, he stayed in the game, and finished the
period. Al Montoya started the second period, with the Cats enjoying a 1-0
lead.
Early in the second period, Tyler
Bozak tied the score on a power play goal. Aaron Ekblad returned the favour for
the Panthers with his 11th goal of the season, establishing a new
team record.
In the third period, the Leafs tied
the score on a strange goal by Kadri. He had quietly positioned himself behind
the Panthers defenceman, Brian Campbell. Kadri grabbed the puck as it came back
to him off the boards from behind the net, and tucked it in as Montoya sprawled
to reach it. In the process, Montaya sustained a “lower body injury” of some
sort. I put that in quotation marks because those types of injuries look
harmless, but can be very series to goaltenders. Flexibility is critical to a
goaltender, always.
At this point, the Panthers have two
injured goalies. Even goaltending coach Rob Tallas strapped on the pads, but
was not required to go between the pipes.
I spoke with a former tender during
the pause when the Panthers tried to decide who would finish the game. Eddie
Johnston spent 16 seasons in the NHL with Boston, Toronto, St. Louis, and
Chicago. “For many years, we just had someone in the stands who would fill in
if either of the goalies got hurt. Teams dressed one goaltender. I remember a
game when I got hurt and couldn’t play. The guy came down to the dressing room.
His knees were shaking so bad. I had to hold his knees just to strap on the
pads. The first shot from centre ice went right by him! After that, he played
pretty well!”
The Panthers are now four points
behind the Bruins for the final playoff spot. The Senators are also in the
hunt. Definitely a race to the finish line!
James Hurst
March 9, 2015
# posted by James Hurst @ 8:23 AM 
