Two for Elbowing

handicapping the goalies: St. Louis

One more from the archives of Laurie -- because it's just too much fun to not post. In 2003, Laurie griped about the Blue's inability to develop (or keep) a decent goalie. Here it is, 2007, and the Blues are depending on Manny Legace and Curtis Sanford.

Actually, Legace's not bad. And he's a damn sight better than what they were working with in 2003; much as Laurie and I both like Freddy Brathwaite, he's not going to be your #1 goalie... And his backup was?

Yes, Brent Johnson, last seem rumored opening doors for Olaf Kolzig. Who's career GAA of 2.55 wouldn't seem so bad, except it's the average of a bunch of 2.1-2.20 seaons and a bunch of 3.5-3.8 seasons, with nothing really in between...

Date: Sat, 8 Feb 2003 16:02:32 -0800
To: sharks@plaidworks.com
From: Laurie Sefton <lsefton@plaidworks.com>

Handicapping the goalies: St Louis:

I really have to star wondering what it is about the St Louis
organization in that they don't seem to be able to draft, develop,
and then *keep* their goalies. The last one who wasn't traded away
while he still was on top of his gam was Ed Staniowski, which takes
the Blues back to the mid 70's. The it's a series: Davidison, Liut,
Millen, Joseph--heck, even Grant Fuhr made a pass through St Louis,
while a number of other goalies, including Riendeau, Casey, Hrivnak,
Hebert, and Jablonksi wandered in and out for a quick pass--that's
not an exhaustive list, since I want to finish this before the game
starts. I haven't counted it all up, but they may exceed the Sharks
in "your name here" goalie jerseys

So, what do they make noises about, after Freddy Brathwaite carried
the Blues through the first part of this season? They talked about
*trading* him! Luckily, someone in the organization developed some
sense and let Barrasso ride off into the sunset.

Fred Brathwaite: The Stats

Age: 30, Ht 5ft7, Wt 174, Catches: Left

Year Team Lea GP W L T Min
SO SA GA GAA Sv%
2002-03 St. Louis NHL 26 11 7 4 1463
2 578 64 2.62 .889
2001-02 St. Louis NHL 25 9 11 4 1446
2 543 64 2.24 .901
2000-01 Calgary NHL 49 15 17 10 2742
5 1181 106 2.31 .910
1999-00 Calgary NHL 61 25 25 7 3448
5 1664 158 2.74 .900
Saint John AHL 2 2 0 0
120 0 70 4 2.00 .940
1998-99 Calgary NHL 28 11 9 7 1663
1 796 68 2.45 .910
National Team CAN 24 6 8 3 989
2 - 47 2.85 -
1997-98 Manitoba IHL 51 23 18 4 2737
1 1492 138 3.02 .900
1996-97 Manitoba IHL 58 22 22 5 2946
1 1695 167 3.40 .900
1995-96 Edmonton NHL 7 0 2 0 293
0 140 12 2.45 .910
Cape Breton AHL 31 12 16 0
1699 1 858 110 3.88 .870
1994-95 Edmonton NHL 14 2 5 1 601
0 292 40 3.99 .860
1993-94 Edmonton NHL 19 3 10 3 982
0 523 58 3.54 .880
Cape Breton AHL 2 1 1 0
118 0 50 6 3.05 .880

TOTAL NHL 229 76 86 36 12638
15 5717 559 2.65 .902

Ephemera

Flexibility: *** 1/2--he has to be flexible, given he's playing a
bunch of different styles
Crankiness: *--very, very, mellow
Maintenance: *--just a really nice guy

Against the Sharks:

2002-2003
GP W L T GAA SV%
1 0 0 0 0.00 100

2001-2002
GP W L T GAA SV%
N/A

2000-2001
GP W L T GAA
3 1 0 1 2.81

1999-2000
GP W L T GAA
2 1 0 0 0.65

1998-1999
GP W L T GAA
1 0 0 1 2.77

According to the Blues sheet on NHL Total Access, Brathwaite is now 5
ft 8. Unless someone smacked him repeatedly on his head before taking
his official height, someone's nose is longer than Brathwaite's tall,
which I put at 5ft5, which is his OHL height.

