Tretiak wrote:i think the reason vancouver is a goalie graveyard is because vancouver's never had a goaltender that they could rely on to get them into the playoffs every year..
While I agree with the gist of your message, the term 'goalie graveyard' is a red herring that Brian Burke never should have uttered. Vancouver fans react no differently than any other fans without superstar goaltending, and likewise teams without superstar goaltending also go through a number of auditions. The only past goalie that the fans were really
all over was Potvin. It was not the fans' choice to move McLean (although it was overdue), Burke, Snow (who actually played very well for us), Irbe (who had a winning record on a 60-point team), Weekes (who showed flashes of brilliance), Essensa, Skudra (who was adquate and shone when Cloutier went down with injury) or Hedberg (who was more than accurate). Those were all Crawford decisions from Snow onward, so blame him if anyone. Part of the hostility toward the Cloutier situation comes from the fact that Crawford so
arbitrarily decided to love the guy, when there's been little evidence that he has outperformed others that have been dumped.
I'm sure they're just as apprehensive in Edmonton, and no one jumps on the fans there. They're impatient in Montreal -- hell, their goalie won a Vezina and they've been ready to chase him out of town for years -- but no one seems to label them. The Flyers own organization ridiculously blames the keeper for everything that happens there, and no nickname. Fans in Detroit were the original complainers-about-goaltending (chased away Cheveldae and his replacement Essensa, bitched about Riendeau and Osgood, blamed Joseph for everything that wasn't his fault) but no one fingers them all the time either.
Ottawa -- a franchise which has mirrored us every step of the way -- also went through a goaltending revolving door for a number of years, even plateauing a bit with their own Cloutier called Patrick Lalime. But people don't jump all over Ottawa as a goalie graveyard.
It's just a silly thing (not blaming you, Tretiak, it's Brian Burke who started this snowball) which never should have gotten rolling in the first place.
Tretiak wrote:mclean got hot for one playoff run, but that was 11, almost 12 years ago now..he was never a great goaltender during any other time.
Not
quite... McLean is usually considered the best goaltender in Canuck history, and was stable for quite a while. He had two all-star seasons (1989-90 and 1991-92), the latter of which he was first runner-up for Vezina. He would have won it, too, if he and Patrick Roy played in opposite conferences.