Comments on: GMs discuss protecting goalies at meetings

By: botlecap

botlecap — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:29:41 +0000

to me there is a huge difference between leaving your crease to play a non-contested loose puck (on a dump in, errant pass, or near icing clear for example) and leaving your net wide open in the hope that you can beat an opposing forward to the puck. you have to expect that guy is going to do everything he can, as fast as he can, to score that easy goal, and that contact is pretty darned likely. if a team gets behind the defense, and the goalie wants to make himself a defender, he has got to be a lot smarter about it than miller was.

the league ought to have the position that if a team gets behind the defense, the goalie ought to act like a goalie – coming out only to cut down the angle. after all, if i was a coach or gm that’d be what my goalie was told to do. i’d rather take my chances on a break away than lose my goaltender to an injury. giving goaltenders special treatment to become some kind of untouchable defender is not the best way to protect them from injury.

By: daveydawg

daveydawg — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:06:32 +0000

if goalies don’t want to get hit and be a real hockey player, they shouldn’t leave their crease. When you play the puck, you have to have your head up. His wasn’t. You shouldn’t have special treatment. His duty is not to make passes, it is to stop pucks and stop the puck behind the net. If he wants to be a 3rd D, he will be treated like one. All this is ridiculous. 1943 has it right on the head. And not the right equipment?! HA! They have more protection than our men and women on the front line. It’s CRAZY how much equipment they have… they ought to cut it down in fact. Half these goalies just rely on their size and extra bulk… stiffs like Luongo wouldn’t have a job if they didn’t wear oversized pads…

By: bertilfox

bertilfox — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:29:14 +0000

That hit was the Hockey equivalent of “incidental contact”. It was a glancing blow, at worst, but a blow nonetheless. Miller, stop the whining. It wasn’t that bad. You’re making American Hockey players look like crybabies. Besides, you cannot settle a score in the media. The media only has an interest in perpetuating your petty gripes.

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:42:45 +0000

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:37:39 +0000

Nice try. You know that every week for each one of those there’s a 15 yard penalty for a phantom helmet-to-helmet or late hit. You would be trying to defend goalies though. Seeing as yours is the biggest flopper in the league you know you’ll be getting more powerplays if the NHL starts cracking down on contacting the goalies

By: Jason Brough

Jason Brough — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 22:18:41 +0000

Guess I was watching something else last night.

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 22:12:26 +0000

Have you watched the NFL lately Jason? That’s barely true anymore. Those guys are literally untouchables in a sport where trying to knock your opponent’s head off is one of the main goals

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 22:10:54 +0000

I’ve played the position bud, I know what kind of equipment we wear. What did Miller think was going to happen to him if he charged at Lucic? I don’t blame him for trying to stop a breakaway but he’s been around long enough to know what was likely going to happen and his response after the game was gutless. He needs to take some responsibility for what was partly his fault

By: buffalotears

buffalotears — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 22:04:48 +0000

Goalies don’t have the same equipment as other players. They are dressed to stop pucks and be protected from PUCKS, not HITS. I’d love to see how all these Bruins fans would respond if the shoe was on the other foot, and Kaleta takes out Thomas. I agree 100% that Buffalo didn’t respond like they needed to, but you can’t blame Miller for trying to stop a break away chance. Lucic had plenty of time to get out of the way, and he felt it necessary to run Miller over. End of story.

By: Jason Brough

Jason Brough — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:47:25 +0000

I don’t see your point. You can still hit a quarterback in the pocket if he’s got the ball.

By: billyhoyle4real

billyhoyle4real — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:35:28 +0000

Unavoidable Contact is when you’re within an arms or a sticks length. Not a stride and an elbow to the goaltender…
Clearly the way Shanahan fails police the league warrants a committee to do the job of reviewing questionable hits. I’d hate to see a playoff series be decided by a goaltender getting injured due to this type of needless play.

By: polegojim

polegojim — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:15:50 +0000

EXACTLY! QB is about the ‘protected’ position in professional sports…. but if they decide to run in the open field… they’re still a FOOTBALL player, right?

Why on earth is hockey any different????

Goalies who skate out to play in open ice are still hockey players.

The owners will see this differently if given the same play-off scenario, a goalie skates out and is able to make a game or series winning play BECAUSE he is untouchable.

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:49:43 +0000

Why should goalies get to run around wherever they like and not have to worry about being hit? People seem to be forgetting it’s a contact sport. GMs, if you don’t want your goalie getting hurt tell him not to take stupid chances like the one Miller took