First off. Congrats to Patrick Lalime on a fine career and on his new job with RDS.
Unfortunately for Lalime, hockey fans and experts alike judge his time in Ottawa on what happened in game 7 against the Leafs in 2004. Understandable, because it was horrific. But over the years it seems people are too quick to use that period in that game to judge his body of playoff work over 4 seasons in Ottawa. It's uniformed and it's not right.
A little perspective:
-Patrick Lalime played 41 post season games with the Sens over the course of 4 years (2001-2004)
-The Sens bowed out in the 1st round in 2001, the 2nd in 2002, the 3rd in 2003 and the 1st in 2004
-Lalime's post season stats are: 21-20, 1.77 GAA, .926 SV%. Some of the best numbers of all time
-In those 41 games, the Sens averaged just 2.09 goals per game. They were shutout 9 times, and scored just one goal on 4 other occasions
-In each of those 4 regular seasons the supposedly always defense first Sens averaged 3.17 goals per game. The team was 3rd, 5th, 3rd and 1st in goals for during those regular seasons.
Anyone who puts the Sens playoff shortcomings on Patrick Lalime should take a look at the numbers and give their head a shake. How does a team expect to have playoff success if it's goals for drops by over a goal a game in the playoffs? It's a miracle they won 3 series in Lalime's time.
A little perspective on Patrick Lalime
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
by
Steve Lloyd
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Welcome to my Healthy Scratches blog. You can hear Jason York and myself weekdays from 3-6 on Team 1200. I use this blog to expand upon some of the things we talk about on the show, and anything else that really pops into my ample head.
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2 comments:
Stats are for losers. The fact remains that Lalime almost never outplayed the opposing goaltender in any of the Sens playoff series. In the 2003 series vs New Jersey especially, he was extremely shaky giving NJ an undeserved 3-1 series lead that they almost managed to pull out. While he was a decent pro, he wasn't the elite level goaltender the Senators needed to reach their potential.
Great article! Lalime deserves more respect. A good goalie and great with the fans. I remember taking my then 5 year old son to the long ago defunct "Sens' Carnival". Most of the players looked bored and frankly angry to have to be there. Only Lalime and Ron Tugnut appeared to actually enjoy being there and seemed genuinely happy to be interacting with the fans. Lalime even let my son try on his mask, trapper and blocker. That easy, unforced kindness is what I will remember most about Lalime. More often than not Lalime was a winner in Ottawa.
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