In the final game of pool play, the United States played rival Canada for what would likely decide who would get a bye in the medal round. It was the most anticipated game for the United States hockey team in 4 years, and where was it broadcasted? MSNBC. That’s right, MSNBC. They broadcasted alpine skiing on NBC, and curling on CNBC, and the Penn State dorms are not equipped with MSNBC. Needless to say, I was angered by this development. Luckily enough, I was able to access the game online so I could watch and subsequently blog about the game.
The scoring started very quickly in the 1st period, as 3 goals were scored (2 US, 1 Canada) before the 10 minute mark. Brian Rafalski led the scoring for the US with the first 2 goals, and Eric Staal scored the first goal for Canada. The rest of the first period was scoreless and the US took a 2-1 lead and the momentum into the first intermission.
The Canadians tried to silence the US team’s momentum early in the 2nd period, when Dany Heatley scored at the 3:32 mark of the 2nd period. Then, late in the period Chris Drury broke the tie to give the US a 3-2 lead into the 2nd intermission. The US started the 3rd period scoring when Captain Jaime Langenbrunner scored a power play goal at 7:09 in the 3rd, and USA held this 2 goal lead deep into the 3rd period. Only at the 16:51 mark in the 3rd period did the Canadians draw close, when Sidney Crosby scored a power play goal to cut the Canadian deficit to 4-3. In the final minutes, the Canadians attacked the net in an effort to send the game to overtime. However, after pulling goaltender Martin Brodeur, Ryan Kesler of the US team scored an unbelievable goal, probably the best empty net goal I have ever seen, to ice the game for the United States and to assure a bye.
So what does this mean for the United States? It means that along with Slovakia, Russia, and the winner of Sweden and Finland, which will be played at 12AM ET Monday morning, the United States will receive a bye into the next round. The United States will likely earn the #1 seed, as long as either Sweden wins or Finland wins by 2 or less goals and scores 4 goals or less. Either way, the US will have a great advantage going into the medal round.
There is one other issue that I would like to address. People call me a homer for saying that Ryan Miller is the best goalie in the world. I hear, “Brodeur is the best of all time, no one can be better than him right now.” While that may be true, and Patrick Roy may have something to say about that, the point is that Ryan Miller is in his prime, and Brodeur is slightly past it. Right now, Miller is playing better than Brodeur. Miller stood on his head today, making many great, game-saving stops in net. Miller’s 42 saves, as opposed to Brodeur’s 18, allowed the US team to withstand a 45-22 shot deficit and still win. Therefore, on the biggest stage, the 2010 Winter Olympics, Ryan Miller showed himself to be the far superior goalie to Brodeur. 42 saves for Miller, 18 saves for Brodeur, a 2 goal win for the United States. Doesn’t seem very biased to me to say that Miller is the better goalie.
Roy as of now had a better career then Brodeur, but Brodeur is likely to be better then Roy by the end of his career. Ryan Miller right now is the best goalie in the olympics, but he is not the best in the world. The best in the world is not playing in the olympics for reasons i do not know. Mark Andre Fleury is the best goalie in the world. He is a Canadian and should be the starter backed up by Brodeur instead of Brodeur backed up by LaLongo. Fortunatly for the USA hockey team and the rest of the teams in the olympics, Fleury is not playing. Canada would have won last night and would win the olympics if he had played.
Marc-Andre Fleury is NOT the best goalie in the world. Consider this. For one, he has arguably the most explosive offense in the NHL, and the Penguins are currently in 4th place in the Eastern Conference, only 1 point ahead of Buffalo with 2 more games played. In addition, Fleury has a GAA (Goals Allowed Average) of 2.65 and a save percentage of .908. Miller has a GAA of 2.16 and a save percentage of .930. As mentioned, Buffalo only trails Pittsburgh by 1 point with 2 less games played, and Miller has a much less of an explosive offense playing in front of him. Fleury isn’t one of the top 5 goalies in any of the 4 most important goalie statistical categories (GAA, save %, shutouts, wins). There is no way one can argue the Fleury is better than Miller, and certainly one cannot argue that Fleury is better than everyone else in the world.
