O Depth- Where Art Thou?

by Matt Wells

Depth: Strength held in reserve, especially a supply of skilled or capable replacements.

In the sports world, depth is an asset that every team in every sport wishes to have.  Each sport has a particular position where depth is most wanted. Though it is wanted at all positions, depth is most desirable at a certain position.

In football, you hope to have depth at the quarterback position.  In baseball, you want pitching/bullpen depth, for pitchers seem to get hurt the most often.  Basketball might be the only sport where depth is needed at each position; after all, you want a strong bench.  And then, there’s hockey.  The position of goaltender is where you want the most depth.For the sake of this article, I’ll focus on the NHL playoffs that are currently being viewed by hockey fans across the country on stations such as OLN and NBC.

Eight teams have made it to their conference semifinals, and they can thank their goaltending for even getting them into the playoffs.  Five of those eight teams in the conference semifinals have used more than one goaltender proficiently this season.  Now, I’m not talking about a team playing their backup goalie for 10 games during the season.  I’m talking about nearly equal playing times between the starter and the backup.  

Some teams wouldn’t even be in the playoffs right now if it wasn’t for their backup goalies.  In no particular order, the five teams with “goaltending depth” are:

BUFFALO SABRES:

When starter Ryan Miller went down in late October of this season with a broken hand, the Sabres had to look to their “backup” Martin Biron.  Now, Biron did have some experience under his belt – he had been the starter in Buffalo before the Sabres decided to hand the reins over to Miller.

How would Biron react being thrown back into the spotlight?  Well, he would win 13 straight starts between November 15th and December 17th.  Biron would allow more than 3 goals in a game just once during that stretch, and the Sabres offense ended up scoring 6 times in that game.

Biron would end up playing in 35 games during the regular season, not too bad for a “backup.”  A 21-8 record isn’t too shabby, either.  Yes, Miller is the team’s number 1 starter (he would play in 48 games), and he has started every game for Buffalo in the Sabres postseason run.  But, the Sabres have confidence in knowing that, if Miller struggles or gets hurt, Biron is up to the challenge.  It’s nice to have that feeling, isn’t it?

OTTAWA SENATORS

The Senators were cruising along during the regular season.  Their offense was scoring at will and “The Dominator” Dominik Hasek was stopping opponents’ shots at will.  Then, during the Olympics, Hasek suffered yet another injury to his groin.  Senators fans began to sweat, as their worst nightmares came true – Hasek would miss the rest of the regular season.

Then, up stepped Ray Emery, who was not donning a Superman cape, though it seemed like it.  Emery would take over the starting role on March 1st and, much to the happiness of the Ottawa Senators, Emery would be sensational.  He would post a record of 15-10 once Hasek was shelved, but this would be good enough for the Senators to end up with the East’s top record.

Emery was solid in the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning and, after getting shelled by Buffalo in Game 1 of the conference semifinals, Emery would rebound to have a solid Game 2, only to lose once more.  Without a quality backup like Emery, the Senators could have seen their early season success go down the drain.

CAROLINA HURRICANES

Cam Ward was thrust into the spotlight immediately in Carolina after starter Martin Gerber injured himself in the first game of the season.  The rookie Ward would start the next 6 games, going 3-3.  He looked impressive at times and he was able to stop Mario Lemeiux and Sidney Crosby in a shootout for his first professional victory.

However, with the return of Gerber, Ward would be delegated to the bench once more.  Ward would play in 28 games during the regular season, starting 25 of those games.  Ward’s record in his rookie season wasn’t too bad: 14-8.  Gerber, however, would get the nod to start the playoffs.

Who can blame the ‘Canes for starting Gerber?  He was unbelievable in the Olympics for Switzerland, and he did compile a regular season record of 38-14.  However, Gerber would falter in the first round against the 7th seeded Montreal Canadiens.  In two games, Gerber would go 0-1 with a GAA of 7.20.  The Hurricanes lost their first two games at home to Montreal, and Carolina fans feared for the worst.

