Rename the Game

There have been many who have suggested the sport shouldn't be called hockey, but rather, "goalie."

The identity of the player who fills the crease, after all, is the major determing factor when it comes to the success or failure of a hockey club.

It also may be the crucial issue when it comes to the raging debate over whether Brian Burke is a suitable candidate to take over and revive the ailing Maple Leaf organization.

Some argue that Burke turned around a struggling Vancouver team in 1998 and produced a series of winning teams, then went to Anaheim and turned a good club into a Stanley Cup champion.

Others, however, suggest that Burke's team in Vancouver were perennial springtime failures, and that all he did in Anaheim was inherit a solid roster, tweak it a bit, and reap the benefits.

I happen to support the first of these two theories. But there's some evidence to support the second, and that revolves around the issue of goaltending.

In Vancouver, Burke was never able to stabilize the position. He went through an astounding 13 goalies in six seasons, a list that included Garth Snow, Corey Hirsch, Kevin Weekes, Felix Potvin, Corey Schwab, Alfie Michaud, Dan Cloutier, Bob Essensa, Alex Auld, Petr Skudra, Martin Brochu, Tyler Moss and Johan Hedberg.

The main reason the Canucks couldn't convert 100-point seasons into significant playoff runs was, aside from being a team with a collective low IQ that always took stupid penalties, the fact Burke bet heavily that Cloutier could be a No. 1 stopper, and Cloutier was always either hurt or sub-standard.

Burke stubbornly believed Cloutier would eventually come through when few others outside the team supported that notion, and it led to his downfall in Vancouver.

Now compare that to Anaheim. While Burke did indeed put the finishing touches on a roster that weren't necessarily easy ones, such as luring Scott Niedermayer, dealing for Francois Beauchemin and trading for Chris Pronger, the key player he did inherit was netminder Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

Burke has repeatedly called Giguere one of the best money goalies ever, and he's not wrong. Giguere was dazzling in 2003 when the Ducks went all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final before losing to New Jersey, and captured the Conn Smythe Trophy.
When Anaheim did win it all in 2007, Giguere began the post-season on the sidelines but in the end supplied the necessary goaltending.

He's often not pretty to watch, but he's a rock back there who plays his best when it matters most, and the Ducks have been able to count on him year after year.

So if Burke had inherited a Giguere-like goalie in Vancouver, maybe the results there would have been different, just as they might have been in Anaheim had Giguere not been there.

Point is, goaltending usually determines the ultimate success of GMs. Coming to Toronto, Burke will inherit Vesa Toskala, Curtis Joseph and youngster Justin Pogge, a group which right now doesn't look capable of taking the club very far in the years ahead.

So if you wonder how Burke will fare running the Leafs, watch if he sticks with Toskala, and if Toskala turns out to be more Cloutier or more Giguere.

Comments

[Roberto]

I agree. With Toskala even saving at a .900 level, this team is solidly in the playoffs based on 9.5 fewer goals against on 433 shots.
On his career save percentage of .907 it means about 13-14 fewer goals, out of 53 goals allowed so far on the 433 shots. Very significant in 17 games.

[Kevin]

A goalie may in fact determine the how a GM is judged but you can't put all of your eggs in once basket either. Look at Burke's sucessor Dave Nonis after he aquired Luongo. A top two goalie and not much else does not a championship make. The new ownership judged him based on that.

[FRT]

So...in the long journey of ending up with Toskala in net…the Leafs under Fergie Jr. gave up a first round pick and future goaltending star in Rask…to get Raycroft…who bombed…and then to cover-up that blunder…another first rounder and a second rounder to get Toskala…who has been no better then a Junior A goalie thus far!

YOU CAN’T KEEP GIVING UP YOUNG PROSPECTS FOR BUMS! YOU'VE GOT TO GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!

Geez…I think it is time they did hire Burke!

[Go Leafs!]

