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Over the past month, a lot of attention has been
focused on the 2003 Stanley Cup Playoffs and the keys to winning it all.
Every year, most critics seem to agree that along with experience, heart, determination
& a dash of luck, a hot goaltender is key in bringing home the Holy Grail
of hockey. I don't think I need to convince anyone this is truly
the case, or need to remind you of past goaltending heroics that lead
teams to the promised land. There is however, one thing that has
been nagging at me for a few weeks now. A lot has been written and
reported on the new school of goaltenders and on how Quebec seems to be
the breeding ground for the hottest goalies in the NHL. Some
reports even went as far as saying that the "butterfly" style, developed
by Francois Allaire and mastered by Patrick Roy in the mid 80's has lead
the way for this new generation of Quebec-bred goaltenders to take a
step forward in the puck-stopping department. As I'm about to show
you, nothing could be farther from the truth.
The
year was 1986, when Patrick Roy introduced himself & his butterfly style
goaltending to the NHL. A hero was born overnight, with it, a
highlight-reel style of goaltending that would inspire young goaltenders
even 15 years later. Roy went on to backstop the Montreal
Canadiens to the franchise's 23rd Stanley Cup & became the first rookie
in Playoff history to win the Conn Smythe trophy ( awarded to the most
valuable player for his team in the playoffs ). Only one other
player has ever repeated this feat, ironically a goaltender, Ron Hextall, on a Philadelphia Flyers team that didn't go on to win the
Stanley Cup. A lot of critics think that Giguere could become the
second goaltender in history to win the award as a member of the losing
team, should the Ducks fail to win the Cup. The accomplishments of
Roy do not end there, as he holds the record for most Conn Smythe
trophies in a career with 3 ( 1986, 1993, 2001 ), four Stanley Cups (
1986, 1993, 1996, 2001 ) and 5 Stanley Cup Final appearances. If
an aspiring goaltender was to model his style after someone, it definitely
should be Roy. Enter Martin Brodeur.
Brodeur
made his NHL debut in the 1993-94 season, and was awarded the Calder
Trophy ( Awarded to the player selected as the most proficient in his
first year of competition in the NHL ), better known as "Rookie of the
Year". Unlike Roy, Brodeur would not win the Stanley Cup during his
rookie campaign, as the Devils lost the chance to advance to the Finals
in dramatic fashion, losing the Conference Final Game 7 in
Overtime to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions of that year, the New
York Rangers. He would return the next year though, backstopping
the Devils to their franchise's first Stanley Cup. He repeated the
feat in 2000, and in 2001, it was student vs. teacher when the Colorado
Avalanche faced off against The New Jersey Devils. Roy vs.
Brodeur. Experience prevailed, and Roy hoisted the Cup for the
fourth time, and perhaps the last, as rumors keep surfacing about the
announcement of his retirement sometime this summer. Although I
think Roy still has a few good years left, I can't think of anything
left for him to accomplish. On to the current Stanley Cup
Finals...
Entering
this year's Conference Finals were 4 Quebec Goaltenders: New
Jersey's Brodeur, Minnesota's Manny Fernandez, Ottawa's Patrick Lalime,
and the hottest topic of the post-season, J-S Giguere. Articles
surfaced everywhere of the Quebec goaltending dominance, the new school
of goaltenders who modeled their careers & styles after their hero,
Patrick Roy since his arrival in 1986. But have Quebec-bred
goaltenders dominated since then ? Apparently not. Since
1986, only 4 goaltenders from the QMJHL have appeared in the Stanley Cup
Finals including Roy. Furthermore, one of those goaltenders
is Rejean Lemelin ( Boston Bruins, 1988 Stanley Cup Finals ), who
started his NHL career in 1979. Needless to say, Lemelin wasn't
inspired by Roy, nor did he emulate his style. In other words,
only Martin Brodeur and first-time Stanley Cup Finalist J-S Giguere have
made it all the way to the show. So why all the fuss about
Quebec-bred goaltenders ?
Maybe
it's the fact that the final four were Quebec-bred goaltenders, but
let's not forget the others that didn't even make the post season.
