MAF works with the D and handles the shot. The D handles the wide guy.
MAF handles a shot.
Ozzy lets one slip by but never takes his eye off the puck. He saved this one.
Ozzy puts this one wide. Piece of cake.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
STANLEY CUP PHOTOS FROM GAME 3 FROM THE AP
MAF "caves" and gobbles up shot.
MAF works with the D and handles the shot. The D handles the wide guy.
MAF handles a shot.
Ozzy lets one slip by but never takes his eye off the puck. He saved this one.
MAF works with the D and handles the shot. The D handles the wide guy.
MAF handles a shot.
Ozzy lets one slip by but never takes his eye off the puck. He saved this one.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
CONGRATS TO RYAN HAUGHEY OF BETHESDA-CHEVY CHASE H.S (MD) AND MYHA
Congratulations to Ryan Haughey who was recently recognized by the CBHL. I was able to watch Ryan work a bit through the 2007-2008 and discuss his future. He will go very far!From CBHL.org
Last season, the CBHL started recognizing the 'Graduating Player of the Year' - players who are completing their last year of CBHL eligibility and best exemplify the on-ice and off-ice qualities of hockey excellence, sportsmanship, community service and academic achievement.
This year, the CBHL is pleased to recognize Ryan Haughey who plays goaltender for Montgomery Youth Hockey Association U18(AA) National Division Team and Bethesda Chevy Chase High School .
Ryan has been a member of MYHA family since he was seven years old. Right away he excelled at goalie displaying an intensity and skill which quickly elevated him into the elite travel teams. Ryan went 11-5 this season with a 91.2 save percentage and 3.31 Goals Against Average. Ryan’s U-16AA team went to the Division Championships in Chicago and came in second place.
Ryan's success on the ice is eclipsed only by his exceptional academic excellence. Ryan scored a perfect score of (36) on the ACT’s. He is one of only four students in Maryland to do so and a total of 177 for the whole country. His SAT score for Math & Physics was a perfect (800). He has straight A’s graduating from Bethesda Chevy Chase (BCC) High School with a weighted (International Baccalaureate Program) GPA of 4.61. All four years at BCC High School Ryan started goalie in Lacrosse and Ice Hockey and for MYHA Midget U-16AA and 18AA travel teams.
He has been offered scholarships to the University of Maryland and is being recruited by Stanford, and MIT.
We wish Ryan the best of luck in the future and ask that he and all graduating CBHL players remember that they will always be representing the outstanding qualities of their clubs and the CBHL.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
SUMMER RLH CLINIC OPENINGS
There are a number of openings for upcoming Red Line Hockey goalie sessions at the Cabin John Studio Rink in Rockville, MD on Saturdays. All sessions are $65 and begin at 5 pm off ice, followed by an on ice session from 6-7 pm. All sessions have no more than 4 goaltenders and have experienced handpicked shooters. Please send an email to red-line-hockey@hotmail.com if interested in attending any of the dates below...
5/31 - 1 opening
6/7 - 1 opening
6/28 - 2 openings
7/19 - 4 openings
8/2 - 4 openings
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
MAF & OSGOOD STARE EACH OTHER DOWN
FROM PITTSBURG POST-GAZETTEFleury on Osgood
Goaltenders study opponents' skaters, but they also follow one another.
So the Penguins' Marc-Andre Fleury is well aware of Detroit's Chris Osgood, who, at 35, is 12 years Fleury's senior and has appeared in 100 NHL playoff games, 81 more than Fleury.
"When I was younger, I used to watch him on TV a lot," Fleury said. "He's always done great in his career, and it's pretty cool for me to have a
chance to go against a guy like that."MAF VITALS
6' 2'' 180 LBS DOB 11/28/84
19-10-2 .921% 2.33 4 SOs
OZZY VITALS
5' 10" 176 LBS 11/26/72
27-9-4 .914% 2.09 4 SOs
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
FROM BOSTON GLOBE - GOALIE GOLF
US OPEN QUALIFYING
Blustery conditions make the goal elusive
By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff May 13, 2008
NORTON - Mike Dunham has been around golf his entire life because his father works in the industry, but playing in yesterday's US Open qualifier at TPC Boston was unlike any experience he had ever had. The chilly, overcast weather was made far worse by a blustery wind.
"Those conditions were the most brutal conditions I've ever played in," said the 36-year-old Dunham, who retired last year after 10 seasons as a goaltender in the National Hockey League. "The wind out there had to be 30 miles an hour. It was two- and three-club winds out there.
