What do we really expect the Leafs to do in goal?

I know there was a great deal of frustration expressed over the weekend, especially on the heels of the loss in Vancouver, about the state of affairs when it comes to Leaf goaltending.

We’ve already discussed this topic here to a certain extent:  There are those who like Gustavsson and those who like Reimer.  As we started a new week, I don’t know if Leaf fans were, well, liking anybody just now.

But hey, let’s step back for a second.  These are two young guys, in NHL terms.  Now 27, Gustavsson has played less than 100 NHL games.  Reimer has played about 60.  (Neither, of course, has played in a playoff game as yet…though both have played at the World Championships, which is certainly pressure-packed.)

We’re talking about different goalies, different styles.  Gus came to town with a reputation as a big goalie who was talented, athletic and acrobatic.  Allaire has tried to change (stifle?) that, with varying degrees of success.  Reimer stole our hearts a year ago with some consistent, gutsy play and a wonderfully modest, genuine, down-to-earth demeanor.

This season, both have had their moments, both have struggled at times.  If pressed, I might say (stress “might”) that Reimer, even when he has looked good, still has not maybe quite been himself this season.   Is that the injury?  Is that just me making up things that aren’t really there in order to try and support a certain storyline?  I don’t honestly know.

Monster carried the Leafs a while back when he helped them surge in the standings.  But he has not been consistently stellar.  I’ve posted here many times that Burke and Wilson have desperately wanted Reimer to be the guy, for all the reasons I have listed previously.  But I think now, for the first time, they are stuck, really and truly baffled by what is going on with regard to goaltending. (Burke has said he's happy with the goaltending and is not looking to bring in a goalie.  We'll see...)

Not that long ago Gustavsson was playing a lot and they felt they needed to get Reimer back in.  Then Reimer earned back-to-back shutouts, won three in a row and he got the net back.  But neither has stood on their head lately and many nights we still need our goalie to help us steal a game.  Most teams do, if they want to win more often than not in a league where the talent is awfully spread out.

But as the cries grow louder throughout the Leaf universe for Burke to set aside any thoughts he might have of acquiring a big defenseman or a power forward and instead, seek out a goalie, I can’t help but ask:  where do we find one of those?  At least one that will make us any happier than what we have now?

Before I talk about the present, let me tell a quick story about an old-time NHL goalie by the name of Roger Crozier, just to show how up and down a guy's career cane be.  Crozier was a Rookie-of-the-Year caliber goaltender with the Red Wings in the mid-1960s.  He was good enough a prospect that the Wings traded the venerable Terry Sawchuk to the Leafs- and Sawchuk ended up helping Toronto to win a Cup in the spring of 1967.

Crozier  (shown in mid-'60s action at left, against Montreal forward Yvan Cournoyer...) was absolutely brilliant in the playoffs in the spring of 1966.  It was some of the best goaltending I've ever seen over a short period of time.  He stoned the powerful Canadiens, right at the old Forum in Montreal, in the first two games of the finals that spring.  But then he was injured and not quite as astounding as the series wore on.  He still earned the Conn Smythe trophy as the MVP in the playoffs that spring.

Less than two years later, Crozier was struggling badly in net, suffering from nerves and exhaustion.  He was was having difficulty making the simplest saves.  Fans were baffled.  In an unprecedented move, the Red Wings sent him to Florida for a week or so to get away from things- in the middle of the season.

Crozier never fully recaptured his earlier glory in Detroit, though he did play some good hockey for the Wings and later helped the expansion Sabres in the 1970s (including playing a role in getting them all the way to the finals in the spring of 1975).  He retired as a member of the Capitals.  Was he a great goalie in the estimation of the "experts" in his era?  Probably not.  But at times, he could be unbelievably good.  And I would say that for a lot of goalies, including the two guys we have here right now in Toronto.

When Reimer and Gustavsson are good, they can be very good.

On that note, earlier this season, some Leaf fans wanted Marty Turco when it looked as though things were going south (for the first time) in the Leaf cage. I understand that fans want instant relief.  But was Turco really the answer?  I mean, Turco was a fine goaltender for many years, yes.  He likely would have come in, played some good games and then settled back into playing the kind of goal that we saw from over over the last couple of seasons.  In other words, nothing really special, and at times, maddeningly mediocre.

Listen, as I just mentioned above, there are all kinds of goalies that have good streaks.  It's always been this way.  It's that kind of position.  When you are confident, the puck starts to hit you and you begin to play better.  Or maybe it's that you begin to play better and the puck starts to hit you more often and you get more confident. I don't really know how that works.  But goalies can get hot- really hot. And when they're good, they look like All-Stars.  Yet more often than not,  after that nice streak, the individual falls into more mediocre play, when shots stopping hitting him, his confidence goes down, etc.