In terms of Martin Brodeur, he has a GAA of 2.32 this season and a save percentage of .915. Brodeur is not even in the top 5 goalies in either of these 2 categories. Everyone decided that he was the best goalie in the world this year because the Devils were playing well and he was playing well as an old goaltender. However, the facts show that in the two most reliable statistics that determine a goalie’s play (GAA and save %), Martin Brodeur isn’t even a top 5 goalie in the league. Although I do believe Brodeur is a top 5 goalie in the league, the fact that he isn’t one of the top 5 goalies in these statistical categories shows that he isn’t as dominant as everyone gives him credit for.
Now to Miller. There is no goalie in hockey that has had the success Miller has had this year in net, and no one has put up the stats he has. Coupled with the fact that, in only his 5th year, Miller has been a great goaltender since he entered the league, he will only continue to improve upon his talent, which is scary for the rest of the league. He is undoubtedly the best goalie in the world right now.
No way is Fleury the best in the world, but I will say he is the best for canada and I have no idea why the hell they haven’t played him. Miller is having an absolutely amazing year and its unbelievable. its incredibly easy to make the argument that he is the best in the world for this year.
If fleury is in the olympics, why is he the 3rd string behind loungo? he is better then both and playing better than any canadian goalie in the world. last year in the playoffs we saw that when he is playing at the top of his game he is UNDENIABLY the best in the world.
I do agree with you that the way miller is playing right now he is the best in the world, but when fleury is at his best… no contest.
KQ,
So first you backed off your statement that Fleury is the best right now (because I gave proof that he hasn’t been close to the best this year in the NHL), and then change your argument by saying that no one is better than Fleury when he is at his best. Then you give as your evidence his performance in the 2009 NHL Playoffs. However, you bring no facts to the table. I have the 2009 NHL Playoff statistics for Marc-Andre Fleury. He had a GAA of 2.61 and a sv% of .908. Do these stats seem familiar? If not, I’ll jog your memory. Fleury has a GAA of 2.65 this season, and a sv% of .908, and this is a season where he isn’t in the top 5 in any of the 4 goalie statistics that best indicate performance (GAA, sv%, wins, shutouts). In addition, it is a season where you yourself admitted that Miller was playing better than Fleury. The point is, Fleury got a lot of attention last year in the postseason because he made some good saves and played on the Stanley Cup winning team, but in fact he did not play extraordinarily well on the whole. He was good, and no one questions that, but he didn’t play nearly well enough to be considered the best in the world, and he still hasn’t.
the best always come up big when it is needed most by their team. fleury showed this in both game six and game seven when his team was leading by only one goal and he stopped waves of shots to clinch a must win in for his team to win the stanley’s cup. he also only allowed 2 goals in game 6 and 7 with his offence barely doing anything for him in the entire stanley cup (only 14 goals in the 7 game finals)
KQ,
That’s fine. I never had any problem saying that Fleury played well, because he did. By no means is his 2.61 GAA in the playoffs bad, but is it not a number the best goalie in the world would put up. His performance in Games 6 and 7 were very good, but 2 good games aren’t enough given the rest of his statistics and performances to be considered the best of all time. And if you are talking about the entire Stanley Cup Series, his GAA was 2.42, which again is not bad, but not world class. I’m sorry, that is just the way it is. Keep in mind that losing goalie Chris Osgood also had better statistics in the finals, with a GAA of 2.01 and a sv% of .926.
While Fleury won, and played well (no argument on either), you still haven’t made a solid, thorough argument of why you think Fleury is the best ever.
You started by saying that Fleury is flat out the best goalie in the world based on his career play. Then, after I promptly gave you statistics to show that your assertion simply wasn’t the case, you retreated by saying that he was the best because of his performance last postseason. After I disproved that by showing that Fleury really didn’t play any better during last year’s postseason than he has for his career, you retreated again by saying that he was great in Games 6 and 7 of the Stanley Cup. That is true, he played great in Games 6 and 7, but that makes his 2.42 GAA over the whole series less impressive, because that means he gave up an average of 3 goals in Games 1-5. In addition, if two games can make a player the best of all time in his sport, then Mark Buehrle is a top 5 pitcher of all time because he has pitched both a perfect game and a no hitter in his career. However, his career statistics are a 135-97 record, an ERA of nearly 4, and zero 20 win seasons. He is a very good pitcher who has had several good seasons but 2 tremendous games (perfect game and no-hitter) in his career. However, this does NOT mean that he is anywhere close to the best pitcher of all time.