Dodging bullets

Netminders still adjusting to crackdown on obstruction

As a goaltender, you learn at an early age to be ready for anything. With that in mind, I wondered what effect the faster pace of play due to interference being called with renewed vigor has had so far on NHL netminders. After all, they are the ones that bear the brunt of more power-play time and thus more scoring chances. Has the world changed for the men in the crease in early going?

Well, the new hurry-up faceoff-and-line-change rule almost claimed Garth Snow as the first casualty to give up a goal when he and his Islander teammates weren’t quite set.

Snow was brilliant in the 3-3 tie against the Flyers, but the game almost turned on a shot off a faceoff when the puck was dropped while his team wasn’t in position. Snow was looking at his feet, getting in position before the draw. The linesman dropped the puck and the Flyers immediately fired it on goal. Snow looked up only when the puck hit him high on the chest protector.

Afterwards, the Islanders were able to laugh it off, but the reality of the potential consequences weren’t lost on veteran defenseman Kenny Jonsson. He projected the possible implications of a goal yielded in such a manner, given the competitive balance around the NHL. It is not inconceivable that a team will lose a game on a quick draw and the outcome could impact the standings.

Jonsson is all for the changes, even though he feels that as the season wears on and the intensity increases, forechecking pressure will likewise increase, making life more difficult for defensemen.

He feels goaltenders who handle the puck well will provide an advantage for their respective teams. Jonsson said he has yelled back to Snow and Chris Osgood and simply told them to move the puck in situations when he's been unable to hold up an oncoming opponent for his partner.

Osgood himself had some interesting insights regarding traffic away from the puck. He feels shooters have gained back a split second because the speed of the attack entering the offensive zone has picked up.

The increased speed and availability of players away from the puck carrier has backed off the defense ever so slightly, leading to more shots from the prime scoring area. Interestingly, Osgood wasn’t complaining. He too likes the style of play in the early going.

His point was that players seem more able to shoot the puck to score, rather than having to force the puck to the top of the crease, hoping to whack and hack the puck home from close range, as much of the offensive play had become in recent years.

Has the style of play been at least in part to blame for Osgood's slow start? He doesn’t think so, saying only that he's yet to establish his rhythm. “Actually," he added, "I haven’t even been that good yet."

Osgood has always played the puck aggressively, so getting out to help his defensemen and diffuse the forecheck isn’t a major adjustment. That isn’t the case with Nikolai Khabibulin in Tampa Bay. He is one of the best puck stoppers in the game, but puck handling has never been a particularly strong element of his repertoire.

In anticipation of increased forechecking pressure because of the rule changes, Khabibulin spent the entire training camp with goaltending coach Jeff Reese working to improve his puck-moving skills. It is always impressive when All-Stars look at themselves and find ways to improve.

Khabibulin’s effort is another reminder that talent only makes greatness a possibility, but preparation and skill refinement are vital elements in making the best players so.

Ahead of the curve

Speaking of preparation, Nashville’s Tomas Vokoun says he’s ready for anything –- including unrestricted curves on the sticks of shooters. The Predators caught Patrik Elias and Jaromir Jagr using sticks with more than the allowed half-inch curve of the blade. The Florida Panthers nailed Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk for the same indiscretion. Goaltenders everywhere must applaud such vigilance, right? Well, not necessarily.

Vokoun says maybe the time has come for the NHL to go to an unrestricted policy when it comes to stick curves. There are no limits in Europe, and the NHL originally put their guidelines in place in the early 1970s to protect under-protected goaltenders of the day.

With today’s excellent equipment, that no longer is an issue, nor is the sometimes-presented argument that excessively curved sticks would lead to errant shots endangering the crowd.

With the netting added to the end zones this season, fans are secure. Perhaps the time has come to let the shooters doctor their sticks any way they choose.

One thing is certain -- the goalies around the league won’t flinch.

 

Related information

Stories

NHL Power Rankings: Week 2 NHL Burning Questions: Keenan rides Luongo hard Week at a Glance: Roy set to put another notch in his belt CNNSI.com's Jon A. Dolezar: Old guys adjusting better to new rules enforcement

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video