Kukla's Korner

23 Intently Staring Goalies

Entries with the tag: Goalie

Sean Burke—Coaching from Experience

I have in my possession a close-up photo I took of Sean Burke in a Hartford Whalers mask. Nope, he didn’t suddenly spring up from the seafoam—which would be a neat trick in Arizona—and become the hottest goalie coach in the NHL.

 

If someone has asked me back then if I thought Sean Burke was going to become a premier goalie coach, I wouldn’t have considered it. Burke was better than a good goalie, but he also had a rep for having a bit of a temper on-ice. He’s hit the league with a splash, fresh from the Canadian National Team, and looked like the goalie of the future for the New Jersey Devils.

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 Tags: goalie, NHL, Phoenix+Coyotes, Sean+Burke,

The Understudy knows all the parts: Jason LaBarbera

I wonder if Jason LaBarbera wakes up at 3AM and wonders about how he arrived where he is right now. He’s Mike Smith’s backup, and a goalie who’s been on both teams in the Western Conference finals. (For the bar bet of the week, he’s also tended goal for the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Rangers.) He’s been the #1 goalie in the minors, but other than one season with the LA Kings, he’s played understudy.

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 Tags: Coyotes.+Kings, goalie, Jason+LaBarbera,

Why Luongo, without your no-trade clause, you’re beautiful!

Roberto Luongo is in the market, and some have already decided that he’s going to the Maple Leafs. Or maybe he’s going to the Oilers, or maybe the Lightning. I could keep going, but there’s the rest of the league to list, and that would take awhile.

For a number of fans, writers, and analysts who are looking in from the outside of the Stanley Cup playoffs, this is the best recreation available. There’s a lot of “could we? should we? would we?” running loose across the ink and phosphors. It’s cheap, it’s fun, and hey, you  don’t have to cut the check!

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 Tags: Goalie, NHL, Roberto+Luongo,

Braden Holtby—the latest to start a stellar career in the playoffs?

The Stanley Cup Playoffs can be the door a relatively unknown goalie uses to enter the NHL. Ken Dryden was better known for his college play when he shut down the Bruins in 1971. Mike Vernon was a local kid who made good in the 1986 playoffs. So I’m not surprised that Braden Holtby has caught the attention of the hockey media.

Holtby turned what might have been Boston rolling over a weaker team into a goalie battle, only giving up the winning (and only) goal in overtime.  Washington Capitals—when you lose 1-0 in overtime, you shouldn’t be looking at your goalie.

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 Tags: Braden+Holtby, Capitals, goalie,

Turco-Then and Now

I really want Marty Turco to do well, I really do. It just seems that real life keeps interfering with the coda on his NHL career.

I’ve watched Turco play since his days at UM under Red Berenson. The University of Michigan hockey program at that time looked like the place where NHL caliber goalies were trained, polished, and made ready for a long career in professional hockey. That hasn’t quiet worked out as well as hoped, but Berenson ran (and still runs) a first-class program there.

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 Tags: Boston+Bruins, goalie, goaltender, hockey, Marty+Turco,

Bishop to Ottawa—first move in the goalie market?

Ben Bishop went to the Ottawa Senators, who signed him to a one year, on-way contract, ending any speculation that Bishop would become a Group VI UFA on July 1 this year. The 6ft 7 Bishop spent most of the season with the Peoria Rivermen of the AHL, after losing out a starting role with the St Louis Blues.

This settles the Blues immediate goaltending future, and give Ottawa a younger goaltender to build on.

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 Tags: Ben+Bishop, goalie, Ottawa, St+Louis, trades,

Brodeur Pere et Fils

There’s been a lot going on around Martin Brodeur. He’s been struggling back from a cold start this season, with the annual discussions as to whether he should finally hang them up.

Brodeur has turned it around, and was back to his winning ways. Then came the phone call—his father, Denis Brodeur had been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

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 Tags: Denis+Brodeur, Goalie, Martin+Brodeur, NHL,

Taking one for the team, even when it’s not at a game

Well, who knew that a NHL goaltender could be so lacking in grace?

Everyone else is talking about l’affaire Tim Thomas, so I might as well get my two cents in.

First a confession:  I have a number of relatives who, while not career politicians, sure made an attempt at it. They did this in and around Chicago, and oddly enough on both sides of the political aisle.

What did this mean to me? I attended a lot of events where I wasn’t particularly happy to be there, and didn’t necessarily agree with the views of the people putting on the party.

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 Tags: goalie, goaltender, manners, Tim+Thomas,

Chris Mason’s Hairy Problem

Chris Mason has a hairy problem. It was time to him to give his beard a trim, and he started winning. Four games later, he’s still winning, and the beard is still there.

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 Tags: beard, Chris+Mason, goalie, Winnipeg+Jets,

Petr Mrazek—worth the price of admission!

If you’re not paying attention to the World Junior’s, start—now.  Selected games are on the NHL Network in the US and TSN in Canada.  And we have a hot goalie with, *gasp*, personality.

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 Tags: goalie, Petr+Mrazek, World+Junior+Championship,

Billy Smith, to the Angry Red Phone, Please!

Ryan Miller comes back, gets hit. Everyone had to see this one coming, especially with the Predators’ situational behavior-challenged Jordan Tootoo. It was right to put Tootoo in the box, and he should be expecting a call from Brendan Shanahan some time this week.  The overhead camera shows that Miller was on the magic blue ice, and Tootoo didn’t make an attempt to stop before he said hello.

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 Tags: goalie, Ryan+Miller, Sabres,

     

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