Goalie Matchup Overview
NHL Playoffs - Round 1 - 2002-03

Western Conference

Vancouver vs St-Louis

Dan Cloutier : He had an OK season but was certainly not the key player of the Canucks. Since he’s back from his injury, he’s not been very successful. He didn’t do well last year in the playoffs either. He probably won’t have to steal a game to beat the Blues but he’ll have to stop the shots from the red line (remember Lidstrom?).

VS

Chris Osgood : Is he really better than Brent Johnson? He is the biggest question mark of the Blues. He’s not very consistent and could steal some games and literally give some away to the Canucks.

Dallas vs Edmonton

Marty Turco : The NHL’s best goaltender in 2002-2003. He will be at his first NHL playoffs experience and that could be a turning point. He finished the season on fire with only one goal against in 3 games.

VS

Tommy Salo : He just had a bad, BAD year. He was anything but consistent. The Oilers will need a goaltender who could steal 2 or 3 games to beat the powerful Stars but Salo doesn’t seem to be that man this year.

Colorado vs Minnesota

Patrick Roy : Another «Patrick Roy» season for him. There’s no doubt he will be great in playoffs. What more can we tell…

VS

Dwayne Roloson : The NHL’s surprise of the year. Who would have thought that this «AHL labelled» goalie would become one of the NHL greatest this year? A first NHL playoff experience as number one and a little letdown in the end of the season is a bit worrying for the Wild.

Detroit vs Anaheim

Curtis Joseph : Cujo just played an average season for him. The Red Wings were expecting a bit more from the veteran goalie. He proved in the past that he is great when his team is the underdog; this time, he’ll play in the role of the favorite.

VS

J-Sebastien Giguère : One of the NHL’s most underrated goaltender but clearly one of the 5 best this year. A first playoffs presence in the NHL but he did well in the past in the minors. He’ll have to be the best player on the ice to give a small chance to the Ducks to past thru the Wings.

Eastern Conference

Ottawa vs NY Islanders

Patrick Lalime : He had a roller-coaster season with extreme highs and extreme lows. Lalime has been the best goalie in the playoffs last year and proved to everybody that he could handle the pressure pretty well. He’ll have the best team of the NHL to help him.

VS

Garth Snow : He started to play really well as soon as Osgood was traded to St-Louis. The last time he played in the playoffs as a number one was with the Flyers a few years ago. He’ll have to face to most powerful offense of the league and the great confidence that he built at the end of the season could disappear fast.

New-Jersey vs Boston

Martin Brodeur : He was very consistent all season long and took advantage of the best defensive of the league to wins over 40 games. He will face the big offensive machine of the Bruins and will certainly receive more than his usual 24 shots per game.

Jeff Hackett / Steve Shield: The goaltender situation in Boston is so uncertain that we can’t tell for sure who will start in net. Both had a great first half of the season and a disastrous second half. This is the principal weak point of the Bruins.

Tampa Bay vs Washington

Nikolai Khabibulin : The Russian goalie had an incredible last month and a half that made everyone forget about his so-so first half. His experience will be a big asset to the inexperienced Lightning. He’ll have a lot of work against the Caps offence and he’ll have to outplay Kolzig to win.

VS

Olaf Kolzig : Kolzig played all year under the radar but had an excellent season. He brought the Caps in the final in 1996 and could do the same thing this year if he plays to his level. The main point of this matchup will be in net and Kolzig will have to be the best of the 2 keepers to win.

Philadelphie vs Toronto

Roman Cechmanek : The Czech had another great season this year. Solid in 3 of 4 playoffs games last year, many people (especially the Montreal media) doesn’t recognize him as a good NHL goalie. He could surprise many people this year.

VS

Ed Belfour : He’s another great surprise of the last season. He was incredible night after night and may be the Leafs most valuable player. He’ll have a difficult task against the powerful Flyers. He played a lot of game this year and his old legs could run out of fuel.