"If you just take the course in itself, it's a hard golf course. Then you add the hazards in there. Then you throw the winds in there, it was very tough."
Dunham didn't score as well as he hoped, firing an 8-over-par 81, but given the circumstances, he'll take it.
"I hit the ball pretty well," he said. "I just wanted to play a solid round. I was at 5 over with four holes to play. I birdied No. 14 and then I took a double [bogey] on No. 15 and kind of hurt my chances.
"It's fun playing these things. But the conditions were tough. The only thing that would've been worse is if it had been raining or snowing."
The top seven scorers and two alternates were culled from yesterday's field and will compete in the sectionals in early June.
The wind and cold didn't seem to bother medalist Jim Renner of Plainville, who shot a 1-under 71. The 2005 New England Amateur champion will be joined in the sectionals by Kernwood CC pro Frank Dully (72), Brandon Parker (73) of Auburn, James Burke (73) of Newton, Mike Welch (74) of Quincy, Peter Williamson (74) of Hanover, N.H., and Bobby Pandolfi (74) of South Yarmouth.
The US Open will be held June 12-15 at Torrey Pines South Course in San Diego.
"It was very cold out there, the ball wasn't going very far," said Dunham, whose home course is Old Sandwich in Plymouth. "When it does get up in the air, it's just floating everywhere.
"Guys were having to make 5- or 6-footers to save par. I didn't do enough of that today. I probably missed four or five of those. You always want them to go in, but they didn't go in today. But you just try to keep getting better."
Dunham, who now works as a goalie coach for the New York Islanders, said one of the reasons he played yesterday was to help chip off the rust from the long offseason.
"A lot of these guys play this sport for a living," said Dunham. "I'm playing it for fun, so I use this as something to kick-start the tournament season.
"Obviously, you always want to go lower, and that's what is great about this game - you can always do better. But for the first tournament of the summer, in these conditions, the length of the course that we played it - we played it at just under 7,000 yards - that's a hard golf course.
"You walk off, and whether you played it good or bad, I still enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun out there."
Dunham's father was a golf pro at Vestal Hills Country Club in Binghamton, N.Y., so Mike was always around the pro shop, cleaning carts and clubs. He began playing more during the summers home from the University of Maine and added even more rounds during his summer breaks from pro hockey.
One of the attractions for him is the peacefulness of the sport, which is the antithesis of the chaos on the ice in hockey.
"A lot of hockey players enjoy playing golf," he said. "It's a quiet atmosphere. You get to kind of decompress. There is camaraderie when you play with your buddies in a foursome."
Many hockey players - and pro athletes in general - have a difficult transition period from the time they leave their sport until they find something they enjoy as much. Dunham said he didn't have that issue because he went right to the Islanders.
"It was an easy transfer because I was still involved with the game without playing, without going out and getting hit with pucks," he said. "I got to travel, I got to go out on the ice for practice, I got to sit in the locker room and the coaches room and watch the games from up in the press box.
"I was around that whole atmosphere without having to play. That made the transition a lot easier. Golf is just something that keeps those competitive juices flowing."
There is only one bad aspect of his new hockey job: It's cutting into his golf.
"I'll miss the Mass. Amateur and the New England Amateur because we have rookie camps," he said. "I'm really bummed out about that. We have our rookies and draft picks coming into Long Island to put them through workouts, and it's those two weeks."
Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at
marrapese@globe.com.Wednesday, May 07, 2008
RLH LOOKING FOR A HOME TO LAY SYNTHETIC ICE
I am working on finding warehouse space to lay synthetic ice for goaltending and shooting clinics which could save costs and add opportunity for more goalies to see more rubber!If you or anyone you know has contacts to anyone renting or selling commercial warehouse space where Red Line Hockey could lay down synthetic ice, please let me know at 703-244-1916 or red-line-hockey@hotmail.com..
SPECIFICS
*45-50 ft X 30 - 35 ft preferable
* parking for 4-5 cars
*45-50 ft X 30 - 35 ft preferable
* parking for 4-5 cars
* Well lit
Monday, May 05, 2008
GOALIE AS PART OF A SUB-TEAM OF 3
There is a theme that gets missed by coaches at every level and that is the work that is done primarily between defensemen and goaltender. Secondly, the coordination that occurs occasionally between goaltender and the forwards, specifically on the special teams.