While I usually enjoy your articles and blogs (particularly, when they provide insight into the perpetual failures of the Leafs’ front office), the blog you’ve provided above is quite disappointing. My issue with the blog is that it doesn’t contain any analysis and thus there’s no value-added proposition for the reader. Effectively, you’ve taken the two most significant issues present in Leafs-land today (namely, (i) inconsistent goaltending; and (ii) the Brian Burke saga) and have suggested that they are related to each other b/c the ultimate outcome of the former may be influenced by the latter. Of course these two issues are related and of course the direction of the Leafs’ goaltending situation will be influenced by whether Burke is hired or not--he will, after all, be the GM and GMs are usually responsible for personnel decisions. What you’ve written is just common sense and your readers knew of it before they read your blog. The rest of what you’ve written is just superfluous information. By mentioning Burke’s track record in Vancouver and the fact that JSG was already with Anaheim when Burke got hired, are you suggesting that Burke, while possessing the ability to assess the skills of position players, lacks the ability to effectively assess the skills of goaltenders? If so, you needed to provide us with some insight (beyond what was provided) into Burke’s employment with Vancouver. Was Burke really unable to assess Cloutier’s skills or were there other factors at play (i.e., a lack of available financing, a lack of cooperation from management or the coach, etc.) that contributed to his prolonged commitment to Cloutier? I don’t know; however, as a Leafs fan, I’d like to find out. Usually, readers can rely on you for excellent Leafs analysis. Not this time. Leave the lazy analysis to the Sun and get back to being one of T.O.’s better hockey writers.

[Ray Brewer]

Bang on Damian..I actually agree with you for a change...Burke becomes a better GM every day..He becomes legendary as each day passes..I realize this is a moot point..Burke will be named GM next week..

I feel we "used up" our rookie GM chance when Peddie hired Ferguson..JFJ was a flop..Maybe he didn't have a choice and had to find a way to make it to the playoffs or maybe he was just that dumb..Who knows..

There are some bright minds in the game right now but they don't have any experience..Steve Yzerman and Joe Niewendyk come to mind..Yzerman comes from an organization that knows how to win..

If Burke messes things up an puts Hardy Astrom in net, we could be looking at another 5-6 years of futility..Ferguson messed up more then just the team..He messed up the chance to hire a up and comer..

[cms]

I am enjoying how the impossibly dense and united Toronto media that so completely bought into Ron Wilson's negative assessment of everything associated with his team (easy for them since it is the raison d'etre of every column) but himself. Now that it is clear that he has overachieving forwards (despite a poor talent level)to go along with a remarkably deep (in this NHL) defense corps his explaing away his team's abysmal structure and defensive lapses by throwing his completely competent if unspectacular (at this point) goalie under the bus. When Paul Maurice's spirted club 2 years ago was completely submarined by horrific goaltending Damien et. al. absolutely refused to accept this talk...dimissing this fact as an "excuse". Now they embrace it with remarkable and predictable vigor. Hilarious..and Ron Wilson is completely devoid of character.

[Corn Flake]

Perhaps Toskala is sandbagging the Leafs right now. Maybe it's a conspiracy to prevent too many wins, a playoff berth and thus the wrong result in a season about rebuilding. Wilson, Fletch and Toskala are all in cahoots. ok I'm kidding.

There are a bunch of established top line goalies who are struggling this year and Toskala is just one of the bunch. I think he will turn it around but I'm content to see him have a rough go of it for exactly the reasons stated above.

As for Burke, when he landed Clouter, Dan was one of the most highly touted up and coming goalies in the league. He paid a big price to get him too and it clearly did not pay off.

Finding a true star goalie has got to be the biggest crapshoot in hockey. I don't think its the deciding factor in whether or not you hire a certain GM. There are probably hundreds of examples in hockey history where goalies have either come out of nowhere to become superstars or have come in as highly touted superstars in the making and flopped.

[kwilson]

I know this wasn't the point of your blog, but Giguere was/is a no talent hack. He looks like the Michelin man in there, even after the so-called enforcement of the equipment rules. He reminds me of those plastic tarpaulins you put over the net to practice shooting with the five holes. It's much more difficult to score on them than a real goalie, even though they don't move. That's like Giguere. He never makes a save per se - the puck just hits him because his equipment is so large. Rant over!