Olympic Hockey: How Does Canada's Goaltending Stack Up?

Mark RitterFeb 9, 2010

Written By: Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter

The first faceoff at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 3:00 PM—Team USA versus Switzerland, followed by a tilt between Team Canada and Norway at 7:30 PM, concluding with a match between Russia and Latvia at Midnight.

Heading into the Olympic tournament, Canada, USA and Russia are expected to be three of the top five teams. Sweden and Finland will also ice solid squads, rounding out the top five.

An argument can be made for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but when you look at the overall rosters and the tough divisions these two teams are in, I still think the Czech Republic and Slovakia will be in over their heads.

While specific lines are yet to be determined, we do know which players have made their Countries rosters. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the tournaments top five teams and how they’ll stack up in the goaltending department.

Goalies

Canada—Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo, Marc-Andre Fleury

Russia—Evgeni Nabokov, Ilya Bryzgalov, Semyon Varlamov

Sweden—Henrik Lundqvist, Jonas Gustavsson, Stefan Liv

USA—Ryan Miller, Tim Thomas, Jonathan Quick

Finland—Mikka Kiprusoff, Niklas Backstrom, Antero Niittymaki

A quick glance at each Countries goaltending options reveals that there will be no easy nights for opposing forwards.

Of the five teams, only Sweden looks to be in trouble if their No. 1 goaltender gets injured, the rest of the five Countries all have very solid backups.

Rating the top trifecta of goaltending is a tough job as each of Canada, USA, Russia and Finland will employ some very impressive backstoppers. The fact is, unless there is a significant injury to one of these countries' No. 1 goalies, there is not likely to be a change in net.

Right off the top, I would Rank Sweden’s overall goaltending as the weakest of the five. Lundqvist is an exceptional first option, but Gustavsson and Liv are unproven. If Lundqvist should go down for any reason one can expect a significant drop in play from Gustavsson, while Liv is a virtual unknown.

Team USA boasts three very good goaltenders, that said, given the lack of hardware this threesome has earned, I would rank their overall goaltending fourth at this tournament.

Ryan Miller has played in three IIHF World Championships, never earning a Medal. Jonathan Quick has no International experience and Tim Thomas, while talented, has played in six World Championships, earning one lonely Bronze Medal in 1996.

At the NHL level Miller has arguably been the Leagues best this season, which should bode well for the United States. Thomas has been struggling of late and, while I’d love to think Quick is a good third option, his lack of experience is alarming.

Overall, Team USA’s goaltending is not as impressive as the other teams in the top three. Miller may be able to pull out a few wins, but, when it comes down to it, I see Team USA falling short. Keep in mind, this is not to say Team USA’s goaltending is poor, just not as impressive as the other three.

I will likely get a lot of flack about the next three rankings, but the way I see it the Fins have the third best overall goaltending in the tournament.

Current NHL statistics aside, Kiprusoff has a reputation for coming up short in the big games. Backstrom and Niittymaki will be vying for the number one job, which may cause some friction between the three.

Kipprusoff played in two World Junior Championships and one World Cup—in which he failed to win a medal, and two World Championships—in which he earned two Silvers. While his regular season play has been solid overall, Kiprusoff is a streaky goaltender who’s Stanley Cup Playoff efforts have been modest, at best.

Backstrom backstopped the Fins to a Silver Medal at the 2006 Olympics. He has also earned a Gold Medal at the 1998 WJC and a Bronze Medal at the 2006 and 2008 World Championships.

Backstrom makes a good case for himself to be Finland’s No. 1 guy. Kiprusoff is on record as saying he wouldn’t come to the Olympics if he was not going to be the number one goalie, that said, if the Fins see Kipper falter, it will be an easy switch to Backstrom, regardless of the rift it may cause between Kiprusoff and Team Finland.

Niittymaki has had a strong NHL season with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He earned a Silver Medal at the 2006 Olympics (winning tournament MVP honors) and a Bronze Medal at the 2006 World Championships.

Russia will boast one of the deepest goaltending rosters in Vancouver, as well as one of the most accomplished.