This piece will deal with how the goalie works with defensemen defensively and then setting them up offensively. Coaches, and defensemen themselves, many times don’t realize how much the "D" can be a hindrance to the goaltender doing his or her job. It takes a very experienced defenseman to have a relationship on the ice with the goaltender to know what the tender can and cannot handle and know what the goaltender should be able to handle.
If the goaltender doesn’t have confidence in his or her own abilities to handle a forward shot or potential semi-breakaway situation, the play will be even more perilous. If the "D" do not have the confidence in the goaltender to make the right stops it can also end up a mess in front of the net.
Specifically, on odd man rushes the defensemen can be a major help or hindrance to the outcome of the rush, but the lynchpin of the defensive effort is the goaltender.
Coaches, and goaltenders themselves, need to be vocal before the game situation occurs as to what s/he will be able to be able to deal with when there are more of the opposite color jersey coming over the blue line than you’ve got on your side.
Key vocabulary for dealing with the timing of these situations include:
“Gap Control” – The space between the defensive player and the oncoming puck carrier.
“Strong Side or Puck Carrier” – The opponent carrying the puck.
“Wide man” – The opposite player to the puck carrier.
“Trailer” - The player behind the puck carrier and the wide man.
“Inside Hash Marks” – The hash marks on the inside of the defensive zone face-off circles.
The following are a few photos illustrating rush situations...
Wing comes in on off wing. If defenseman is playing this rush properly s/he is just outside of the photo to the right of the tender. In essence, cutting laterally would not be good. He'd probably get his bell rung pretty good. The tender has the straight on covered and knows it the only option.
This piece will deal with how the goalie works with defensemen defensively and then setting them up offensively. Coaches, and defensemen themselves, many times don’t realize how much the "D" can be a hindrance to the goaltender doing his or her job. It takes a very experienced defenseman to have a relationship on the ice with the goaltender to know what the tender can and cannot handle and know what the goaltender should be able to handle.
If the goaltender doesn’t have confidence in his or her own abilities to handle a forward shot or potential semi-breakaway situation, the play will be even more perilous. If the "D" do not have the confidence in the goaltender to make the right stops it can also end up a mess in front of the net.
Specifically, on odd man rushes the defensemen can be a major help or hindrance to the outcome of the rush, but the lynchpin of the defensive effort is the goaltender.
Coaches, and goaltenders themselves, need to be vocal before the game situation occurs as to what s/he will be able to be able to deal with when there are more of the opposite color jersey coming over the blue line than you’ve got on your side.
Key vocabulary for dealing with the timing of these situations include:
“Gap Control” – The space between the defensive player and the oncoming puck carrier.
“Strong Side or Puck Carrier” – The opponent carrying the puck.
“Wide man” – The opposite player to the puck carrier.
“Trailer” - The player behind the puck carrier and the wide man.
“Inside Hash Marks” – The hash marks on the inside of the defensive zone face-off circles.
The following are a few photos illustrating rush situations...
Wing comes in on off wing. If defenseman is playing this rush properly s/he is just outside of the photo to the right of the tender. In essence, cutting laterally would not be good. He'd probably get his bell rung pretty good. The tender has the straight on covered and knows it the only option.
Everything here actually looks good except that the tender probably cheated toward a wide man on his blocker side. The shooter is an off wing again and the D looks to have cut off the pass option pretty well. Shot was probably the only option. Goalie has to have it.
View from the faceoff. Here we go...
Goalie is dealing with the shooter while a cutter sneaks in front of the D. Smart move on the offensive side.
Scott Niedermeyer stays out of the way of JS Giguire so he can handle a direct shot. The pass option or rebound can be dealt with. See the off wing player waiting in the wings on the right.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
FROM NHL.COM - Talkin' hockey with Ryan Miller
A day after the NHL and its Players’ Association announced the formation of the Goalie Equipment Working Group, Buffalo Sabres netminder Ryan Miller came strolling through the League’s New York City headquarters.
Miller is one of three goaltenders in the Group, including Martin Brodeur and Rick DiPietro. On June 11 the three goalies will be joined in Toronto by NHL general managers Doug Risebrough, Garth Snow, Jim Rutherford and Brett Hull, as well as Ottawa winger Dany Heatley and Los Angeles center Mike Cammalleri.
