2011 NHL Playoff Conference Finals: Goalies of the remaining Western and Eastern Teams
The National Hockey League (NHL) play-off conference finals have started and the weight of a heavy Stanley Cup is on the shoulders of four goalies that remain to defend their teams from elimination and perform to help advance them into the Stanley Cup finals.
Who are these goalies a person might ask? They are some of the best in the league if not the best.
There are four teams battling it out for a spot in the Stanley Cup finals which are not that far away now and each game is monumental is respects to an outcome. Two teams from the Western Conference and two from the Eastern side. The Boston Bruins and Tampa
Bay Lightning in the East while the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks faceoff in the West.
Goalies are huge factors in winning for each team despite all the great players they might have. If a team does not have a good goalie, they can probably kiss their chances at making the finals goodbye even before entering the post-season. Just ask the Chicago
Blackhawks what their goalie meant to them. Ever since they won the Stanley Cup last year and then traded Antti Niemi to the Sharks, the Hawks barely made it into the play-offs and were eliminated in the first round. What was missing? It was their goalie who
has now led the San Jose Sharks into the conference finals after defeating teams like Detroit and Los Angeles.
Antti Niemi (San Jose Sharks) vs. Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks)
Both Niemi and Luongo are undoubtedly the best in the Western Division and probably in the league as well, which makes their matchup even more intense. It is hard mentioning this but it should be put forth that Roberto Luongo has not been playing at par
with Niemi throughout the series and that is the only aspect which can result in the Canucks downfall.
Niemi faced off against the veteran Detroit Red Wings goalie, Jimmy Howard in the semi-finals and easily pulled through. He has his eyes set on becoming the first goalie to win back-to-back Stanley Cups with another team, although, he has already become
the first to reach the conference finals with another one. The former Blackhawks’ goalie might not seem like a powerful presence on the ice, but just ask the opposing players who have to face him head on, he truly is an intimidating force.
Luongo has had a bit of luck throughout the play-offs with his raging offensive team-mates to do most of the work. Luongo has had some spectacular performances but not as much as people had expected. If Vancouver wins, it will solely be on the shoulders
of the forward players like the Sedin twins and Ryan Kesler.
Niemi is 6-0 in a play-off series since last post-season which is pretty hefty to meet if you ask any NHL fan. In addition Luongo has the experience advantage in this case, as he has played 47 which are quite a lot more than Niemi’s 35.
Tim Thomas (Boston Bruins) vs. Dwayne Roloson (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Tim Thomas might have been the leagues’ leading goalie during the regular season but that is not the case anymore. He is playing against Dwayne Roloson who has surpassed all expectation this time around and is the Number One (Statistically speaking) in the
play-offs.
Roloson boasts a .941 save percentage and has the most wins (9) in the post-season, making him better than all three again, statistically speaking that is. That is the problem. Play-offs games are not won with statistics, there won with dedication and heart
which none of these goalies lack. It is still much too early to decide which the better is and which will emerge victorious, because if we learn anything from play-offs history, it’s that anything can happen at any time.
Tampa Bay is on fire at the moment as they won Game one quite easily to extend their winning streak to eight games in a row which include three from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the quarter-finals and four straight against the Eastern top team, the Washington
Capitals. The way they are currently playing is phenomenal which makes them this year’s favourite team.
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