| | It was a great way to end the century as far as goalies are concerned. December was dominated by sterling performances, and believe me, not only by the goalies everyone knows about. Not all of them are household names. But get used to these up-and-comers because they are not going away.
No fewer than three goalies were nominated for Player of the Month for December and all three have continued to stand on their heads in the new millennium. Pavel Bure may have won the award, but Curtis Joseph, Fred Brathwaite and Roman Turek were in the running, especially Brathwaite, who I thought would win it.
Before we hit the top five, here's some info on Freddie. He stands at 5-foot-6, no more than an inch taller than I am. We have known each other for many years -- he, in fact, helped out at my goalie clinics in Ottawa years ago. We both graduated from the same high school, along with Tyler Moss who is still with the Flames organization. Brathwaite is a gamer, a scrapper who loves the game. And his teammates love him and play hard for him. So, for all up-and-coming goalies, learn from the adversity these guys have faced, and deal with it head on, just like Freddie.
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PANGER'S TOP 5
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| |  | | | Vokoun |
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Tomas Vokoun
Nashville
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14 GS, 4-9-1, 2.87 GAA, .901 sv. pct.
The top spot actually goes to the tandem of Vokoun and Mike Dunham. Vokoun won Player of the Week honors for being spectacular last week (3-0-0, 1.33 GAA, .960 save pct.), while putting the Predators in the playoff hunt. Vokoun was at his best in a 3-2 win vs. San Jose, stopping 43 of 45 shots. His partner wasn't shabby either. Dunham got the ball rolling by tying St. Louis 2-2 (44 saves) and winning 3-1 at Boston (37 stops). Nashville needs these goalies to be more than steady, and if they can keep up even a fraction of this pace, coach Barry Trotz's club will make an opponenent's visit to Nashville a bad experience. |
| |  | | | Brathwaite |
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Fred Brathwaite
Calgary
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23 GS, 11-10-3, 2.27 GAA, .920 sv. pct.
The Flames have climbed to playoff status because of this guy. In every game, he has very little margin for error. Taking nothing away from this gritty group, but the Flames don't score much. If the goalie gives up a marginal goal, the foundation of confidence isn't quite strong enough. Brathwaite has made all the saves he's supposed to make and then he's throwing in a free bag of Salt & Vinegar chips on the side. Other than being rocked for four goals in the third period at home against Philly -- it was a shame the fans in Calgary had to boo him so loudly -- he has been outstanding. |
| |  | | | Joseph |
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Curtis Joseph
Toronto
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33 GS, 20-9-4, 2.15 GAA, .923 sv. pct.
CuJo finally got rocked and showed a little bit of human skin by getting beat 8-1 in Buffalo. He was pulled in the game, but came back strong against Buffalo on Monday in a 6-2 win. He's as stand-up a guy as you'll ever find, blaming himself for the loss, but quickly putting it behind him. In December, he went 7-1-1, had a mini-me-ish 2.20 GAA while winning on the road against the Isles, Devils and Panthers -- by a combined score of 12-6. |
| |  | | | Turek |
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Roman Turek
St. Louis
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33 GS, 19-9-5, 2.06 GAA, .910 sv. pct.
Turek went 7-3-2 in December and then won 5-2 at New York and 2-1 against San Jose. The Blues knew there was potential with this big, easygoing guy and with the defense in front of him -- similar to what he had last year in Dallas -- they believed his demeanor was strong enough once he got used to his new teammates. St. Louis needs Turek to win a game against a team like Colorado and against Patrick Roy to let everyone know that in a seven-game playoff series, he can battle the best in the West. |
| |  | | | Aubin |
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Jean-Sebastien Aubin
Pittsburgh
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19 GS, 9-9-0, 2.53 GAA, .912 sv. pct.
This is another shared honor. Aubin and Peter Skudra. Surprised? The fact is the Penguins are winning, and you need the guy to stop the puck. Both have played particular roles. Skudra won 4-0 at the Island before getting hurt after two periods at Chicago. Aubin came in for the third and stopped 13 shots for the victory. He then went on a roll to win two and lose one at Washington in OT. With Herb Brooks' style of play, the chances against will increase, so to stay in the game, the goalies will have to stop the occasional odd-man break. |
Darren Pang is a hockey analyst for ESPN. | |
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