The Group is tasked with examining the configuration and dimensions of goaltender equipment with respect to safety and performance. Any suggested alterations to the rules governing goalie equipment will be forwarded to the Competition Committee.
With that in mind, NHL.com had a chance to sit down with Miller for an exclusive interview Wednesday. We began discussing the June 11 summit in Toronto, but our conversation turned into playoff talk, specifically about the goalies.
Here is the transcript detailing Miller’s thoughts on a range of topics:
NHL.com: On June 11 you are going in Toronto for that meeting on goaltender’s equipment with some skaters, some goalies and some GMs. Can you give us some thoughts on what will be addressed?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryan Miller: “I think there has been concern that there are areas of the equipment that haven’t been addressed as far as sizing. Coming out of the lockout they just addressed the obvious things, pad size and width, standard glove sizes and some little tweaks to the pants. There are now areas where they want to clean things up and have a better standard. There has been some nit-picking by goalies going against each other and pointing things out. Media hypes up certain guys looking for an advantage. I’m not going to say cheating because obviously their stuff is measured before it’s sent to them. There needs to be a fine line of what a guy’s personal preference in the way he wears something that is legal vs. cheating. Some guys sag their pants. Some guys wear them higher. Some guys wear their pads loose. Some guys like them tight. It’s all in how you play with it.”
NHL.com: Is that a hard line to ride when you’re talking about safety? Couldn’t it change from one goalie to the next?
RM: “The best thing we can do is sit down and talk about it because, obviously, it’s been a concern. From my standpoint as a goalie I want to protect everybody and their right to wear a piece of equipment a certain way. Where it gets ridiculous is when guys probably shouldn’t be wearing something as big, something that is blatantly there just to take up space. That’s where you have to draw the hard line. I’m not looking to nit-pick or single anybody out, but if you have a standard that is well talked about and well thought out in place for everyone and regulated no one is going to be at a disadvantage.”
NHL.com: Do you think any alterations will change how the position is played?
RM: “No, I don’t think it’s going to go that far. I don’t want it to go that far because goaltending has evolved. I know Marty Turco has talked about the way your knees hit the ice and how guys wear a piece inside the pads to block pucks. It’s the knee flap on the inside when you go down. But, you know, goaltending has evolved to butterfly and that way your knees are on the ice. They have to concede that it has evolved that way, guys play that way, and you need to have your knee protected in order to play that way. If you want your goaltender to play 70 games or more they can’t be risking injury or changing their style just because we want to see an increase in scoring. Goaltending is still a dynamic part of the game. We don’t want to make it so the goaltender is a scapegoat. We want to make it so the goaltender is respected, but we don’t want guys exploiting the rules. We just have to tailor them better so everyone is on a level playing field where it comes down to skill and thinking.”
NHL.com: Now I wanted to ask you about a former teammate, (Flyers goalie) Marty Biron. He’s facing 34-35 shots per game. He’s been resilient. Did you know this was in him?
RM: “Yeah, that’s Marty’s personality. I think he’s better with that kind of play. When he gets lots of shots he gets on a role. He’s the kind of guy that can talk to a referee for a minute about a play, then line up and make a save. He’s a carefree person, but when he’s getting a lot of pucks he’s really focused. He can steal games.”
“From my standpoint as a goalie I want to protect everybody and their right to wear a piece of equipment a certain way." - Ryan Miller
NHL.com: I guess it just takes an opportunity, right?
RM: “That’s the case with anybody who has made it at this level. I got my opportunity at the time when Marty was in Buffalo, but I took advantage of mine and I’m glad to see him get his. He is a great person. I had a lot of fun with him and learned a lot from him. It was never a dull moment with Marty. I think it’s great that he’s playing at a high level right now.”
NHL.com: In regards to Marty, in Game 1 against Washington he had a tough loss when he gave up three goals in the third period. In Game 2 he comes back with a shutout. Is it harder to put the big win aside and focus on the next game, or is it harder to forget about the tough loss in the playoffs?
RM: “Either way you have to go out and play a completely separate game. Media may want to talk about momentum, but it really doesn’t exist unless you make it exist. You can go out and have the game of your life after playing the worst game of your life, or you can have a great game and follow it up with the worst. I don’t think there is any real connection. I can’t get in Marty’s head, but for me I just want to play a great game every night. I’m not looking for any vindication from the night before as my focus.”
NHL.com: Now you look at guys like Chris Osgood and Evgeni Nabokov, who are facing about 23 shots per game. As a goalie do you almost want more than that?
