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November 21, 2016
The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.
THE COUNTDOWN
BEST GOALTENDING IN RANKING NHL teams by the quality of their goaltenders, it’s more important than ever to factor in the two-man battery, not just the starting stopper. Goaltender is less of a workhorse position than it used to be. Twenty seasons ago, in 1995-96, four goalies cracked the 70-game mark, and three played 77 or more. Grant Fuhr appeared in an NHL-record 79. In 2015-16, no netminder appeared in more than 68 games. Some teams still take the bell cow approach, from Washington with Braden Holtby to San Jose with Martin Jones, but plenty of teams deploy 1A/1B tandems, like Dallas with Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi. Which is the more effective strategy: a strong battery or a dominant starter? That question made for an interesting office debate in determining these goalie…
GOALIES UN MASKED
THE PANEL MARTIN BRODEUR ASSISTANT GM, ST. LOUIS BLUES Brodeur is New Jersey Devils royalty, a three-time Stanley Cup champ and the NHL’s winningest goalie of all-time with 691 victories to his name. GRANT FUHR HALL OF FAMER, AUTHOR, SPEAKER Fuhr backstopped the Edmonton Oilers dynasty during the 1980s and is the man Wayne Gretzky calls the best goalie ever to play the sport. DOMINIK HASEK HALL OF FAMER, RETIRED ‘The Dominator’ won a whopping six Vezinas and two MVPs during an eight-year stretch of his career and led the Czechs to 1998 Olympic gold. COREY HIRSCH HOST, SIRIUS XM NHL NETWORK Hirsch played seven NHL seasons and later became goalie coach of the Maple Leafs and Blues. Now he’s one of the sport’s most outspoken analysts. MITCH KORN GOALIE COACH, WASHINGTON CAPITALS Revered guru Korn has worked as an NHL goalie coach for 25…
LIKE A PRO THREE RS TO IMPROVE GAA
COMPOSURE IS ONE of the skills by which goaltenders are most often judged. But John Stevenson, a sports psychologist at Edmonton’s Zone Performance, is quick to tell you it’s not an intangible or unteachable ability. Stevenson is of the mind that a goalie training his or her brain isn’t all that different from a skater improving stickhandling, shooting or passing. “It’s a thing that I get my clients to work on,” Stevenson said. “They go to their mental gym every day for half an hour or 45 minutes, and they go work on that skill.” One of the focal points of Stevenson’s teachings is what he calls the three Rs: recognize, regroup and refocus. After a mistake, like allowing a goal, Stevenson wants his clients to take a moment to think about…
BIG BEN’S BIG BREAK
BEFORE BEN BISHOP even arrived in Tampa Bay, he had Frantz Jean’s attention. It was 2013, and the Lightning’s goalie coach was overseeing a struggling platoon of Anders Lindback and Mathieu Garon. For a second straight season, the franchise was heading toward a summer without playoff hockey. Jean needed a game-changer in net, and that’s exactly what GM Steve Yzerman got for him in the 6-foot-7 Bishop, for the mere price of Cory Conacher and a fourth-round pick. Ottawa’s loss was Tampa’s big, big gain. “We needed to find a guy who could steer the ship for us,” Jean said. “I watched him play in the NHL and the minors, and I was really intrigued by his ability to play with his size. I’ve seen big goalies like him struggle,…
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