Goalie Gaffes

So the last thing I wrote for this, concerning dirty players such as Maxime Lapierre, was a little serious. So this one will be a little more lighthearted. The subject: recent goalie gaffes. There have been a number of these so far this season. The first is thanks to Marc-Andre Fleury, famous for his post-season meltdowns. But, let’s notice that Fleury is 7-0 for the Penguins this year with a 1.84 GAA. That still won’t help him live down this – a goal allowed from center ice.

His opposition for that game was Roberto Luongo, who was victim to an even odder goal recently. The good, old own goal, thanks to a mishandle by Dan Hamhuis. This was on a Vancouver power play, with absolutely no pressure on. I watched this game live, and couldn’t believe that it happened. But then again, who else, besides maybe Fluery, would this happen to. Off one skate, and then the other, before slowly sliding behind the goal line. I mean, what are the odds that this would happen. This takes at least two views to fully appreciate. And is better when you read this. I love the view from the net. And seeing all the Habs fans celebrate in the corner.

 

Equally strange was Jonathan Quick’s mistake on this Ryan McDonagh goal. It was also a shorthanded goal, as McDonagh was simply clearing the puck after a won faceoff. Quick went to play the puck, dropped his stick, and had the puck bounce off his blocker and then slide into the goal. If you’ve found a theme on these strange goals, it’s that the puck has decided not to play nice and take all sorts of weird bounces.

Quick’s former understudy made a mistake off his own. Jonathan Bernier allowed a long distance goal against the Hurricanes, one that stood up to be the game winner. Ron Hainsey tried to pass the puck up ice, but missed his man and the puck slide down the ice. It bounced off the boards and came back to hit Bernier in the skate and deflect into the net. One guy who deserves a lot of credit here is Radek Dvorak. The play would’ve been whistled for icing, but Dvorak beat both Maple Leaf defenders down ice. Because he would’ve won the race for the puck, Bernier was getting set to play the puck when it bounced back on him, hit his skate, and gave Carolina a 3-2 win. Again, the net cam view is great.

 This next play doesn’t really fit the category, but it’s a goalie doing something different with the puck. Check it out: 

 Yes, that is Phoenix goalie and diver extraordinaire MikeSmith scoring a goal. And not just being the last player to touch the puck, but actually shooting it down the ice and into the open net. And it’s a good thing he didn’t waste any time, because with 0.1 second left, he barely made it. As much as I don’t like Smith, that’s still pretty cool.