Brathwaite hasn't been able to buy a break during his time in the
NHL. He played for an Edmonton team that had gotten too old and too
expensive (and therefore, traded off) and it showed. He was put up on
the altar of "it's all the goalie's fault" and landed in the minors.
He was playing for the Canadian team in the Spengler Cup when he was
hauled out of IHL oblivion to play for the Flames during that season
where they might have gone through more goaltenders than the Sharks
ever did.

Brathwaite won the hearts of the fans in Calgary, and was able to
train under Vernon and Fuhr. Vernon and Fuhr's styles don't have a
lot in common, except that they both are good examples of how a
goalie doesn't have to be 6 ft 4 to be effective. Moreover, they're
both gregarious and relaxed (for goalies) before a game. Unless
you're Glenn Hall, making pre-game anxiety an art form is not the
prescription for a long term relationship. Both veterans imparted a
number of tricks of the trade to Brathwaite, and if you watch him
play, you can see Vernon and Fuhr peeking through. Not a bad pair to
emulate.

So, what does Calgary do? Time to trade Brathwaite, more as a player
to be named later, to St Louis. St Louis really, really thought that
they were in the race for Hasek, and did a "don't repaint your just
yet" on Brathwaite. Then the season began, Hasek was in Detroit, and
St Louis had Brathwaite and Johnson on the ice.

Brathwaite will likely not end his career with St Louis, but wherever
he ends up, he'll be a fan favourite, and he'll play goal with
everything he has.

Brathwaite's not a 60 game a season goalie, which means the later he
plays this season, the more likely he's going to be tired and let in
the odd goal. And even though all you have to be is taller than the
crossbars, at his height, he's not able to take up a lot of the goal.
He's gotten over a tendency to fall to the ice and swim, but if he's
down, he leaves a lot of goal exposed. He'll hug the posts, so a
wrap-around isn't a good percentage shot, as well as shots over both
shoulders.

Brent Johnson: The Stats:

Age: 25, Ht 6ft2, Wt 198, Catches: Left

Year Team Lea GP W L T Min
SO SA GA GAA Sv%
2002-03 St. Louis NHL 25 12 8 4 1352
2 572 53 2.35 .907
Worcester AHL 2 0 1 1
125 0 125 8 3.84 .881
2001-02 St. Louis NHL 58 34 20 4 3491
5 1293 127 2.18 .902
2000-01 St. Louis NHL 31 19 9 2 1744
4 676 63 2.16 .900
1999-00 Worcester AHL 58 24 27 5 3319
3 1815 161 2.91 .910
1998-99 St. Louis NHL 6 3 2 0 286
0 127 10 2.09 .920
Worcester AHL 49 22 22 4
2925 2 1402 146 2.99 .890

TOTAL NHL 120 68 39 10
6873 11 2668 253 2.20 .905

Flexibility: ****: He has to be--he's playing butterfly
Crankiness: *: He's been pretty quiet-even going back to his OHL days
Maintenance: ** 1/2: Long term high ankle sprain causes worries
about whether he's going to be fragile. On the other hand, I'd rather
have his ankle than his head needing tending.

Against the Sharks:

2002-2003
GP W L T GAA SV%
1 1 0 0 1.00

2001-2002
GP W L T GAA
4 3 1 0 1.75

2000-2001
GP W L T GAA
1 1 0 0 1.00

What you might not know: Bob Johnson, Brent's father, played 12 games
for St Louis in the 72-73 season. He ended the season 12-6-5, with a
2.52 GAA.

Johnson sprained his ankle back in September in training camp and
opened the season on the IR. He returned in December, and has since
carried his weight with the Blues, playing better than league average
in all areas. The length of time he spent out, and the location of
the sprain does raise questions about how effective Johnson will be
later in the season, when all the little dings and nicks start to
wear.

The plan in St Louis was to bring in Johnson and have a veteran
around to help Johnson along. So far, he's shown he really didn't
need an NHL mentor. Johnson, even though he ran into a few bumps
during his sophomore season, ended with a 2.18 GAA, which is
impressive by any number of standards.

Johnson's one of the taller goalies in the NHL, and plays to his
height and size. He's playing a modified butterfly these days, which
helps to take advantage of his height. He takes up a lot of area in
front of the goal, which forces shooters to come in close to make a
play. It looks like he's being broken of his habit of taking a
stroll behind the goal, which lead to pucks being stolen and shot in
the goal around him. He's also learned that to get the puck out of
the crease, *get the puck out the crease*--they don't award style
points for puck-handling. Johnson would try one too many moves, and
once again, the puck would be stolen and shot past him.

