The Goalie Tandem vs The 'Starter' and 'Backup' or 1A and 1B

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Stuff I Don't Understand About Hockey The NHL it's players, teams, the fans & the sport of hockey itself carry with it long storied histories filled with traditions. Often those same long-standing traditions that make the sport so great are the very things that can impede on the games progression over time. As with any aspects of life, there's an unwillingness to change because of a "that's how we've always done it" style of thinking. This is especially true when it comes to goaltending. The history of the goalie mask's introduction to the sport -- and the detractors it faced along the way are evidence of this style of thinking. It's no wonder GMs, coaches & goalies are reluctant to accept changes to their way of thinking when it comes to anything related to the goaltending position. The past few seasons have shown a successful, [probably unintentional] trend in how teams fill the Netminder's position on their roster. This trend sees some teams migrate from the antiquated idea of having a 'starting goaltender' & [a very less capable] 'backup goaltender' in favor of the innovative 'Goalie Tandem'r Remember When Most of us, myself included can't remember [or imagine] a hockey game with no backup goaltenders on the benches. [So who would hold open the door from the ice to the bench for the skaters? As the league pre-dates television, it wasn't unheard of to see a 45 minute stoppage in play while a banged up netminder had one of his many 'body injuries' stitched up. And in the worst case scenario if the goaltender didn’t regain consciousness, the [home team’s] trainer would play out the rest of the game. I specified home-team there because it also wasn’t common back in the day for the visiting team to travel with their own trainer. If you’re thinking “what happened if the visiting team’s goaltender was rushed to the hospital” I have only an answer, not an explanation – the home team’s trainer went in net for the visiting team. I’m sure the trainer’s dedication to the sport would override team loyalty to ensure a fair game. Just ask Lefty Wilson. One of the most notable trainers slash emergency backup goaltenders [slash whatever else was needed] was the Detroit Red Wings Ross “Lefty" Wilson. Lefty's listed in the NHL game logs as a netminder of record for portions of three games. Allowing only one goal in his allowing one goal in 81 minutes of play for a career GAA of .74. Interestingly enough, the goal allowed was when Lefty stepped up as the emergency goaltender for the visiting Boston Bruins. The goal allowed his Detroit Red Wings to end the game in a tie. His other experience backstopping the visiting team was for the already-behind Toronto Maple Leafs. Section 2 Rule 5.1 of the Current NHL Rule Book states: “A team shall be composed of 20 players (18 skaters and two goalkeepers) who shall be under contract to the Club they represent. “ I couldn't find any mention in the NHL Rulebook of a requirement that one of the two goaltenders to be significantly less skilled than the other. No minimum 'years-of-experience' requirement on either goaltender. Nothing specifying one netminder had to play a significant number of games more than the other. Aside from salary-cap restrictions the only thing preventing teams from carrying TWO elite [or otherwise ‘really good’] goaltenders are the antiquated concepts of a ‘starter’ and ‘backup’ and the ego of whichever netminder was receiving the bigger paycheck. So why are teams still carrying [and overworking] one great goaltender and another not-so-great one? Aren’t there advantages to having TWO great goaltenders? Sharing the work so both goaltenders get the valuable ice time needed to keep their skills sharp while getting some rest to avoid over-working? If one goaltender isn't feeling like they're 100%, wouldn't it serve the team well if he took the night off instead of playing when he's not 100%. It's much easier when you've got another highly skilled netminder that's just as capable of giving the team a chance to win. When will GMs, Coaches, Teams [& the media] change their archaic ‘Starter’ & ‘Backup’ Goaltender [or ‘1a’ and ‘1b’] thinking to a team-oriented & ‘Highly-Skilled Goaltending Tandem’ Not releasing which goaltender a team plans to start can hinder the opposing team's efforts to scout their netminder. [If they’re both good goalies, why not leak the WRONG goaltender to the press, just to throw off your rival team]. This strategy is especially effective for teams with [highly skilled] left & right gloved goalies. Skaters can play with confidence & don't have to change their playing style based on which netminder is backstopping them. Potentially injured goalies might be less hesitant to play hurt if they've got a reliable tandem-mate to step in for them. How often have we seen one of the league's elite 'starters' have an amazing regular season but start feeling the impact of being overworked going into the playoffs? [or the end-of-the-regular-season slump] Would those elite netminders still be struggling during some of those valuable must-win end-of-season games or headed into the playoffs if coaches offload more games to the elite Netminder's highly skilled ‘tandem partner’ was a viable option? What options are left by the end of the season when you've got one overworked goalie that's not playing his best and a sub-par goalie that hasn'tseen ice-time in several weeks? Worse yet, with only one starter a goaltending injury can stop a playoff run dead in its tracks. ‘Veteran Presence’ Also known as the ‘Journeyman’ [whose journey should have ended by now – or at least taken him overseas to one of the European Leagues]. It’s great for a young netminder to have a positive role model & mentor in a ‘veteran’ presence. Experienced goaltenders often provide valuable insight from a unique perspective to all of the players on a team. Skaters can benefit by having an experienced long-time NHL goaltender practice with their team. Often there can be a sense of loyalty to a ‘veteran ‘ goaltender that’s been with the team for a few years or played with a team in the past. Instead of ‘backup goaltender’, let’s call him an ‘assistant goalie coach’, give him a non-cap space salary and free up a roster spot for an additional goaltender with better stats? The NHL’s rules are a bit fuzzy and seem to change depending on the specific situation, so who knows if you need an ‘emergency goaltender’, you can even let him play a few games. The Other Goalie’s Ego Teams that [inadvertently] end up with a ‘Great Goalie Tandem’ often have difficulty maintaining the tandem as status quo due to the sport’s hang-up necessitating that one netminder have the ‘starting’ title [or ‘1A’]. The media-created-controversy / trade speculation resulting from any team found to have TWO GREAT goaltenders results in tensions and a constant competition within the team to ‘win’ the ‘Starter’ [or ‘1A’] title. There’s TWO goalies on the team. Competition Friendly competition between goalies for the start in an upcoming game can be healthy. As long as it doesn’t reach the point where one of the goalies worries too much that somebody’s been adding ricin to his Gatorade. ___________________________________ Writers Note: There's a few more aspects to the goaltender tandem that I've find interesting so I'm working on a Part hope you enjoyed my first piece. There's a few topics I've wanted to give my two cents on but I've hesitated due to a lack of confidence in my writing skills. My writing style tends to stray off topic [quire often] which makes it difficult to organize my ideas into an easily readable [and short] article. I've got several other ideas I think would make interesting articles. Please contact me if you're interested in helping me edit or co-write a few hockey articles. --Dezi

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The Goalie Tandem vs The 'Starter' and 'Backup' or 1A and 1B

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