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Abel to Yzerman

Anniversary Flashback:  Legace’s Legacy

by IwoCPO on 01/06/09 at 09:10 AM ET
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Thanks to Monkey who recommended I take a gander at the WayBack Machine.  Boom.  The long, lost A2Y archives.  Does it go all the way back to 1977 when we started this thing?  No. Just three years. 

But sit down for this.  Apparently, and I’m still coming to grips with this, we used to actually like Manny Legace around here.

Check this out:

On February 5th, 2006?  Manny Legace led the league in save percentage and GAA.  And his future was secure in Hockeytown.  He could do no wrong.

This is after 33 games, 744 shots, more than 1800 minutes of ice time.

And there he is. 2.02 in the “new” NHL.

Legace has stopped 76 of his last 79 shots. He stands sixth in the league in save percentage, fifth in shutouts, 9th in wins (while 22nd in games played).

He hasn’t given up more than 3 goals in his last 17 games. No one in the top 20 goalies can claim that. Kiprusoff comes the closest as he’s gone 12 games without giving up four.

In fact, Legace has given up 4 goals only twice.

This is your goalie, Detroit. The debate, if it still rages in dark corners we don’t like to talk about, is over. The Chris Osgood apologists…and oh, yes they’re still out there…must put the kool aid down.

Because today, Manny Legace is unquestionably the number 1 goalie.

Not just in Detroit, either.

And there was more.  So much more.

Hell, there’s like ten Legace-related posts in a span of three days. 

It’s a flashback bitches.  A flashback to the heady times when Manny was our hero. 

For about three more months anyway.  Then the roof frigging caved in and punched us right in the face a few days into May. 

May 2nd, go to the post titled, “I wish this was the third period.”

He played well, very well, the first two periods. But 4 goals, no matter how tough they would have been to stop, in the third period…exceptional goalies make one of those saves. Legace, for a variety of reasons, is not an exceptional goalie.

And don’t forget this…a day later.

It was a total collapse. Having said that, the prominent finger of blame goes right toward Legace. I’m a firm believer that a goalie’s worth is much more than stats, that we have to look deeper at the performance of the entire team and judge that based on how they play in front of their goalie. This team lost confidence in Legace due in no small part to his consistent self-flagellation in the press and his occasional jabs at his teammates.

I’ve read other places, and here, that Legace is a scapegoat, an easy figure of scorn for those of us who expected much more this postseason. Yeah? Agreed. It’s in the job description. But that doesn’t mean we should view his performance any less critically. Dwayne Roloson was in perfect position the whole series. He challenged shooters and stood tall when he really had to. Manny Legace played scared and let in 4 third-period goals in an elimination game. Tough goals, yes. But, Brodeur makes one, probably two of those saves. So does Kiprusoff.

It’s not Manny’s fault that he’s not as talented as the elite goaltenders in this league. But the fact remains that he just isn’t. If he’s on my t-ball team, I keep him in there because I don’t want to crush his spirit or hurt his feelings. Plus I don’t want an angry mom kicking my ass for pulling him.

But this is the business of professional sports and mediocrity at that position in this town doesn’t cut it. The Wings lost for a variety of reasons. One big one is an average goaltender. And an average goaltender isn’t going to do the trick in a pressure-cooker like the playoffs.

See ya Manny. 

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Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977.  No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y.  Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation.  There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature.  Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that. Your suggestions and critiques are welcome: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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