It hasn’t exactly been a dream season for Carey Price or his fantasy owners, but the young goalie is 2-0-1 in his past three starts and given where his game was a few short weeks ago… that’s something. Every point counts for the Habs down the stretch as they perilously cling to that eighth and final playoff spot headed into tonight’s action.
The Montreal Gazette ran an interesting article on Price’s bumpy ride this year and how quickly one can go from the role of a hero to a goat in a hockey-mad city.
“People will say things my entire career,” he said, shrugging. “But it seemed like I was being compared to Patrick Roy one week and (former Boston netminder) Jim Carey the next. You don’t pay attention, or it’ll eat you alive.”
Price has been working with goalie coach Roland Melanson and the returns have been good so far.
“He’s beginning to look more like the player we’ve seen for the first 50 games and not the last 20,” Montreal coach & GM Bob Gainey said. “I see his body language in goal now and he doesn’t resemble someone who’s always guilty.
“Now he’s part of our team who must play well for us, but not more than the others. Everyone has the same responsibility as the goalie. He’s still 21 and is experiencing things he hasn’t experienced before.”
This next quote from Price is just so true, especially when it comes to goalies.
“Hockey’s mostly about the mind,” Price said. “It’s part physical but mostly mental. Still, the less I think about the game, the better I play.”
It’s tough to say what the percentage is, but a high ratio of what makes any goalie good is confidence and his general mental make-up when it comes to the simple things like putting a bad goal behind him. So much of success is in the mind, which is really true on some level for any athlete. And yet, ironically, Price is so right in that the less you actually think about your game the better off your game will actually be.
If you’re counting on Price for this final portion of the regular season in your league, hopefully he really has turned the corner mentally because clearly that’s half the battle right there.
THAT’S JUST DUCKY
If you were hoping for some clarity between the pipes for Anaheim in this final stretch, it hasn’t come yet.
So who’s going to start most of the six remaining games for the Ducks?
Jonas Hiller (19-14-1 with 2.22/ .923 splits and four shutouts) has easily carried the better numbers this season, but Jean-Sebastien Giguere (19-18-5 with 3.13/ .900 splits two shutouts) has the experience and the Cup ring.
“I think Hiller’s been competitive, but looking back at specifically the Nashville game (last Tuesday), it was one of the best games Giguere’s played for our hockey club all year,” coach Randy Carlyle told the Orange County Register.
“There are peaks and valleys and right now it is what it is from a standpoint that we’re going to make those decisions. Hopefully you make the right one because both players have performed in tough circumstances for us.”
JSG may have been outstanding in that Nashville game (he stopped 31/32 shots in a tight 2-1 win), but that’s the only game where he has allowed fewer than three goals in his past seven starts. He was pulled twice in that span too.
Hiller, on the other hand, has given up two or fewer goals in each of his past five starts.
The Ducks take on the Oilers tonight and JSG was pulled vs. EDM in his last start, which came on March 27th. Hiller has only started twice against the Oilers in his career, but his splits won’t make your eyes burn like JSG’s may tend to do.
SPEAKING OF WINNING GOALIES
Craig Anderson has won Florida’s past two starts and – for now at least – that has earned him the number one role with a “win and you’re in” mentality from coach Pete DeBoer.
That leaves Tomas Vokoun’s owners out of the loop for the time being, although that could change with one costly weak goal from Anderson.
CONKLIN IN, RAFALSKI STILL OUT
An update from Michigan Live this morning notes that Ty Conklin is going to get the start Thursday against St. Louis and that coach Mike Babcock hasn’t decided on his goalie rotation beyond that point. In other words, it looks like the door may still be open for Conklin to earn more starts in these final six games… despite the million chances Chris Osgood has been given to win this starting gig outright.
The Wings do have two back-to-back situations in those final contests though, so it’s still anyone’s guess what’ll happen. The good thing for poolies is that we virtually always know on game day who’ll be starting.
Brian Rafalski, who injured his groin in Friday’s game against the Isles, is not going to suit up Thursday. He’ll take it easy for the next few days without practice and the earliest he would then return is Sunday or Monday. That’s not exactly the news Rafalski owners were hoping for today, but you know how groin injuries can go.
SENS STILL HELPING POOLIES
Ottawa’s playoff chances are pretty slim, but a number of Sens are still finding ways to help out fantasy leaguers down the stretch. Aside from the stud trifecta of Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza, several others have really stepped up.
Brian Elliott is going to get the call in net again tonight @FLA and he’s coming off his first career shutout after stopping all 20 shots he faced @TB. His March record stands at 9-2-0 with a 2.37 GAA and .907 SV%.
Up front, Ryan Shannon has potted goals in four straight with points in five in a row. He has 11 points in 12 starts going into tonight’s affair. Nick Foligno has collected points in six of eight and he’s come away with a +1 rating in four of his past five outings. Brendan Bell has seven points in eight starts on D with a +5 rating in that time, although in his past four games he has but one assist. He generally at least gets some second unit PP time too.