04 Apr '04 - + 67 - 48 Does goalie experience matter?
A lot of teams better hope not. This year, six of the 16 goalies
starting in the playoffs have no practical playoff experience at all,
and only three (Belfour, Brodeur, and Osgood) can be considered
seasoned playoff veterans. Of the remaining 13, Lalime and Khabibulin
are the most experienced, and could easily be considered experienced.
Belfour and Brodeur actually have more experience between them than the
other 14 goalies combined - and that's including Chris Osgood, who has
played twice as many games as any of the others. So does that give
Toronto and New Jersey the edge when it comes to the playoffs? Based on
goalie playoff experience, your Stanley Cup Finals will feature the
Maple Leafs versus the Blues. Does anyone really believe that?
Here's a quick glance at the goalie experience stats for the presumed starting goaltenders in this year's playoffs:
| Team | Goalie | Reg. Season GP | PO GP | PO Min | PO Wins | PO Losses |
|---|
| Nashville | Vokoun | 279 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Boston | Raycroft | 77 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Detroit | Legace | 146 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| NY Islanders | Di Pietro | 80 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Philadelphia | Esche | 127 | 1 | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| Colorado | Aebischer | 131 | 2 | 34 | 0 | 0 |
| Calgary | Kiprusoff | 85 | 4 | 157 | 1 | 1 |
| Dallas | Turco | 184 | 12 | 798 | 6 | 6 |
| Montreal | Thibault | 535 | 17 | 839 | 4 | 11 |
| San Jose | Nabokov | 257 | 17 | 949 | 8 | 8 |
| Vancouver | Cloutier | 305 | 22 | 1223 | 9 | 12 |
| Tampa Bay | Khabibulin | 476 | 34 | 2063 | 15 | 18 |
| Ottawa | Lalime | 322 | 34 | 2150 | 18 | 16 |
| St. Louis | Osgood | 568 | 82 | 4798 | 44 | 33 |
| New Jersey | Brodeur | 739 | 139 | 8700 | 83 | 56 |
| Toronto | Belfour | 856 | 148 | 9169 | 82 | 61 |