Dump & Chase: Who'd Be A Goaltender?

Charlie Klein

I tweeted earlier that for my money, the NHL Playoffs have been EXCEEDINGLY better than the NBA's so far. In terms of women it's Hilary Rhoda (NHL) to Kirstie Allie (NBA). Its that big of a gap. It is too bad that we have to watch Kirstie Allie on ESPN when we could be watching Hilary Rhoda, but that is a story for another time.

That's Hilary Rhoda, by the way.

What has surprised and engrossed me throughout these past few weeks is a lower seed's capacity to play leaps and bounds better than the "better team." The seventh seeded Philadelphia Flyers could eliminate the New Jersey Devils tonight. The seventh seeded Nashville Predators could go up 3-1 in their series with the Chicago Blackawks. If both seven seeds were to advance from their respective series, it would truly open up the competition for Lord Stanley's.

Pekka Rinne has been outstanding for the Predators, who have matched the physical strength of the bigger Blackhawks throughout this series. And yet Preds coach Barry Trotz said that he has seen his goaltender play better. "I've seen Pekks play better. I've seen him go for long stretches where he's absolutely dominant."

It must be nice for Trotz considering how many starting goaltenders have been given the sack by their teams. Montreal started Carey Price last night versus the Washington Capitals. Price fared no better than his teammate Jaroslav Halak, giving up four goals last night.

The Senators are going with Pascal LeClaire after Brian Elliott has failed to allow fewer than two goals (which is not bad, but when one considers his other performances the change seems more than necessary).

 Antti Niemi of the Blackhawks could be on his way out of net if his team goes down 3-1 in their series.

 The Washington Capitals made the change from Jose Theodore to Semyon Varlamov after Theo lost game one and allowed two goals on two shots at the start of game two. So far the switch has paid off for the Caps as they have been 3-0 with Varly between the pipes in this year's playoffs.

One of the more surprising things is that Brian Boucher has been as good as he has been for the Flyers, who have had almost as many goaltenders this season as Larry King's had wives. Boucher has a 1.98 goals against average in four games and does not appear to be on the verge of choking it all away.

Speaking of choking, the San Jose Sharks do not appear to be quite done yet. I am surprised that this series is due to go at least six games. I really thought the Sharks were that much better than the Avalanche. How wrong was I? Not as far off as my buddy Phil Fortuna picking the Thunder to knock out the Lakers... thankfully, but clearly I missed something. Whatever happens next in this series, I know that I will be glued to my computer screen watching it.