RM: “I like to get in a rhythm, but when you look at some of the chances they’re getting they might not be as many but the other team is always going to get some Grade As. I was at some of the Detroit games and he faced a lot of perimeter chances, but late in the game he really had to make some saves. There will always be opportunities so sometimes it is easy to be in a rhythm, but these guys have to do it all mentally. They’re going to get chances against, they have to be ready. The fans always say, ‘Well he didn’t face that many shots.’ Well, let’s rank shots.”
NHL.com: What is a guy like Marc-Andre Fleury thinking right now? The Penguins are a win away from going to the third round for the first time, and he’s a young goalie.
RM: “Win as soon as possible. Give no life to the other team. Last year we were up 2-0 on the Rangers and they came back. We were up 3-0 on Ottawa when we beat them two years ago, and they beat us in Game 4. You want to get it done. It goes from 3-0 to 3-1 and then it could be 3-2. They start to get some momentum, so you always want to get a series done as quickly as possible. It’s a race to four wins.”
NHL.com: Still, is it sometimes difficult to lose a focus when you know that you still have so many outs?
RM: “You could, but what should drive you is the hardest game is closing a team out. They have nothing to lose. They have already been counted out. It’s tough. They’re going to be desperate and going for it, but you have to play within the system.”
NHL.com: Look at a guy like Marty Turco, last year he had three shutouts and they lost the series. Now he’s playing well, and still I don’t think a lot of people are talking about him. Is he the underrated guy?
RM: “Marty is an interesting case. He has had a great career. I thought he has had great playoffs, but he has always had the stigma because he hasn’t advanced as far as many people thought his team should have. Honestly, looking back I never thought it was his fault. I thought he had strong series. Maybe one time against the Avalanche about four years ago he was a little … but every other series I thought he was strong. From knowing him, he’s a heck of a competitor and a good person. I didn’t think it was warranted putting a series loss on him when he was playing so well.”
Contact Dan Rosen at drosen@nhl.com
Miller is one of three goaltenders in the Group, including Martin Brodeur and Rick DiPietro. On June 11 the three goalies will be joined in Toronto by NHL general managers Doug Risebrough, Garth Snow, Jim Rutherford and Brett Hull, as well as Ottawa winger Dany Heatley and Los Angeles center Mike Cammalleri.
The Group is tasked with examining the configuration and dimensions of goaltender equipment with respect to safety and performance. Any suggested alterations to the rules governing goalie equipment will be forwarded to the Competition Committee.
With that in mind, NHL.com had a chance to sit down with Miller for an exclusive interview Wednesday. We began discussing the June 11 summit in Toronto, but our conversation turned into playoff talk, specifically about the goalies.
Here is the transcript detailing Miller’s thoughts on a range of topics:
NHL.com: On June 11 you are going in Toronto for that meeting on goaltender’s equipment with some skaters, some goalies and some GMs. Can you give us some thoughts on what will be addressed?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryan Miller: “I think there has been concern that there are areas of the equipment that haven’t been addressed as far as sizing. Coming out of the lockout they just addressed the obvious things, pad size and width, standard glove sizes and some little tweaks to the pants. There are now areas where they want to clean things up and have a better standard. There has been some nit-picking by goalies going against each other and pointing things out. Media hypes up certain guys looking for an advantage. I’m not going to say cheating because obviously their stuff is measured before it’s sent to them. There needs to be a fine line of what a guy’s personal preference in the way he wears something that is legal vs. cheating. Some guys sag their pants. Some guys wear them higher. Some guys wear their pads loose. Some guys like them tight. It’s all in how you play with it.”
NHL.com: Is that a hard line to ride when you’re talking about safety? Couldn’t it change from one goalie to the next?
RM: “The best thing we can do is sit down and talk about it because, obviously, it’s been a concern. From my standpoint as a goalie I want to protect everybody and their right to wear a piece of equipment a certain way. Where it gets ridiculous is when guys probably shouldn’t be wearing something as big, something that is blatantly there just to take up space. That’s where you have to draw the hard line. I’m not looking to nit-pick or single anybody out, but if you have a standard that is well talked about and well thought out in place for everyone and regulated no one is going to be at a disadvantage.”
NHL.com: Do you think any alterations will change how the position is played?
