I’m in the mood to ask questions today, so I ask this one:
Who starts Friday if you could make the call, Allen or Stalock?
I can see a case either way.
Discuss in the comments section. If anyone tweets or comments on Facebook that is worth really noting I will replicate it here… BUT it would be soooo much handier if you just clicked that comment button.
Alright…here goes, Allen was pulled because his defensemen kept getting caught out of position and he had to carry the majority of the pressure in the attack zone. He fought well, but you aren’t going to stop every puck. The shots he was defending were serious scoring threats, not easy unscreened shots and from the strong side angle one timers. Bunch of crap if you asked me, the guy rises to the occasion once Bishop leaves and this is how we reward him. Love to see how many minutes the puck was in our zone during Allen’s reign last night vs. Stalocks…the offense is what changed in the 3rd, not replacing goaltenders. So all that said, give him a rest, put Alex in and give Allen a chance to clear his head of what happened to him by default as opposed to him starting to think he did something wrong. Stats are interesting but don’t tell us everything…2.53 GAA, he crosses 3, yank him..geeeez!
Item of note: of the 14 losses credited to Allen this year FIVE OF THEM have been by a score of 2-1. The games where to opponent is held to two or less are the games you have to win.
Allen’s GAA is 3.20 right now, and there is a lot into that, including getting shelled last night. He was strong, but I think that I agree he needs a rest.
Then again, I can see the argument for putting him right back in net…
hmmm
My apologizes on the GAA mistake…stand corrected. The psychology of goaltending is vast and subject to multiple interpretations. Once again, you are right…no matter who they start it can be the “right” answer! Fun to speculate though…
Yes, we goalies are a trifle strange. As a friend of mine likes to put it, goalies are “a special brand of stupid”.
There are rituals I have to follow on game day or I just don’t feel right between the pipes. Goalies: we’re just nuts.
Here is what I noticed, and this goes for the year, not just this last game. I will agree that Allen played a good game, he has made some really great saves over the year, so I will not take that away from him, I will also not take away the fact that he don’t get the offensive support that Bishop (and now Stalock) got, and the defense has let him down. What I have noticed is that he does not “play” for the team, and by that I mean that he is not agressive with the puck, he don’t challenge the puck carrier, he very seldon leaves the crease even to play the puck. Maybe to stop it behind the net, but not to play it up to his forwards. I rember one game at Carver, we have 45 seconds on a 5v3 PP, and Rockford (I think) cleard the puck, Allen just let it go, and Rockford was able to get the change, they did not try to get the puck in our zone, just dump it to change. If Allen had played the puck, we would have saved a good 10 seconds on the 5v3, and maybe got a good odd man rush. Its small thinkgs like that, that makes your teammates either want or not want to play around you, and for you.
If you watched last night with Stalock, he played like he had something to prove, and I think that game one he did a pretty good job. What I liked about him was his aggressiveness, he was out there chalenging the puck carrier, he aggressively played the puck when we were one the powerplay. And the team responded to his playing style… But I can see where his aggressiveness could also cost us… But he made the save of the year…
Withthe way the team responded, and the high they were on after the game, I would give the start to Stalock…
Good observations!
Thanks man
Good points! In fact one of the notes I scribbled down in my notebook was that Stalock was “a yeller”. He was shouting so loud I could hear him in press row, directing his D and talking to his team. Part of this is not knowing the guys in front of you, part is wanting to make sure you are in charge. Good goalies can be the traffic cop, and that is one thing Bishop excelled at was using himself as the occasional puck moving “third defensemen”.
To be honest, I haven’t noticed Allen’s frequency in which he plays the puck. I will be looking at it more now!
I couldn’t hear him yelling as I sit on the glass, but he was really active, I like that in a goalie. It helps everyone know whats going on when they direct traffic. There were several times that he “helped his own cause” on the PK, just taking the puck and clearing it down the ice himself; again this helps the rest of the team to get fresh legs on the ice.
I understand that some of this is he is new, and don’t know his new teammates, but it also makes me wonder how much of it is him, and his playing style… Cheechoo, knows him from last year, wonder if we could ask him a question or two about his play style…
Press row? You got on Press Row? Part of the mainstream media now, huh?
Not Allen.
Hey Anonymous…suck it up, based on the morning skate…looks like Allen gets the nod.
…and so it was…and it was good
…and the nod goes to Allen once again …Go Jake!
And Jake shuts the door on them, eh? #34Rocks!