Roberto Luongo saved Canada’s Olympic men’s hockey team on Friday night, from a what could have been a huge embarrassment, in making a tremendous save on Vancouver teammate and Slovakia forward Pavol Demitra, with only a few seconds remaining, and the Slovaks having executed an inspiring comeback in a hostile environment. The potential of a tying goal for Slovakia, after Canada had an early and comfortable 3-0 lead, could have been devastating, had the game been forced to overtime, where anything can and does happen. It was a subtle reminder, not as though Team Canada or the country need it, that in playoff type games, it’s almost always the goalkeeping that makes the biggest difference, just like pitching usually decides Major League Baseball’s biggest games in the postseason.
Sunday afternoon, Team Canada, and a TV audience of millions, will get another reminder, when one of the most consistent goalkeepers this year, Ryan Miller, leads Team U.S.A., into their David versus Goliath type battle for the gold medal. Miller, virtually on his own, stole a victory for the American side, against Team Canada, earlier in the tournament. He is more than capable of doing the same again, and he’s done that as well during the N.H.L. regular season, for his Buffalo Sabres, who also rely heavily on his heroics, to get them to the lofty spot they hold down in the National Hockey League’s Eastern Conference. They are sitting in 5th place, with 75 points, only 2 back of second place New Jersey, and 8 points ahead of of sixth place Philadelphia. Miller’s individual statistics, certainly illustrate his clutch performance this season with the Sabres, as he has a G.A.A. of 2.16 in 52 games, which leaves him tied for second in that category, with Chicago’s Antti Niemi. Team U.S.A’s net minder, also has an N.H.L. save percentage of.930, which is second best in the league, and just one percentage point back of Florida’s Tomas Vokoun. Ryan Miller is the biggest so called “X” factor in Sunday’s gold medal game, which would no doubt be agreed upon by every player on both sides, as well as the coaches, including of course, Team Canada assistant coach, and Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff.
Not that anyone really needs any further proof about clutch goalkeeping, but there was another example of this in the English Premiership on Saturday. First place Chelsea, now have to rely on their backup goalkeeper, Henrique Hilario, due to an injury which has sidelined their regular starter,and a pretty good one,in Petr Cech. Hilario displayed some of the worst goalkeeping you will ever witness in a professional soccer game, in the Blues shocking 4-2 defeat, by Manchester City, in the comforts of their home field, at Stamford Bridge, in front of 41,814 mostly disappointed fans. Great teams need great net minding, and that will no doubt be the determining factor in Vancouver, for the underdog Americans, and the heavily favored Canadians, and their men on the spot, Ryan Miller, and Roberto Luongo.