RM: “No, I don’t think it’s going to go that far. I don’t want it to go that far because goaltending has evolved. I know Marty Turco has talked about the way your knees hit the ice and how guys wear a piece inside the pads to block pucks. It’s the knee flap on the inside when you go down. But, you know, goaltending has evolved to butterfly and that way your knees are on the ice. They have to concede that it has evolved that way, guys play that way, and you need to have your knee protected in order to play that way. If you want your goaltender to play 70 games or more they can’t be risking injury or changing their style just because we want to see an increase in scoring. Goaltending is still a dynamic part of the game. We don’t want to make it so the goaltender is a scapegoat. We want to make it so the goaltender is respected, but we don’t want guys exploiting the rules. We just have to tailor them better so everyone is on a level playing field where it comes down to skill and thinking.”
NHL.com: Now I wanted to ask you about a former teammate, (Flyers goalie) Marty Biron. He’s facing 34-35 shots per game. He’s been resilient. Did you know this was in him?
RM: “Yeah, that’s Marty’s personality. I think he’s better with that kind of play. When he gets lots of shots he gets on a role. He’s the kind of guy that can talk to a referee for a minute about a play, then line up and make a save. He’s a carefree person, but when he’s getting a lot of pucks he’s really focused. He can steal games.”
“From my standpoint as a goalie I want to protect everybody and their right to wear a piece of equipment a certain way." - Ryan Miller
NHL.com: I guess it just takes an opportunity, right?
RM: “That’s the case with anybody who has made it at this level. I got my opportunity at the time when Marty was in Buffalo, but I took advantage of mine and I’m glad to see him get his. He is a great person. I had a lot of fun with him and learned a lot from him. It was never a dull moment with Marty. I think it’s great that he’s playing at a high level right now.”
NHL.com: In regards to Marty, in Game 1 against Washington he had a tough loss when he gave up three goals in the third period. In Game 2 he comes back with a shutout. Is it harder to put the big win aside and focus on the next game, or is it harder to forget about the tough loss in the playoffs?
RM: “Either way you have to go out and play a completely separate game. Media may want to talk about momentum, but it really doesn’t exist unless you make it exist. You can go out and have the game of your life after playing the worst game of your life, or you can have a great game and follow it up with the worst. I don’t think there is any real connection. I can’t get in Marty’s head, but for me I just want to play a great game every night. I’m not looking for any vindication from the night before as my focus.”
NHL.com: Now you look at guys like Chris Osgood and Evgeni Nabokov, who are facing about 23 shots per game. As a goalie do you almost want more than that?
RM: “I like to get in a rhythm, but when you look at some of the chances they’re getting they might not be as many but the other team is always going to get some Grade As. I was at some of the Detroit games and he faced a lot of perimeter chances, but late in the game he really had to make some saves. There will always be opportunities so sometimes it is easy to be in a rhythm, but these guys have to do it all mentally. They’re going to get chances against, they have to be ready. The fans always say, ‘Well he didn’t face that many shots.’ Well, let’s rank shots.”
NHL.com: What is a guy like Marc-Andre Fleury thinking right now? The Penguins are a win away from going to the third round for the first time, and he’s a young goalie.
RM: “Win as soon as possible. Give no life to the other team. Last year we were up 2-0 on the Rangers and they came back. We were up 3-0 on Ottawa when we beat them two years ago, and they beat us in Game 4. You want to get it done. It goes from 3-0 to 3-1 and then it could be 3-2. They start to get some momentum, so you always want to get a series done as quickly as possible. It’s a race to four wins.”
NHL.com: Still, is it sometimes difficult to lose a focus when you know that you still have so many outs?
RM: “You could, but what should drive you is the hardest game is closing a team out. They have nothing to lose. They have already been counted out. It’s tough. They’re going to be desperate and going for it, but you have to play within the system.”
NHL.com: Look at a guy like Marty Turco, last year he had three shutouts and they lost the series. Now he’s playing well, and still I don’t think a lot of people are talking about him. Is he the underrated guy?
RM: “Marty is an interesting case. He has had a great career. I thought he has had great playoffs, but he has always had the stigma because he hasn’t advanced as far as many people thought his team should have. Honestly, looking back I never thought it was his fault. I thought he had strong series. Maybe one time against the Avalanche about four years ago he was a little … but every other series I thought he was strong. From knowing him, he’s a heck of a competitor and a good person. I didn’t think it was warranted putting a series loss on him when he was playing so well.”
Contact Dan Rosen at drosen@nhl.com
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