Given Johnson's modified butterfly style, and suspect ankle, his
five-hole may not close as quickly as it could. As he still likes to
puck-handle a lot, he doesn't tend to get his stick side up as often
as he should--he can be beat with a high shot on the stick side. If
he takes off for a tour behind the net, the puck can be stolen and
shot in before he can react.

--
lsefton@plaidworks.com
"All the best defencemen have goalie eyes."

Handicapping the goalies...

Laurie's still on the IR... But I have the sharks list archives on my disk now, so I can go find some of her earlier stuff.

So in honor of actually getting some Laurie writing into this blog, and Sean Burke's miraculous return to the NHL with the LA kings (yes, they ARE that desperate, thank you), here's a piece she did back in October of 2003 on Burke and his (at that time) cohort, Brian Boucher:

To: sharks@plaidworks.com
From: Laurie Sefton <lsefton@plaidworks.com>
Subject: handicapping the goalies--Phoenix

My office has the "walls of 21 intently staring goalies". Besides
keeping the marketing people out (and currently, one freaked out tech
writer), it's also a historical perspective of teams who moved or
went away. The one goalie no one ever seems to be able to guess, (and
whose team a bunch of alleged "hockey experts" don't recognize) is
Sean Burke in a Hartford Whalers jersey.

Burke recovered his career after leaving Hartford--at one point it
looked like he was going to be out of the league, when he played for
three different teams in the 97-98 season. However, his second chance
may rapidly be coming to a close.

Sean Burke: The Stats:
Age: 35, Ht 6ft4, Wt208, Catches: Left

Year Team Lea GP W L T Min
SO SA GA GAA Sv%
2002-03 Phoenix NHL 13 8 4 0 734 1 391
25 2.04 .936
2001-02 Phoenix NHL 60 33 21 6 3587 5 1711 137 2.29 .920
2000-01 Phoenix NHL 62 25 22 13 3644 4 1766 138 2.27 .922
1999-00 Phoenix NHL 35 17 14 3 2074 3
1022 88 2.54 .910
Florida NHL 7 2 5 0 418
0 208 18 2.58 .910
Total Fla/Phx NHL 42 19 19 3 2492 3
1230 106 2.55 .910
1998-99 Florida NHL 59 21 24 14 3402 3
1624 151 2.66 .900
1997-98 Phil NHL 11 7 3 0 632
1 311 27 2.56 .910
Carolina NHL 25 7 11 5 1415
1 655 66 2.79 .890
Vancouver NHL 16 2 9 4 838
0 396 49 3.50 .870
Total NHL 52 16 23 9 2885
2 1362 142 2.95 .890
1996-97 Hrtford NHL 51 22 22 6 2985 4
1560 134 2.69 .910
1995-96 Hrtford NHL 66 28 28 6 3669 4
2034 190 3.10 .900
1994-95 Hrtford NHL 42 17 19 4 2418 0
1233 108 2.67 .910
1993-94 Hrtford NHL 47 17 24 5 2750 2
1458 137 2.98 .900
1992-93 Hrtford NHL 50 16 27 3 2656 0
1485 184 4.15 .870
1991-92 S Diego IHL 7 4 2 1 424
0 - 17 2.40 -
National Team CAN 31 18 6 4 1721 1
- 75 2.61 -
Olympic Team CAN 7 0 0 0 429
0 - 17 2.37 -
1990-91 NJ NHL 35 8 12 8 1870
0 875 112 3.59 .870
1989-90 NJ NHL 52 22 22 6 2914
0 1453 175 3.60 .870
1988-89 NJ NHL 62 22 31 9 3590
3 1823 230 3.84 .870
1987-88 NJ NHL 13 10 1 0 689
1 300 35 3.04 .880
National Team CAN 37 19 9 2 1962 1
- 92 2.81 -
Olympic Team CAN 4 1 2 1 238
3 - 12 3.02 -

TOTAL NHL 706 284 299 92 40285 32 20305
2004 2.98 .901

Against the Sharks:

