Redleaf
Active member
bustaheims said:Zee said:I have to disagree with your puck handling assessment having a minimal role. You can't quantify it, but when a team has a goalie who is bad at puck handling like Reimer, the opposition knows they can skate in harder and apply more pressure which leads to pressure on both the goalie and the defense. When you have a goalie that can play the puck well the opposition knows they can't pressure as much because more often than not the goalie can make the safe play. Its the reason the team looks a lot more calm playing in front of Bernier. Like I said its not something that you can quantify with stats as it affects the flow of play.
The problem with your argument is, if you can't quantify it, you can't really be sure it actually exists or has any actual impact. The other teams may feel that by applying a more aggressive forecheck on a goalie that doesn't move the puck well will result in more turnovers than doing so on one that doesn't, but that doesn't make it true. I mean, let's be honest, the overwhelming majority of times a goalie plays the puck (regardless of how good they are with it), the opposition is not in the forecheck. They're in the middle of a change, or they're exiting the zone because they're offsides, etc. Even a goalie that is good with the puck will tend to err on the side of caution when they feel the opposition has a chance to come in on the forecheck, because, without clear lanes to move the puck, there's just as much chance they'll turn over the puck as a goalie who isn't very good with it.
I don't know. Did the fact that Brodeur could stop the puck and make outlet passes up to his forwards cause people to believe he a was better player because of that ability? You can't quantify it, but 9 out of 10 people will tell you he was.