I genuinely can’t believe how many people watched Comrie and UPL play and think they’ll be fine if people in front of them give up less chances. Is there no one willing to actually discuss what these guys look like in net? Again I beg of you…tell me what you saw from these two players actual game that makes you believe it’s a good idea to bank Levi’s usage and another season on them. Seriously. Not…well…they give up a lot of good chances. What in the way these goalies handled anything makes MAYBE getting better at limiting chances mean anything? They aren’t the only goalies who had chances against them on this team or in the league. But they were about the worst at it.
I will try to explain it to you, but you have to understand goaltending.
Goaltending at the NHL level is 90% mental. All the goalies in the NHL are world class athletes that are the best in the world skill-wise.
Goalies should make saves from outside that they can see. If a goalie makes a save on a redirected puck, a screened shot, or a shot coming off of a cross ice feed, there is always going to be luck involved because all of those shots and anything shot from inside the dots is coming faster than any human can react to. Anyone that has played goal knows that your reactions are based on the location the puck is shot from and the lay and angle of the stick of the shooter, and not actually on the puck as it is on it's way to the net, so it is always a bit of a guessing game. Positioning is the equalizer. When there are uncovered opposition players near the net or unmarked on the other side of the ice, goalies have to play deeper, eliminating a lot of the advantage they have in being in position to stop shots.
Goalies that are confident play high in the crease and challenge shooters. Goalies on bad defensive teams sit deep in their nets, exposing a lot more open net area and hedge their positioning for passes because they know there is a wide open shooter on the far side who will tap the puck in behind them if the puck gets across the ice.
The mental aspect comes in to the discussion as there is frustration, when due to poor D, goaltenders are unable to play aggressive. When the D is not covering the passes, clearing the screens, or doing their jobs, goalies get pissed, rattled, and generally do not play well.
The general uneducated response is always, "well goalies get paid a lot, they should be able to focus and overcome bad D". Anderson is one of the best at staying cool when his team hangs him out to dry, but he has had years of playing for bad teams and has learned to not get rattled, but even he has games where you could see the frustration had him off of his game.
Now, here is what all of this means and the context in this debate -
no one is actually saying Comrie or UPL are great goalies or the solution. What we are all saying is that the majority of goalies in the league are going to have their games fall apart when hung out to dry the way the Sabres hung Comrie out last season. Vejmelka was hung out to dry by the Coyotes(who are normally strong defensively in their own zone) at the end of the season, and his game was super inconsistent and he gave up some pretty uncharacteristically soft goals. That is what we expect to see if he is brought to Buffalo without fixing the defensive zone coverage.
Fix the D - the Team D. You can't blame a single defenseman or the goalie when there are three opposition forwards banging at the puck around the net, and your center is still out near the redline and no wingers covered for him). Once this D is addressed, the PK should be up at 80% or better, and then you can evaluate your goaltending.