Led by Evgeni Nabokov, Russia will also employ Ilya Bryzgalov and Semyon Varlarmov. Nabokov has both Olympic and World Cup experience—although he has never brought home a Medal in either event, as well as a Gold Medal effort at the 2008 World Championships.

His penchant for coming out on the losing end in the Stanley Cup playoffs is a stigma that Nabokov has had trouble shaking, but his overall play—especially in the NHL regular season, has been exemplary.

Bryzgalov is surprisingly experienced and accomplished. Bryzgalov won a Bronze Medal at the 2002 Olympics, won Silver at the 2000 WJC, won Gold at the 2009 IIHF World Championships and represented Russia at the 2007 Spengler Cup as well as a World Cup of Hockey appearance.

Bryzgalov has had a solid season with the Phoenix Coyote’s, establishing himself as one of the NHL’s elite goaltenders. He is more than capable of being the No. 1 goalie for Russia if Nabokov should falter.

All Semyon Varlamov does is win. Through 22 career regular season NHL games, Varlamov has posted a record of 16-1-3, with a goals against average of 2.25 and a save percentage of .923.

Varlamov went an impressive 7-6 in the 2008-09 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a .918 SV% and a 2.53 GAA. His calm demeanor, physical presence—Varlamov stands 6’2” and weighs in at 209 pounds, and ability to read the play well, make Varlamov a legitimate third option for Russia.

Call me a “homer” if you want but, at the end of the day, clearly Canada has assembled the best threesome between the pipes.

Martin Brodeur—arguably the best goaltender of all-time—will likely start for Canada, followed by Roberto Luongo and last years Stanley Cup winning goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury.

Brodeur has an impressive resume, one which includes an Olympic Gold Medal in 2002, two Silver Medals at the IIHF World Championships (1996, 2005), two World Cup appearances (won 2004) and three Spengler Cup appearances.

Brodeur owns just about every NHL goaltending record, including, but not limited to, most regular season wins, most shutouts, most overtime wins, most 40-win seasons and most NHL games played by a goaltender.

Brodeur’s puck handling abilities are second to none and, despite his age (37), Brodeur has not let his play slip, in fact, many NHL experts believe Brodeur is having one of the best seasons of his career—which is pretty impressive.

A quick look at Brodeur’s accomplishments and you know why he is considered the best goalie at the Olympics—Calder Trophy winner 1994, Vezina Trophy winner (2003, 2004, 2007, 2008), William Jennings Trophy winner (1997, 1998, 2003, 2004), NHL All-Star Game appearances (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008).

Clearly, there is Brodeur and then there is everybody else. His resume speaks for itself, as do his accomplishments, both at the NHL and International levels. Brodeur boasts a 16-6-2 record and a 2.19 GAA in International play; serving notice to all that they will have to bring their “A” game if they intend on beating Martin Brodeur and Team Canada in Vancouver.

Should Brodeur falter or succumb to injury, Vancouver Canucks fans can expect Roberto Luongo to get the nod as Canada’s second option. Needless to say, playing in front of the hometown crowd at the Olympics would be a huge honor for Luongo, something I am sure he will get the chance to do—perhaps against Switzerland in Canada’s second match, Thursday, February 18th at 7:30 PM.

Luongo has appeared in four World Championships, winning Gold in 2003 and 2004 and Silver in 2005. He appeared in the World Cup of hockey in 2004, leading Canada to victory, as well as winning a Silver Medal at the 1999 WJC and a Bronze at the World U-17 Hockey Challenge in 2005.

A member of Canada’s 2006 Olympic squad, Luongo is a legitimate NHL super-star, who is very capable of leading Team Canada to victory.

Marc-Andre Fleury lead Canada to two Silver Medals at the WJC in 2003 and 2004, respectively. He played in the Spengler Cup in 2009 and is the reigning Stanley Cup winning goaltender.

Known for his calm demeanor and ability to come up big in pressure situations, Fleury rounds out Canada’s impressive goaltending lineup, which, in my opinion, is the tournaments best.

In conclusion, here are the tournaments final overall goaltending rankings: