So Michal Neuvirth want's to be the number one goalie, really no surprise. As many football fans know in the area, Rex Grossman came out and said the Redskins would be 10-6 and win the East. What else would you expect a player to say? I do give him credit. Confidence, as a goalie, is the most important attribute one can have, a prime example is Braden Holtby. No he wont' be mentioned in the article after this, but let's remember his first few games to his last few games. He was unsure of himself early on and as he gained experience his confidence was through the rough and there he was playing hacky sack with the puck. I digress, Neuvy should go in saying he wants to be number one and why not? He was the main man most of last season, advanced us in a playoff series in less than 7 games for the first time in the Ovechkin/Boudreau era and he's only 23 years old. The last time we had this confident a goalie at this young an age was Olie Kolzig and I think we all remember how he turned out. While Tarik El-Bashir wrote a nice article in the Capitals Insider on the Washington Post's website, only one sentence stood out. "But the stern look on his face suggested that it wasn't just lip service," that there shows us that whatever Neuvy may say his demeanor suggests otherwise.
Dare we ask, where is Tomas Vokoun three weeks before training camp? I can tell you exactly where Neuvy is, he is on ice with Carlson, Hendricks and a few Capitals younger players working on their games. No offense to Vokoun but he is not Ovechkin, or a Tim Thomas for a goalie comparison. He is on a new team and has a lot to prove as a goalie. He has to earn the respect of his new teammates. Name the last playoff series that Vokoun won, and I say that without you pulling up the internet to check. I can tell you when the last 9 Playoff series were won by Neuvy. Albeit that 8 were in Hershey but that was all in the last three years with 2 Calder Cups in hand. The only thing that I saw different with Neuvy from Hershey (which I saw him play in the finals in person) to Washington was the direct confidence and ability to take a game over. I saw Neuvy play in the 2010 Calder Cup playoffs in person and he won that series vs Dallas. In the 2009 campaign, the Hershey Bears were the top scoring team in the league by a long shot and Neuvy just had to be average. He had the time to learn and become dominant. So lets take it as a learning curve, the 2011-2012 season should be a "breakout" year for Neuvy. Does he have competition? Yes he does. Is he going to cower in the corner and cry about it? Clearly he's not.
The fact that he is playing with his childhood idol should help him step up his game. If Neuvy is as smart as he seems, he will be a sponge and steal the advantage over Vokoun. There are 82 games in a season, when was the last time we had one goalie play 60-70 games without being injured? The answer is Olie Kolzig pre lockout. So Neuvy will receive his chance, he just has to put into use the things he learns from Vokoun and Kolzig (asst goalie coach). Let's remember, Vokoun has a one year deal so the Caps know Neuvy is ready. Maybe they are just helping him along a bit and trying to have options come playoff time. If you ask me, Boudreau only named Vokoun the number one to push Neuvy to do better, prepare more and to be ready when his name is called, that atleast is what I hope was done. Neuvy can be the #1 if he strives for it, he's shown he can be before, in Hershey, and he will soon do so in DC.
On another note, thank you for replying to my poll. Tomas Vokoun was the winning vote getter. If you enjoy reading my blog, please subscribe to it, its free to sign up on blogspot, it just shows me that you enjoy the blog and will help me to keep this going. Please tell all your friends, retweet on twitter, post on facebook. I appreciate it all, thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment