Oct 14, 2015
Thumbs to Leafs ranking, second goalies
TSN's Dave Hodge extends his thumbs to those who are using ESPN's ranking of North American pro sports franchises to dump all over the Maple Leafs and the importance of a "second goalie" in the NHL.
By Dave Hodge
Lord knows, no further ammunition is necessary if you want to criticize the Toronto Maple Leafs. So thumbs down to those who are using ESPN's ranking of North American pro sports franchises to dump all over the Leafs because of their last-place standing, worse than all 121 others considered.
Yes, the Leafs have high ticket prices, but the worst sports franchise is one that has cheap tickets and can't sell them. Yes, the Leafs haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1967, but they won a few before that. The worst sports franchise has never won anything and has very few fans.
The Leafs might have more than they deserve, but they are a popular team nonetheless. They play in an arena that's pretty quiet on many nights, but it's a nice building. The Leafs' uniforms are classy and come with no ridiculous "third" versions. Mike Babcock preferred the Leafs to Detroit, Lou Lamoriello chose to leave New Jersey and Brendan Shanahan departed an important job with the NHL. Okay, all for lots of money. The Leafs have lots of money. The worst teams go broke.
I began a broadcasting career in the Toronto market in 1968, the year after the Leafs' last Stanley Cup win. So I have spent close to 50 years "ripping" the Leafs, as some would put it. But I have never thought I was talking about the worst franchise in professional sports. I should have taken my own earlier advice and ignored the ESPN insult as if it were written by Harold Reynolds.
Net Gains
Thumbs up to the importance of "second goalies." Even after only three or four games, teams that have been able to win with more than one netminder have a right to feel good about what might lie ahead. As of now, there are six such teams.
They, and their two goalies, are:
1) Florida - Roberto Luongo, Al Montoya
2) Detroit - Jimmy Howard, Petr Mrazek
3) Montreal - Carey Price, Mike Condon
4) Chicago - Corey Crawford, Scott Darling
5) Winnipeg - Michael Hutchinson, Ondrej Pavelec
6) Dallas - Antti Niemi, Kari Lehtonen
Chicago's presence on that list is a reminder of what a capable "second goalie" can mean. In their run to the 2015 Stanley Cup, the Blackhawks won a total of 64 regular season and playoff games. 12 of those victories, including three in the playoffs, belonged to Darling (for the record, seven regular season wins appear beside the name of Antti Raanta, who no longer fits a feel-good story about Chicago's goaltending depth).
The point is: Every team should have, or should want, a back-up goalie who is capable of easing the starter's workload and winning more games than he loses. The Crawford-Darling combination can take its place on a list of reasons the Blackhawks could repeat as Stanley Cup champions.