Game one of the Stanley Cup Final goes Saturday, May 29th, 2010 at 8pm EST from Chicago. The second seeded Blackhawks will face the Philadelphia Flyers, a team who made the playoffs with a shoot-out win on the last day of the regular season. Once the playoffs start, all bets are off, and a team's success relies heavily on the man between the pipes. And this years Final features two unknown playoff rookies, who are proving a Stanley Cup winning goalie doesn't need to be a household name.
Antti Niemi Went From an Undrafted Free Agent, to an NHL Starter
Finnish born Antti Niemi played his junior career in Europe for five seasons, before starting his pro career with the Pelicans of the Finnish Elite League. He played there for three seasons posting respectable numbers. He went undrafted at the NHL level, but signed with the Chicago Blackhawks as a free agent in 2008. He played in the AHL until February of 2009 when he was called up to the big club and played three games. He made the Blackhawks out of training camp in the 2009-2010 season and eventually took the starting job from the struggling Cristobal Huet. Niemi has had a spectacular playoff so far, a huge reason the Blackhawks are playing for the Stanley Cup. Unlike his counterpart in Philadelphia, Niemi has faced a ton a shots, and a lot of offensive stars, and has stood tall. But despite his stellar play, he's a no-name rookie, and because of that, goaltending is Chicago's percieved weakness. But so far Niemi has proved that it's not the name on the back of the jersey that matters, but rather how good a goaltender performs for his team when it matters most.
Famous Goalies have Struggled in the Playoffs
Martin Brodeur and Ryan Miller bowed out meekly in the first round. Roberto Luongo and Marc-Andre couldn't get their teams past the second round. Last year's Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas didn't even start one game. The best goalie in the playoffs was Montreal's Jaroslav Halak, a player who wasn't even a starter all season long. Is the era of the big-name goalie dead? Is it a matter of which goalie is hot, rather than which goalie has had the better career? Since 1999, the following starting goaltenders have won the Stanley Cup: Ed Belfour, Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy, Chris Osgood, Nikolai Khabibulin, Cam Ward, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, and Marc-Andre Fleury. Some of those names are award winners, hall of famers and future hall of famers. Famous netminders such as the aforementioned Miller, Henrik Lundquist, Mikka Kipprusoff and Evgeni Nabokov have yet to lead their teams to the Stanley Cup, despite being described as the elite goalies of the NHL. The fact that two previously unknown names are starting goalies in the Stanley Cup final proves that relying on a big-name goalie isn't a guarantee to victory. If that goalie is hot, that's a bonus, but as these playoffs have proved, the teams that win have the better goalie, not the most famous one.
Michael Leighton's Journey to the NHL has been a Long One
Since he was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1999, Leighton has played for four NHL teams, and five AHL teams. He has been placed on waivers four times, including a previous stint with Philadelphia. He was picked up again by the Flyers earlier this season after their starting goaltender went down with injury. He proceeded to go an impressive 16-5-2 before getting injured. He was replaced by fellow journeyman Brian Boucher who helped lead the Flyers to the playoffs, until he was hurt in the second round. Leighton jumped right back in and hasn't looked back since, posting six wins and three shut-outs. Leighton's story is a remarkable one, a testament to someone who has never given up, and now has an opportunity to get his name on the Stanley Cup. A team needs a goalie who's solid and makes timely saves to win in the playoffs, and as long as they get that, it really doesn't matter what his name is.
Marcia Di Michele - In addition to Suite101, Marcy is also a writer for TheHockeyWriters.com and blogs for Sports Illustrated's Fannation page. Marcy has been ...
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