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Emery “Wins” Backup Goaltender Job, Which Means… Nothing.
Yep, that's our backup goaltender. The one on the left, dumbass.
The Blackhawks officially signed Ray Emery to back up Corey Crawford this season, ending the competition with Alexander Salak. Why should you care? Well, you really shouldn’t.
It doesn’t matter what the reasons were for Coach Q and Stan Bowman to go this route. There are plenty, I’m sure, and none of which are of any concern to me. Chicago fans have an affinity for the backup, no matter what sport. It’s always been that way. And finally, for the first time in a few years, Blackhawks fans don’t have to worry who the hell is wearing the baseball cap this season while the starting goaltender shines in net.
Do you think fans of other contenders in the West are sitting around discussing their backup goaltender? San Jose has Antti Niemi. Vancouver has Roberto Luongo. Detroit has Jimmy Howard. And all of their fans seem fine with that. Yet, with the ‘Hawks possessing a goaltender either better or on par with each of them – including Luongo, in my book – some of us are sitting around actually caring who will backup Crawford. Frankly, that’s ridiculous.
Maybe it’s carryover from the past couple years, when the initial starters went into the season with us already knowing they had questions they needed to answer for us. We all waited for Cristobal Huet to fail, and he did. Same goes with Marty Turco. And each of those seasons, the Blackhawks had a question mark at backup which took the reigns nicely. I get it.
Difference this season lies in the fact the ‘Hawks have nothing to worry about at goaltender. Tell me why I’m going to fret over who gets 25 starts this season, if that? I have more important things to worry about, like the fact my cat is taking annoying tongue bath next to me. There’s no reason to be worried, especially given the fact the ‘Hawks have enough room under the cap if they need to trade for a serviceable rental if the unthinkable happens and Crawford suffers some horrific injury.
Do I trust Emery to carry the ‘Hawks for a full season if that were to happen? No. But how many teams in the league trust their backup to do that in the first place? There’s a reason the backup goaltender is the backup goaltender. It’s not because the starter’s mask is prettier, it’s because he’s more talented than the other guy.
Take this news with a grain of salt, if you haven’t already.
More pressing issues …
♦ I stated the other day that I can’t see the experiment of Patrick Kane at center lasting very long, and I may not have thought it through all the way. I’m enjoying watching him there more than I thought, and I’m open to the idea – not that anyone gives a shit what I think anyway – of having him there for as long as he keeps going strong. Having Kane at center, then on the wing with Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews on the power play would be a nice balance to use his playmaking abilities and scoring prowess throughout each game.
Loading ...♦ Brandon Saad and Brandon Pirri have done enough in the preseason to make me feel at ease going into the season a little banged up with Patrick Sharp, Dave Bolland, Viktor Stalberg and Ben Smith on the mend. Saad, the 18-year-old, likely won’t play past his nine games before his contract kicks in, but he should be more than serviceable for the time Q needs him. Pirri hasn’t exactly faced stellar competition, but you have to be in the right spot to score goals, which he’s done well thus far.
♦ Maybe it’s just me, but I’m buying into all the quotes I’ve read from the likes of Toews, Kane, Sharp and Q about how excited they are about this season. It’s refreshing and making me more excited to watch what this team is all about. Remember, the ‘Hawks still ended up with 97 points last season after spending the offseason and much of the regular season talking about everyone who had left rather than who was still donning the Indian head. Friday, we’ll finally get our first taste.
♦ Speaking of Friday, I’ll be at Galway Bay on Diversey with the HOCKEENIGHT folk making an ass of myself. But we’ll talk about all that within the next couple of days.
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About the author
Editor/founder of Cheer the Anthem, season ticket holder in Section 326 and full-time sports writer who lists June 9, 2010, as one of the greatest days of his life. Contact him at jeffrey.bartl@gmail.com.
| Print article | This entry was posted by Bartl on October 3, 2011 at 5:29 pm, and is filed under 2011 Pre-Season. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
Thanks, Neal. And thanks for the unnecessary tone as well. I didn't exactly break out the calculator to go over "win rate" when writing this, so thanks for that also. If you'd like to shit yourself over who the backup is going to be, have at it. But my point is that there are more important things to discuss than this, and I'm sure fans of the Sharks, Canucks, and Wings are doing just that. You know, Neal?
