The situation is the same for Tyson Sexsmith.
The Vancouver Giants starting goaltender knows the pressure for his team’s second-round series against the Spokane Chiefs will be based almost solely on his performance. And yet in this all too familiar of circumstances, Sexsmith retains a calm and quiet confidence.
"You know, I’ve been put in that situation a lot of times where I’ve had to prove people wrong," Sexsmith said.
Any questions about Sexsmith’s ability to perform in clutch situations should have been answered after he won the Memorial Cup in 2007.
In the public’s mind, Sexsmith was a good goalie on a great team – the type of goalie his team won in spite of, not because of. Even after setting the Western Hockey League record for career shutouts with 26, obliterating the previous mark of 21, Sexsmith supposedly still needs to prove something to his critics.
As the Giants’ second-round series with Spokane begins Friday, Sexsmith will look across the ice and see another goalie that has faced his fair share of criticism in Dustin Tokarski.
The two battled for two spots on the Canadian world junior team’s roster this past December, Tokarski being named the starter while Tri-City’s Chet Pickard took the backup job.
Sexsmith was the odd man out, disappointedly returning to Vancouver with no allusions about what could have been. It’s that experience, and others, that will drive Sexsmith when going head-to-head in what many predict will be a series determined by goaltending.
"It just gives me another chance to prove to Team Canada coaching staff they could have made another decision and still won a gold medal," he said.
But this series goes farther beyond Sexsmith versus Tokarski. It’s Vancouver versus Spokane, a rematch of one of the most thrilling and unpredictable matchups in last year’s second round.
The Chiefs finished a point ahead of Vancouver in the standings a year ago, thus earning home ice in the series. Spokane, however, utilized two road victories in Games 3 and 5 to spring them to a six-game series win en route to their WHL and Memorial Cup championships.
After sweeping the Prince George Cougars in the opening round, assistant coach Chad Scharff said the team is excited to get back in game situations, particularly against the team that ended their season a year ago.
"I know our guys are really revved up to get back at it," he said. "We’re two organizations that have both won, we both know how to win and we’re both excited to play each other, I would imagine."
The game-plan for Vancouver against Tokarski is simple: create traffic in front of him and test him early and often.
"We have to go to the net and cause chaos in front of him," Scharff said. "He’s going to work hard and we just have to outwork him."
Spokane’s game-plan for Sexsmith could be quite similar. After all, the Chiefs lost both games to the Giants this season, getting outscored 9-2 in the process.
After adding to his career shutout mark in a 4-0 road win in early February, Sexsmith is hoping his performance exhibits doubt in the minds of some of the Chiefs’ top scorers.
"There is a little bit of doubt in their minds, they were 0-2 against us this year," Sexsmith said. "(But) playoffs are a whole new season and anything can happen."
Another advantage, both say, will be home ice. In spite of losing two of three to Spokane in last year’s series, the Giants feel the advantage is there for the taking, given everything that goes along with playing at home.
"That’s why you play the regular season so you get those home ice advantages in the playoffs," Scharff said. "Any time you get the first two games in your home barn you want to get your home fans into it and you really look forward to trying to get momentum on your side and I think that’s our focus."
"They have to travel first, which I think is a bit of an advantage (for us)," Sexsmith added.
Another advantage, Scharff said, is the one so many critics have been getting blue in the face over the last few seasons: his goaltender.
"Our guys are real confident in Tyson and Tyson’s a goalie who likes to be in the net. He’s confident in himself and he really gives us that energy from the back end that allows our guys to know that if we need a save, he’s going to be there to make it."
From the skeptics wanting to write him off to the confidence every member in the Giants organization has in him, Sexsmith is, no doubt, going to be at home in this familiar situation.
