Inside The Penalty Box 12.03.07: NHL’s Top Backups In 2007-08
Posted by Neil Borenstein on 12.03.2007
The No. 1 goaltender gets all the glory, but the backup provides a lot of the grunt work in most cases, as well. For every Kevin Weekes-Martin Brodeur situation there is in the NHL, there’s a Chris Osgood-Dominik Hasek situation where the backup actually contributes heavily to the success of his team. In this week’s Inside The Penalty Box, Neil Borenstein looks as some of the top performing backup goalies of the 2007-08 season!
or those backing a Western Conference team and are upset about not being able to see Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, Washington's Alexander Ovechkin and Boston's Vladimir Sobotka visit their home squad more than once every three seasons, fear not. That is all about to change. Starting next season, the NHL adopts a new scheduling format, which ensures each team will visit every other team at least once every other season.
The new schedule format is as follows: six games each against division rivals (24 games), four games each against non-division conference opponents (40), at least one game each against non-conference opponents (15), three wild card games to be played against non-conference teams (3). Under the previous format still being used this year, each team plays its division rivals eight times each, visits only one non-conference division and hosts only one different non-conference division per season. It takes three seasons to go through a full cycle that sees each team visit each opponent from the other conference.
This new format was approved at an NHL Board of Governors meeting on Thursday. The vote was 26-4 in favor of the new format, the only one proposed at the meeting for a scheduling change.
The move is not a particularly surprising turn of events. Ever since the new collective bargaining agreement was signed, sealed and delivered and the current scheduling format was instituted, fans, players and general managers alike have complained about the lack of seeing some marquee stars on the other coast play in their home arenas. Personally, I'm a fan of more rivalry games since they are more exciting and more important when it comes to the standings and playoffs. As a fan of the New York Rangers, however, I automatically get it good between the players we have on our roster and the teams we get to see every season. Other teams in the NHL don't have that luxury of having so many stars and getting to see so many over the course of a year. Any opportunity to see a Crosby or an Ovechkin is a big one. In that sense, this change is all right in my book, especially since six games against each division rival is still a good amount.
NHL's Best At Backup
Breakout No. 2s In Between The Pipes
Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports
In light of Marc-Andre Fleury's struggles, Penguins backup Dany Sabourin has thrived in more starts between the pipes for Pittsburgh.
Being a backup goaltender in the NHL is rough. It's a position of uncertainty on any team. When the next start will come and just how much within any given season an opportunity for contribution will be rewarded is up in the air. Mainly, the job of a backup is completely contingent on the play of the netminder starting in front of him.
Backup goalies deserve a lot of respect, however, whether they play five games in a season or 35. For little money (in comparison) and little recognition, these players are left to ride the bench until they are called upon to hold the fort when a team's No. 1 option can't go on any given day, week, month or even remainder of the season. Players like Kevin Weekes, Curtis Sanford and Stephen Valiquette play in the shadows, while Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo and Henrik Lundqvist gain all the glory. And while the latter bunch receives the bulk of the starts and should get due credit for it, the former group play to a similar standard so their teams don't miss a beat when they are called upon for some playing time.
Some backups, however, are not merely placeholders. They don't receive starts just because the No. 1 option needs to rest after playing 10+ games in a row. Instead, there are backup netminders who through their own production or the lack of production from a team's No. 1 receive either just as many starts or perhaps even more than their counterparts.
A prime example for many years as the epitome of being a backup goalie in the NHL is Chris Osgood. Osgood wasn't a backup his entire career and even spent a good seven of his 14 years in the NHL as a starter for either the Detroit Red Wings, New York Islanders and St. Louis Blues. He was the primary netminder for Detroit when its second of back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 1998. Osgood started his career as the No. 2 to Mike Vernon, however, and he played second fiddle to Manny Legace and Dominik Hasek for the past three years in Detroit.
This season, it seems as if Osgood is stealing the starting job right from under Hasek's skates. Though a good deal of Osgood's chances have come as a result of a previous Hasek injury, he's stepped up in the clutch for the Red Wings and has received a bulk of a team's starts. He is tied for second in the league with 13 wins and also has only two losses on his record, one of which came in a shootout to the Columbus Blue Jackets after he made 26 saves on 28 shots through regulation and a five-minute overtime. Osgood also ranks first in the NHL with a 1.79 goals against average and sixth in save percentage (.924.) And this is all in 16 games played, 15 of which were starts. While Hasek continues to work back from his hip injury and regain his form, Osgood remains at the top of his game and ready to keep Detroit atop the Central Division standings out west.
Rookie Dan Ellis is another Central Division backup that is making the most of his chances in net this season. Starting behind Chris Mason, who is 7-9-2 with a 3.15 goals against average and .894 save percentage, Ellis has seen game action in nine contests, five of which were starts. Ellis is undefeated at a perfect 6-0 this year. He also ranks fourth in the NHL with a 2.00 goals against average and .929 save percentage. The first two shutouts of his career came in his first and third starts this season. Ellis' only previous NHL experience came in 2003-04 in a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings while playing as a member of the Dallas Stars.
Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports
Tomas Vokoun's trade to Florida opened up room in Nashville's goaltending tandem for Dan Ellis.
