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Goalies Getting in the Way of Pucks
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DALLAS, TX - Skaters in this year's playoffs believe that the goalies standing directly in front of the nets are making it almost impossible to score. This tactic of employing goalies to stand in between the player shooting at the net and the net itself has created a real shortage of goals in this year's playoffs.
"It's become an epidemic and the league is going to need to crackdown," complained Dallas Stars coach Ken Hitchcock. "I lost count of how many times that the only reason the puck didn't go in the net was because Patrick Roy was in the way."
Hitchcock's Western Conference counterpart, Bob Hartley of the Colorado Avalanche, agreed but felt it was an overblown issue.
"Both teams have to suffer from this equally. We had just as many pucks stopped just prior to entering the net because Ed Belfour placed himself directly in the line between the shooter and the net."
"The sport goes through these strategic phases where some strategy, like placing a goalie in the way of shot pucks, becomes popular. But after a while it becomes less successful and something new takes it place. It would be a mistake for the NHL to do anything dramatic to remedy this so-called problem."
The same phenomena is popping up in the Eastern Conference Finals, where the Flyers Brian Boucher and the Devils Martin Brodeur are more often then not getting in the way of potentially scoring shots.
The strategy of placing a goalie between the shooter and the net has gotten to the point where that goalie often doesn't even participate in the play of the game. It is not unusual to see the goalie lounging in front of their net despite the play being down at the other end of the ice.
Although there is nothing that can be done for this year's playoffs the NHL promises to look into the issue in the off-season. "I don't know what we can do. But if we can find some way to keep the goalies from getting in the way of shots without ruining the integrity of the game we will have to look into that," said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
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Other Stories From This Issue
©2000 Copyright David Oliver
DISCLAIMER: These stories are not true. No really. It's all just a joke, you know for fun.
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