I know this:  pretty much anyone who has enough guts, skill, talent, confidence—whatever—just to get to this level, is capable of going on a run where he looks like the reincarnation of Jacques Plante....for a while.   I could quite literally list a half dozen Leaf goalies alone who, from 1972 to 1992, if you just assessed them on their very best play for short stretches, fans might have sworn they would be “stars”.

Virtually none of them were.  Some didn’t even last long in the league.  That’s the thing—the “trick” is to do it over a period of time…year after year.

I’ve used Carey Price many times as a recent example.  He stole the show as a relative unknown rookie a few years ago.  Expectations soared, then he was just OK, then not so good—including two playoff years in a row with a save percentage under .900.  He has been back and forth and while he is very good right now and I think the guy is a really good NHL goalie, I wouldn’t bet the mortgage that he will be in Montreal forever.  Things change.  Remember Halak?

Other examples?  Tim Thomas springs to mind.  Forget the wonderful story that it took him forever just to get to the NHL, much like a modern-day Johnny Bower.  The truth is, after his brilliant campaign three seasons ago and an injury-plagued and inconsistent season only two years ago, the Bruins were ready, willing and wanting to unload him just over a year ago.  Rask was the new “number-one” in Boston.  Then Thomas stole the net back after a return to full health (sound familiar to us as Leaf fans as we criticize Reimer?) and of course, had the Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup.

Other examples?  Steve Mason was a super hero as a rookie, now everyone thinks he can’t play.  Did he lose his skill all of a sudden- or just his confidence playing behind a lousy team?

Luongo is a brilliant goalie, right? The best in the game, maybe.  Yet how many Canuck fans really, truly, wonder privately if , even at 10 million a year or whatever it is (probably more like 7, right?) he can deliver when it counts- at playoff time.

Jimmy Howard is number-one in Detroit?  Nice young goalie.  But what has he won?  Chicago thought they had an answer in goal in young Crawford.  They didn’t, apparently.  But maybe he’ll be great next season.  Right now they’re hoping Ray Emery will be the guy. Hmmm…

Washington?  Young Neuvirth was all the buzz a year ago, a young phenom.  Yet an old veteran, Tomas Vokoun, has stolen the crease during an uneven season for the hot and cold Capitals.  The Flyers are paying millions to a guy (Bryzgalov) I wouldn’t trust to lead my team...well, just about anywhere.

In Carolina, Cam Ward has had some fine seasons, including winning a Cup.  Other years, not so good.  In Dallas, plenty of experts had long given up on former high first-round pick Kari Lehtonen, but he is now the backbone of the Stars many nights, a pretty good NHL goalie.  But it took time.

Every other year, generally, Ryan Miller is fantastic.  This must be one of those "other" years.

One more name- how about Elliot in St. Louis.  A year ago the Senators were happy to move him.  Now, he's playing like one of the very best at his position in all of hockey.  Go figure.

I guess I’m making two points as I prattle on about different teams and their goaltending situation.  One, that it’s hard to find a goalie that is consistently Brodeur-like.  There just aren’t many.  Most goalies have ups and downs, and take time to really establish themselves as bona fide big-leaguers, high-end “number-ones”.  And if a team has a guy like that, why would they ever give him up?  It’s not like teams want to give away a good goalie.

And even if we’re talking about a good young back-up (Bernier in LA, Schneider in Vancouver), do we, as Leaf fans, really think we’re going to obtain those guys in a trade without giving up a ton, and I mean a ton, in return?

And the final point is, even if we did manage to obtain a really good veteran goalie, where exactly does he lead us?  We all saw the team play the last week or so, when they have lost five games out of six.  Maybe in two weeks we'll be on a winning streak.  But as we sit, right now, the only thing we need is a goalie?  Do we really believe that?  Do we truly believe we are a veteran goalie away from a Cup?

And even if we get another young goalie and don’t give away the store, who’s to say, a year from now, we won’t be expressing frustration with the new guy when he’s not the savior we would all be hoping for.  Just like we are now with Reimer.  Or Gustavsson, depending on your point of view.

No, the Burke renovation is progressing.  Not perfectly, perhaps, but it is moving forward.  Some nights, some weeks, it looks awfully promising, like the Leafs are “this close” to being a serious contender in the wide-open Eastern Conference.

Some weeks, well….not so much.

But there are roster holes.  Most of us would agree with that.  There are needs on this team.  And, my view is those things need to be addressed before we are serious contenders in the East.  Maybe Kadri, Colborne and Frattin are enough, starting next season.  But regardless, the goalies we have right now may be the answer in a year.

Then again, who knows?

Let me know where you stand…..