2002-2003
GP W L T GAA
0

2001-2002
GP W L T GAA
3 1 2 0 4.72

2000-2001
GP W L T GAA
5 1 4 0 2.02

1999-2000
GP W L T GAA
2 1 1 1 3.39

1998-1999
GP W L T GAA
2 0 1 1 3.43

Flexibility: *: No, and it's not getting any better. He's a bundle of
orthopedic injuries.
Crankiness: ****: Tends to take hack and slash penalties, as well as
the occasional roughing, when he's not in control of the game.
Continues to take many more penalties in road losses than anywhere
else
Maintenance: ****: Continues to spend a lot of time on the IR--29
games with an ankle sprain, and 19 games with a knee sprain. Next
stop is a groin pull or a hip flexor.

The trend is your friend: Burke's 3-0-0 in the past three games,
with a 1.33 GAA

Well, at least Burke is fresh--he's only played in 13 games this
year. He's spent most of the season on the IR, and when he's not,
he's been listed as a player who Phoenix would like to trade for
anything that breathes and has the requisite number of chromosomes.

At 35, given these days how well goalies are conditioned, Burke
should have a couple of season left. Should is the operative word
here. At this point, Burke can only be counted on in a part-time
roles--he's hurt too often, and he's repeatedly injured about
everything he possibly could.

Because of his injuries, when Burke hits the ice, he stays there.
He's big enough to cover a lot of area, and his stick will bat pucks
out of the air, but you can get 2-3 rebounds before he covers or one
of his defencemen clears the puck. When he's standing up, even
though he tends to bend too much at the waist, he covers a *lot* of
goal. His ability to wrap himself around the sides of the goal is
limited, and he can easily be beaten on a wrap-around.

Brian Boucher: The Stats
Age, 26, Ht 6ft2, Wt 180, Catches: L

Year Team Lea GP W L T Min SO SA GA
GAA Sv%
2002-03 Phoenix NHL 39 14 17 7 2235 0 1062 109 2.92 .897
2001-02 Phladelphia NHL 41 18 16 4 2295 2 972 92 2.40 .905
2000-01 Phladelphia NHL 27 8 12 5 1470 1 644 80 3.26 .876
1999-00 Phladelphia NHL 35 20 10 3 2038 4 790 65 1.91 .918
Phladelphia AHL 1 0 0 1 65 0 31
3 2.76 .903
1998-99 Phladelphia AHL 36 20 8 5 2061 2 995 89 2.59 .911
1997-98 Phladelphia AHL 34 16 12 3 1901 0 901 101 3.18 .888
1996-97 Tri-City WHL 40 10 24 5 2388 1 1458 147 3.69 .899
1995-96 Tri-City WHL 55 33 19 2 3183 1 - 181 3.41 -
1994-95 Tri-City WHL 35 17 11 2 1969 1 - 108 3.29 -
TOTAL NHL 142 60 55 19 8038 7
3468 346 2.58 .900

Against the Sharks

2002-2003
GP W L T GAA
2 1 1 0 2.42

2002-2002
GP W L T GAA
N/A

Flexibility: ***: Repeated knee and hamstring injuries, given
Boucher's playing style, is worrisome.
Crankiness: *: Given who he's played with, pretty amazing.
Maintenance: ** 1/2: Great mental attitude, but is good for 6-10
games off during a season with orthopedic problems.

Interesting factlet: In wins, Boucher has a GAA of 1.56, in losses 4.25.

Somehow Boucher lost 10 lbs going from the Flyers to the Coyotes.
Even if that was "bigger is better" poundage, Boucher is travelling a
bit light.

Boucher also seems to be alternating between "on" and "off" years. Of
course, this year has been an off year for all the Phoenix, and
Boucher has come along for the ride. The GAA differential between
wins and losses is pretty consistent from the past seasons--when he's
good, he's good. When he's off, call the game early and crack open a
beer.

Boucher has a much better glove than stick side, and he seems to
visibly tire as the game progresses, which makes me wonder if the
180lbs is the high-water mark at the beginning of the season. He
leans on his glove side, but will go down on his stick side, which
may be one of factors in his injuries. In the third period, if
Boucher hits the ice, he's going to stay there.
--
lsefton@plaidworks.com
"All the best defencemen have goalie eyes."