If Canada’s goaltending at the 2014 Olympics is as predictable as the selection of the three guys guarding the crease, Steve Yzerman and Co. will be a happy bunch.
The feeling since Canada’s best players gathered in Calgary for the orientation camp in August was that Carey Price, Roberto Luongo and Mike Smith—in that order—were the preferred puckstoppers for this club. Four months later, those were the names called when it was finally time to pick this team.
Price heads to Sochi with the No. 1 tag thanks to a sparkling half season of work with the Montreal Canadiens. What he doesn’t have is a resume that includes playoff success in the NHL or international achievements past the time he was a teenager. To some degree, the story of Price remains unfilled promise. His athletic six-foot-three, 212-lbs. frame has always made hockey people drool, even if he’s had his ups and downs at the highest level. Granted he hasn’t been playing on a powerhouse team in Montreal, but Price’s career playoff mark is 9-17 with a .905 save percentage and 2.90 goals-against average. On the one occasion the Habs advanced beyond the second round during Price’s tenure, he watched from the bench while Slovakian stopper Jaroslav Halak shone. Price bottomed out near the end of last season and wasn’t up to snuff in the Canadiens’ first-round loss to the Ottawa Senators.
That said, people who evaluate hockey players for a living seem to have unwavering faith in his abilities. That’s because, when he’s on, the 26-year-old is a magnificent combination of controlled positioning and reactionary brilliance. Because he stumbled last season, Price had to prove he’d recaptured his game this year and he’s certainly done that with a .928 save percentage that accounts for much of Montreal’s success.
Standing right behind Price is the guy who won gold at the 2010 event, Roberto Luongo. Because of his past experience with Team Canada, there’s a trust level between Luongo and coach Mike Babcock that could make Price’s leash fairly short. From losing game seven of the 2011 Cup final on home ice to being the subject of endless trade rumours, the 34-year-old Luongo has basically lived nothing but controversy since backstopping Canada to that overtime win against Team USA in Vancouver. He’s kept his head up through it all, often making light of his situation on Twitter. Beyond a sense of humour, Luongo has the confidence of a goalie who’s won on the biggest stage before, and that carries currency in a short event like this.
While a case could be made for a few other goalies as the No. 3, Smith never seemed to lose his spot as the final choice. His save percentage hasn’t been great since 2011-12, but there’s a belief in the 31-year-old’s quiet game and an expectation his agreeable personality is ideal for a goalie who won’t dress unless things go dreadfully wrong.
Maybe the best way to illustrate what Canada wants from its goalies is to note that NHL wins leader and 2009 Stanley Cup champion Marc-Andre Fleury never really entered the equation. If Canada were a mid-range team that needed a boost to thrust itself into contention, it would happily take a flyer on a guy who’s had extreme peaks and valleys in his career in the hopes he might hit the high note for two weeks and deliver a gold medal. But Canada has a stacked roster that will enter the tournament as one of the favourites. The Canadians need reliability – not a revelation – in the crease, and the three guys tabbed for Sochi all offer some version of that.
