Florida Panthers letting intuition help with goalie pick dilemma –NHL Update
Florida Panthers is one of those teams that have had a revolutionary 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season and now after more than a decade, they are preparing to head into their first playoff series ever since. One thing that Florida is
having trouble with is goalie selection in the postseason and for the Panthers, they have left it to intuition.
Panthers at the moment have two goalies, Jose Theodore and
Scott Clemmensen, both which have proved to be stupendous players throughout the season for them. Since the playoffs are a whole different story in terms of competition and playing pressure, Florida will have to choose wisely.
"Obviously you want to play every game," Clemmensen said. "Every player wants to. I play the hand that I'm dealt and make the most of it and that's all you can do. Then you put the decision in their hands. And when you play well, you make a case for yourself
and you give them confidence in you."
Jose Theodore, a native of Laval, Quebec, Canada, played amazingly well for Florida at the start of the season but as the season came to its final few games, the same goalie lost his seven straight starts with nearly half being in over regulation matchups.
Theodore played 53 games for Panthers and managed to register 22 wins along with 16 losses and 11 games going in overtimes and shootouts. He maintained a save percentage of .917 and 2.46 goals against average.
"I know he's a heck of a goalie that's had playoff success and I know he's played some quality hockey for us this year," Dineen said, speaking of Theodore. "And Clem's done a heck of a job for us for the last three weeks. So exciting time in our net, to
say the least."
Clemmensen on the other hand played in 30 games, got 14 wins, six losses and a .913 save percentage and 2.57 goals against average. Both goalies are not nearly as far apart in terms of stats, making the Panthers decision making ability even more difficult.
Every series of the playoffs will require goaltending based on how the goalie can perform against the opposing team. Coach Dineen will just have to use his gut for now in the opening contest as they playoff against New Jersey Devils on Friday, April 13,
2012.
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