What tone? Vancouver "won" the Presidents Trophy because of Schneider. Hawks were an 8th seed and almost missed the playoffs because of Turco. If the Hawks had indeed missed the playoffs last year because of Turco's poor play would your opinion on the importance of backup goalies have changed?
You really, honestly, truthfully, think that Vancouver won the President's Trophy because of Schneider? Silly me thinking Luongo's Vezina-caliber season had something to do with it. Or the Sedins being pretty good. Or that Kesler guy. Or... well, everything else the Canucks did well. And if you really think that Turco's play would be THE reason the 'Hawks missed the playoffs last season, you may want to think a bit harder. I may be understating the importance of a backup goaltender, I get that. But, you're undoubtedly overstating it. You do very well with your stats-based posts, man, but "wins rate" among backup goaltenders is one you may not want to delve into on the site. To tell me that Vancouver won the President's Trophy because of Scheinder, and Turco was the reason the 'Hawks almost missed the playoffs is pretty out-of-control ridiculous. That's like saying the Red Sox missed the playoffs by one game because they lost on Dustin Pedroia's day off in May, nevermind the fact they couldn't hit or pitch down the stretch. If that's the case, maybe we would have saved plenty of time by not talking last year about Luongo, the Sedins, Kesler and the Blackhawks' other issues, namely defense and depth. And if the backup goaltender is the person winning and losing everything, you can save your time with the rest of your posts and just monitor the statistics of Emery all year. You'll be posting roughly once every two and a half weeks. I'll be concerned with what's going on in the meantime. Don't mean to turn this into a heated argument because I like the stuff you do but, again, telling me Vancouver's and Chicago's hopes are pinned on each team's backup goaltender is just... not a valid thing to say.
Jeff, I don't really know where the anger is coming from. I didn't really say anything here that was particularly controversial. Vancouver was 16 and 4 when Schneider was in the net. Turco was 11 and 11. Schneider goes .500 and Vancouver loses 12 points. Take those away and Vancouver doesn't win the President's Trophy. Turco wins at the rate of even somebody like Niittymaki and the Hawks have 6 extra points and end up with 103. Turco wins at Schneider's rate and Chicago is competing for the Presidents Trophy. My only point about "win rate" was that the West is so close that the backup goalie matters.
Sorry, I'm really not angry. Your first comment started with, "You know, Jeff..." and that sounded a bit shitty to me, and the rest of your initial comment seemed more focused on demeaning my opinion rather than simply stating yours, which you know I always welcome. I'm not mad by any means, honestly, but as I said before, I think you're placing too much stock in those statistics. Frankly, I think those lost points were the result of stupid penalties, lack of depth and the inability to close teams out. We both have our opinions and we'll leave it at that, cordially.
It seems to me Bartl's point is that Turco had questions last year, so having to squeeze into the playoffs with him was not as much of a surprise. Crawford is not a question. He will remain solid, and he will take us to the post-season. I'm not hearing Bartl share his opinion on backup goalies in general, more like his opinion on Crawford, if that helps. To flesh it out further, perhaps Chicago has less of an affinity for the backup, and more a chronic disbelief in the starter.
It seems to me Bartl's point is that Turco had questions last year, so having to squeeze into the playoffs with him was not as much of a surprise. Crawford is not a question. He will remain solid, and he will take us to the post-season. I'm not hearing Bartl share his opinion on backup goalies in general, more like his opinion on Crawford, if that helps. To flesh it out further, perhaps Chicago has less of an affinity for the backup, and more a chronic disbelief in the starter.
You know Jeff, the backup goalie in the west is kinda important. The difference between the President's Trophy winner and the 8th seed is the difference in win rate of the backup goalies. When the teams are that close, who is the backup goalie is kinda important.
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