However, in stepped the rookie, Cam Ward.  Ward would record 4 straight victories to propel Carolina into the second round.  Now, Ward has won his first two starts of the second round, beating the not-so-hot-anymore New Jersey Devils.

Yep, if it wasn’t for Cam Ward, the ‘Canes wouldn’t be in the second round.  God Bless goaltender depth.

ANAHEIM (MIGHTY) DUCKS

Yes, yes…the “Mighty” is being dropped from the team name next season.  But, we can still call the Ducks “Mighty” as long as they’re still in the postseason.  And where would the Ducks be without the play of youngster Ilya Bryzgalov?  Nowhere, that’s where.

Starter Jean-Sebastien Giguere would be sidelined by a hamstring injury in mid-November, and the Ducks would call on Bryzgalov to suddenly shoulder the load.  Bryzgalov would be successful – at one point during his fill-in starts, Bryzgalov would win 4 starts in a row and he would win 5 times in a stretch of 6 games.  This was the first time in Bryzgalov’s young career that he would be thrust into the spotlight.

Bryzgalov would finish the regular season 13-12.  The Ducks would finish as the 6th seed in the West, thanks in part to the good play of Bryzgalov, the young reserve.  However, the reins would be handed back to Giguere to start the playoffs against the Calgary Flames.

Giguere would struggle against Calgary, ending up with a 2-2 record in the series and a GAA of 3.88 – a number that’s a little too high for the playoffs.  Remember, this was the same Jean-Sebastien Giguere would put up a pretty good shutout streak in the playoff run of 2002-2003 (5 shutouts overall).

In Game 6 against Calgary, the Ducks would turn to Bryzgalov with the team down 3 games to 2.  Bryzgalov would win Game 6, allowing just 1 goal.  He would then shut out the Flames in Game 7 in Calgary, allowing the Ducks to advance.  Amazingly, Bryzgalov would shut out the Colorado Avalanche in Games 1 and 2 of the conference semifinals, before allowing a first period goal to Dan Hinote last night.  He would still get a 4-3 win.

Bryzgalov’s shutout streak ended at 249 minutes and 15 seconds, the second-longest streak in NHL playoff history.  Without the youngster Bryzgalov in net, the Ducks might not have made it to the second round.  Instead, they have a 3-0 lead on the Avs, and they are on the brink of the Western Conference Finals.

SAN JOSE SHARKS

If you ask any hockey fan living who is still living in 2004, they would tell you the starting goaltender in San Jose is Evegeni Nabokov.  After all, Nabokov is the goalie with three 30-win seasons under his belt.  He is the goalie with 8 playoff wins on his resume.  He had been the starter for the Sharks since the 2000-2001 season.  Well, not anymore.

Nabokov would struggle during the regular season, compiling a record of 16-19 with a GAA of 3.10.  This would prompt the Sharks to turn to backup Tesa Voskala.  Voskala was nothing short of remarkable.  After losing his first three starts, Toskala would end up with a record of 23-7 at season’s end.  Nabokov’s starting job was no more.

Toskala also won his last 7 starts during the regular season, helping the Sharks to end up as the West’s number 5 seed.  In 7 postseason games for the Sharks in the past 2 weeks, Toskala is 6-1, losing only to the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals.

Once again, there’s no denying that depth at the goaltender position helped get the Sharks to where they are.  Without Toskala, the Sharks, quite possibly, could be sitting at home instead of participating in this postseason.  Of course, that guy named Joe Thornton helped, too.

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The New Jersey Devils (Martin Brodeur), Colorado Avalanche (Jose Theodore), and the Edmonton Oilers (Dwayne Roloson) have consistently stayed with one goalie for most of the regular season and postseason.  NOTE: Theodore and Roloson were acquired at midseason from Montreal and Minnesota, respectively.

However, there is no denying that goaltender depth helped play a huge role in all of the teams’ success stories this year.  Without formidable backups, the teams that had to face adversity at this critical position would have floundered, and we would be looking at an entirely different playoff scenario.

So, here’s to you, goaltender depth.  When we need you, all we have to do is call.  It’s better to have depth than to not have it at all.