Corey Explains Goalies: Quick injuries, smaller gear and Hall of Fame bias

Ed. Note: We’re delighted to announce that Corey Hirsch has joined the Puck Daddy family for a mailbag segment centered on, what else, goaltending. He played 108 games in the NHL, primarily for the Vancouver Canucks, before becoming a respected goaltending coach with Hockey Canada, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the St. Louis Blues

In this edition of COREY EXPLAINS GOALIES, former NHL goalie and Sirius XM NHL Network Radio host Corey Hirsch takes on your questions about Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, the Hockey Hall of Fame, Devan Dubnyk of the Minnesota Wild, gear changes and more!

Again, if you have any questions for a future segment of COREY EXPLAINS GOALIES, hit us at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com with the Subject: ASK COREY.

Enjoy!

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“How godly is Carey Price?” – Habsnerd

HIRSCH: That depends. If this were in biblical times, he would probably be seen as a magician, or some form of healer.

But in Montreal, he can do no wrong. And it’s bizarre to me how Montreal continues to find franchise goalies. I don’t know how they do it. You have franchises like Philadelphia that have been looking for one for 25 years. And Montreal had Ken Dryden, Patrick Roy, Carey Price … I don’t know if you’d call Jose Theodore a franchise goalie, although he won a Vezina. That’s what impresses me. You have a goalie for at least 10 years, maybe more.

Price is unflappable. It’s his greatest asset. He doesn’t get rattled ever, he just doesn’t. Everything is water off a duck’s back.

“How does a goalie like Devan Dubnyk go from journeyman to being this good?” – Lisa G. (email)

HIRSCH: It starts with coaching. There are different styles for different guys. So Devan Dubnyk went to Phoenix and Sean Burke gave him the blue print for a big goalie like him, and that’s not what he got in Edmonton.

Then he went to Minnesota, he implemented that blue print, they’re a better team and it’s worked out for him. And sometimes goaltending is about the team you’re on, right? If you’re giving up breakaways and 2-on-1s, you’re going to get scored on.

I really feel there’s a turning point in a goalie’s career when someone says something to them that just makes sense. It follows you around. Like, I was a good junior goalie. Then Bob Froese met me, worked with me for two days when I was in Kamloops. We sat and had coffee for like three hours, and a couple of things he said clicked in my head, as to how I needed to play.

So I implemented it in a game, and had a 40-save shutout, and was like ‘holy crap.’

“I ask the same question around this time, but why no Hockey Hall of Fame love for Mike Vernon?” – Rob Jamieson

HIRSCH: Mike Vernon … Hall of Fame. That’s a good question. He’s got two Cups. I don’t see why not, but I think there are other players that are more deserving, which doesn’t have anything to do with Mike Vernon. You have Chris Osgood and Curtis Joseph, too. But I’m not sure any of them get in, because there are other deserving players ahead of them.

The real issue is that, statistically, they’ve never really been able to come up with a really good benchmark for goalies. A player, you can see: ‘He had 500 goals, he had had this or that.’ For a goalie you have save percentage. You have wins, which are a team thing.

That’s why it’s hard for goalies. There’s no real way to measure them like they do players.

“Do you think Jonathan Quick’s playing style has led to his current injury and do you think it will lead to more injuries in the future?” – Eugene Ngo (email)

HIRSCH: One thing about being as flexible as he is: If you’re too flexible, it can make your tendons and your muscles weaker, and more susceptible to injury. Dominik Hasek had the same thing.

But the other part of it is that goalies are overtraining. They go out 30 minutes before, practice, and then go out 30 minutes after. It’s too much. While other players take maintenance days off, goalies can’t. Players don’t have fun shooting on an empty net, so goalies have a guilt conscience about being out there for every practice. They really do. You feel guilty if you don’t practice, because they have nothing to shoot on.

“Which goalies will suffer most from a crackdown on goalie equipment size based on their style of goaltending?” – Jeff From Marlboro

HIRSCH: It’s going to be the blocking style. Your Corey Crawfords, your Ryan Millers. I think Antti Niemi, for sure. He’s already leaky as it is. Now you put smaller equipment on him? [Groans]

There are some guys that are going to get better with smaller gear, too. Some of the athletic guys will be even quicker.

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