Goalies at the Olympics

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Goalies at the Olympics

Last September, GoalieMania tred to predict who was going be the 3 goaltenders for the 6 top countries in Salt Lake City. On December 21st, the 6 teams unveiled their rosters. Let's look and analyze the choices of every teams.

1. Czech Republic

Predictions	Choice
Dominik Hasek Roman Cechmanek Roman Turek	Dominik Hasek (det) - 12e Roman Cechmanek (phi) - 19e Roman Turek (cal) - 8e

Those choices were probably the easiest. Hasek and Cechmanek were 2 of the best in goal last year in the NHL. Roman Turek didn't have a great series against the Avs but he was incredible in the first 2 months of the season.

2. Canada

Predictions	Choice
Patrick Roy Curtis Joseph Martin Brodeur	Curtis Joseph (tor) - 17e Martin Brodeur (nj) - 27e

Patrick Roy found another way to make the headlines when he decided to say no to Gretzky and friends. By doing that, he gave the job of the 2 first goaltenders to Curtis Joseph and Martin Brodeur. The selection of Ed Belfour instead of Sean Burke was a bit surprising because Burke is simply the best in the NHL since 2 years and has a lot of international experience.

3. Sweden

Predictions	Choice
Tommy Salo Johan Hedberg Johan Holmqvist	Tommy Salo (edm) - 16e Johan Hedberg (pit) - 10e Mikael Tellqvist (tor) - 38e (AHL)

With few Swedish goalies in the NHL, 2 of them were sure to play in Salt Lake City. Salo could be a dominant goalie if the offense does its job. It's finally Mikael Tellqvist who won the third place just in front of Johan Holmqvist.

4. USA

Predictions	Choice
Mike Dunham Mike Richter Robert Esche	Mike Richter (nyr) - 5e Tom Barrasso (car) - 14e Mike Dunham (nas) - 21e

The great season starts by Mike Richter and Tom Barrasso left no choice to the US coaching staff to choose the 2 veterans. Mike Dunham had a hard first third of season but seems to get back on track lately and could be more than a third goalie in Salt Lake City.

5. Russia

Predictions	Choice
Nikolai Khabibulin Vadim Tarasov Evgeny Konstantinov	Nikolai Khabibulin (tby) - 1er Evgeny Nabokov(sj) - 4e S.Podomasky (Russie) - N/A

The Russians made a strange choice by going with Evgeny Nabokov…from Kazakstan. It's not sure that Nabokov will have the right to play but, does a team need a second goalie when you have Nikolai Khabibulin, the best in the NHL this year?

6. Finland

Predictions	Choice
Janne Hurme Mikka Kiprussoff Ari Ahonen	Janne Hurme (ott) - 38e Jussi Markkanen (edm) - 54e Passi Nurminen (atl) - 45e (AHL)

A bit like Patrick Roy, Mikka Kiprussoff decided not to play at the Olympics. The young Markkanen and Nurminen are going to be the 2 back-ups. Jane Hurme will have to be at his best if he wants to bring a medal back to Ottawa.

CONCLUSION

GoalieMania correctly predicted 12 of the 18 goalies (66,6%) who will be at the Olympics. With Roy, Nabokov and Kiprussoff that are special cases, that brings us to 12/15 (80%). With the ranking (NHL) of the first 2 goalies of each team we can have an idea of the strength of the countries in net for the Olympics tournament :

RUSSIA - 5 (With Nabokov)

USA - 19

CZECH REPUBLIC - 20

SWEDEN - 26

CANADA - 44

FINLAND - 92