Hockey Canada is unnerved by a snag that countries like the Czech Republic are more familiar with. With a view to the tournament of the best, he has a problem with filling one position, namely goalkeeper.
Canada has already solved the question of who will actually catch it. But for a different reason. For example, before the home Olympics in Vancouver 2010, she had to choose number one from the trio of Martin Brodeur, Marc-André Fleury and Roberto Luongo. There were a number of strong arguments behind all of them.
This time, the number one goalkeeper is difficult to determine, because a convincing candidate – at least not yet – does not exist.
The international tournament of the best can start in less than a year and a half. That is if the World Cup comes out in February 2025. And if not, the Winter Olympics are held in Italy a year later, where the NHL stars should arrive after a long break.
The last three events with the best cast (Olympic Games 2010 and 2014, World Cup 2016) were dominated by Canadians. They confirmed the role of the favorite.
But it doesn’t have to be the next time.
“Will it still be Canada or will it be the United States in the best vs. the best tournament?” thought journalist Eric Duhatschek from an online journal The Athletic.
“It used to be said that even Canada’s B would be a medal contender at the Olympics,” he continued. “Now the same could be said about the USA. If you compare the potential A lineups of the two countries, they are remarkably similar. Only Canada has McDavid. Otherwise, it is even, that is, except for the goalpost. The three best Americans would all be number one in the Canadian selection. “
In the past, hockey’s cradle of mega-star goaltenders abounded.
Curtis Joseph therefore had to settle for the role of three at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. He didn’t go past Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur in the hierarchy.
Even in Sochi 2014, a decision had to be made whether Carey Price or Roberto Luongo would be number one, while Mike Smith in his prime served as a backup in case of injury.
Now what would Canada give for the caliber of Joseph and Smith…
Current candidates for nomination can be characterized by the adjectives unproven, unbalanced, or too old. It is telling that some overseas media see on the final roster, for example, 38-year-old Fleury, who is losing his position as number one in Minnesota, or young Devon Levi, who spent most of the past season at university and only flashed in the NHL.
“What happened, Canada? Didn’t you have a dominating goaltender?” you dug journalist Matt Larkin.
His colleague Steven Ellis added: “Once the goaltending was considered Canada’s strength, finding three goaltenders you can feel confident with against the USA or – if allowed – Russia is now extremely difficult.”
Together, they agreed to nominate Carter Hart of Philadelphia and Darcy Kuemper of Washington. Furthermore, one would take Fleury, while the other would take Adin Hill, a recent Vegas hero who otherwise hasn’t had much success.
The important thing is that none of these and other combinations are terrifying.
The crisis is related to a long-term trend. While nearly 20 Canadian goaltenders routinely went through the draft at the turn of the century, in the last five years there have always been at most seven.
It’s the same with numbers directly in the NHL. In the “Nagan” season, 50 Canadians were caught there, in the previous one, 33.
It was still enough for the first place, but the Americans fell short by only eight goalkeepers. The Russians (12), the Swedes (11), the Finns (10) and the Czechs (8) followed. But most importantly, the Canadians didn’t even make the cut in the voting for the Vezina Trophy for the league’s best goaltender. Swede Linus Ullmark won. A Russian, an American, a Finn, another American and three more Russians followed.
In the last 15 years, Canada has captured the Vezina trophy only three times, the last time Fleury celebrated two years ago. But now age is catching up with him. And the cradle of hockey is unnerved by a previously unthinkable problem.
2023-09-29 10:52:23
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