For every Brodeur, there's a Thibeault, for every Giguere, there's a
Theodore. In all 16 teams making the post-season this year, only
five ever played in the QMJHL, roughly 30 %. The same amount of
goaltenders coming from the NCAA, yet we hear nothing of American
college hockey breeding great goaltenders; nor should we. Fact of
the matter is, great goaltending is not league dependant, it's talent
dependant. I strongly believe that if a goaltender has enough
talent, he can cause enough stir to eventually make it onto a Stanley
Cup contending team. Look at Dominik Hasek, for example. The
Sabres would've never advanced past Round 1 in 1999 had it not been for
his heroics. It was also those heroics that made him a must on the
Detroit Red Wings' roster last year. The result: Hasek
retired with a Stanley Cup ring. Talent.
Below
is a chart of all the goaltenders who have appeared in the Finals since
Roy's inception in 1986. The highlights represent QMJHL prospects.
|
YEAR |
Finals (Winning Team in Bold) |
Win. Goalie |
Drafted From |
Losing Goalie |
Drafted From |
| |
|
1986 |
Montreal vs. Calgary |
Patrick Roy |
Granby Bisons (QMJHL) |
Mike Vernon |
Calgary Wranglers (WHL) |
|
1987 |
Edmonton vs. Philadelphia |
Grant Fuhr |
Victoria Cougars (WHL) |
Ron Hextall |
Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) |
|
1988 |
Edmonton vs. Boston |
Grant Fuhr |
Victoria Cougars (WHL) |
Rejean Lemelin |
Sherbrooke
Beavers (QMJHL) |
|
1989 |
Calgary vs. Montreal |
Mike Vernon |
Calgary Wranglers (WHL) |
Patrick Roy |
Granby Bisons (QMJHL) |
|
1990 |
Edmonton vs. Boston |
Bill Ranford |
New-Westminster
Bruins (WHL) |
Andy Moog |
Billings Bighorns (WHL) |
|
1991 |
Pittsburgh vs. Minnesota |
Tom Barrasso |
Acton-Boxboro H.
S. (Massachusetts) |
Jon Casey |
U. of North Dakota
(NCAA) |
|
1992 |
Pittsburgh vs. Chicago |
Tom Barrasso |
Acton-Boxboro H.
S. (Massachusetts) |
Ed Belfour |
North
Dakota U (NCAA) |
|
1993 |
Montreal vs. Los Angeles |
Patrick Roy |
Granby Bisons (QMJHL) |
Kelly Hrudey |
Medicine-Hat
Tigers (WHL) |
|
1994 |
NY Rangers vs. Vancouver |
Mike Richter |
U of Wisconsin
(NCAA) |
Kirk McLean |
Oshawa Generals
(OHL) |
|
1995 |
New Jersey vs. Detroit |
Martin Brodeur |
St-Hyacinthe
Lasers (QMJHL) |
Mike Vernon |
Calgary Wranglers (WHL) |
|
1996 |
Colorado vs. Florida |
Patrick Roy |
Granby Bisons (QMJHL) |
John Vambiesbrouck |
Sault-Ste.
Marie Greyhounds (OHL) |
|
1997 |
Detroit vs. Philadelphia |
Mike Vernon |
Calgary Wranglers (WHL) |
Garth Snow |
Mount St. Charles H.S. (R.I.) |
|
1998 |
Detroit vs. Washington |
Chris Osgood |
Medicine Hat
Tigers (WHL) |
Olaf Kolzig |
Tri-City
Americans (WHL) |
|
1999 |
Dallas vs. Buffalo |
Ed Belfour |
North
Dakota U (NCAA) |
Dominik Hasek |
Indianapolis Ice
(IHL) |
|
2000 |
New Jersey vs. Dallas |
Martin Brodeur |
St-Hyacinthe
Lasers (QMJHL) |
Ed Belfour |
North
Dakota U (NCAA) |
|
2001 |
Colorado vs. New Jersey |
Patrick Roy |
Granby Bisons (QMJHL) |
Martin Brodeur |
St-Hyacinthe
Lasers (QMJHL) |
|
2002 |
Detroit vs. Carolina |
Dominik Hasek |
Indianapolis Ice
(IHL) |
Artus Irbe |
Dynamo Riga
(Latvia) |
|
2003 |
New Jersey vs. Anaheim |
Martin Brodeur |
St-Hyacinthe
Lasers (QMJHL) |
Jean-Sebastien Giguere |
Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) |
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