Ellis is just one beneficiary of a Nashville fire sale during the offseason. The fire sale has actually not had the effect most believed it would and the Predators remain competitive as the eighth place team in the Western Conference. But with the trade of Tomas Vokoun to the Florida Panthers, a vacancy was left in the Predators' goaltending tandem for this season. Chris Mason stepped in as the starter, and Dan Ellis got the nod as the No. 2 guy. So far, Ellis has played a lot better than Mason. He could even step ahead of Mason as the season progresses if both goalies continue to produce as they have thus far.
In the Pacific Division, Mike Smith of the Dallas Stars is giving Marty Turco a run for his money for the second consecutive season. Even though Turco was pretty stellar down the stretch and in the first round of the playoffs last season, a good portion of the campaign was spent defending his starting role against Smith.
Smith has played in 10 games for the Stars this year, and is running with a 6-4 record. His counterpart has played in eight more games, yet only claims two more wins to his mark. Stat-wise, the two have similar numbers outside of record. Whereas Turco is 2.53 in goals against average, Smith is 2.39. Smith is .909 in save percentage, while Turco is .906. It's nothing drastic. Yet, in less starts and being a bit more impressive recently for the Stars, Smith has firmly planted himself in Dallas' goaltending scheme with a netminder who was once considered one of the best in the entire league.
Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports
For the second year in row, Mike Smith is giving Marty Turco a run for his money in Dallas.
If things remain the same, I think the Stars might move to a system with Smith as their go-to guy. Turco is making $5.7 million this season and next, and $5.4 million in 2009-10. Compared to the $950,000 Smith is making this year and next, I think holding onto Turco when Smith can go just as good, if not better, is rather foolish. I think the only way Turco remains a commodity with Dallas is if he plays on his head toward the end of the season and once again comes up huge in the playoffs. But if he plays like a goalie that should be second fiddle to Smith, he shouldn't get starts over the Smith and is too expensive for the Stars to hold onto as a backup.
I won't go as far as to say that by this season's trade deadline, Turco will end up in another uniform. I can see Dallas keeping him as the starter for the playoffs. But by the offseason, if he hasn't completely outplayed Smith, he might be on the block with the reigns of this team being handed over to Smith. For now, though, the duties will be split until one netminder places himself firmly ahead of the other.
In the Eastern Conference, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been witness to some good starts from their backup goaltender. While Marc-Andre Fleury fights for consistency in his game, Dany Sabourin has provided some good backup service so the Penguins don't need to scour the trade market right now for more experienced backup. A free agent signing over the offseason, Sabourin is 4-4-1 with a .913 save percentage and 2.38 goals against average. He also has one shutout.
Since Fleury is the Penguins' goalie of the future, and will be a cog in the franchise for many years to come just like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Ryan Whitney, he will be given ample opportunity to work out his kinks and play even better than he did last season when he won 40 games. He is starting to shape up over the last few contests he's played in, allowing two or less goals in his last four appearances. He even scored a shutout against Atlanta on Nov. 24. In that respect, he is getting better for the Penguins and will certainly continue to see the bulk of the starts.
However, Sabourin has been decent relief for Fleury when he wasn't playing up to par. And who knows, that might come up again for the 23-year old. Sabourin is prone to allowing three goals in contests, but I think that's decent for a goalie on the offensively-rich Penguins, especially when he really isn't known for being a high-caliber goalie in the NHL. He's good, definitely backup material. But he'll ever be astounding.
Sabourin was there, though to give some good starts while Fleury found his game and will continue to be a good source of netminding if and when Fleury runs into another hurdle. I don't think the Penguins really need to seek assistance behind Fleury from the trade market since they have received good enough support from the man already donning the backup pads in Pittsburgh.
In Montreal, Carey Price is proving himself to be the future of the Canadiens franchise everybody expected him to be.
In Price's rookie campaign, he is 6-3-1 in 10 game, all starts, and owns a 2.84 goals against average and .912 save percentage. He owns two solid wins each over the Penguins, Bruins and Maple Leafs, and is doing an extraordinary job splitting starts with a man that will probably never see a campaign over (or even at) 50 games, Cristobal Huet. Huet has tremendous numbers in his own right, but he always seems to split starts with his backups than be a bona fide starter with 65-plus game duties.
What's good, though, is that price has some flexibility to mess up with a Huet taking the bigger load, even if it's not by much. Price still needs to gain some consistency and be able to matchup against some of the better teams in the league, like New Jersey and Ottawa. But overall, he has added some tremendous depth to the Canadiens' goaltending core and should see a good deal of starts over the course of the season. With more starts should come more improved play. The end result of that is more wins and the possible transition into next season at the team's first consistent No. 1 netminder since that year or two Jose Theodore was actually talented.
Price has a bright future in this league, and his spot as a backup probably won't last much longer than this season.
Even if it did, though, that wouldn't be such a bad thing. As we've seen already from players like Osgood, Ellis, Smith, Sabourin and Price, even a backup goaltender can be important contributors to the success of their franchises. Some backups have more limited roles based on the starts in front of them, and they aren't provided the opportunities to shine very much over the course of the season. Others, like the ones just discussed, have all added immensely in the goaltending department alongside their No. 1 counterparts.
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Until next week, you have just been Inside The Penalty Box!
or those backing a Western Conference team and are upset about not being able to see Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, Washington's Alexander Ovechkin and Boston's Vladimir Sobotka visit their home squad more than once every three seasons, fear not. That is all about to change. Starting next season, the NHL adopts a new scheduling format, which ensures each team will visit every other team at least once every other season.
