Brought to you by the guy who started the goaltending controversy
It did start with a question
The question posed on Sportsnet was of the multiple-guess variety that asked, “who is the answer in goal for the Edmonton Oilers?
Cam Talbot
Mikko Koskinen
Or someone else
I must admit when I saw that “or someone else” I thought…*what a stupid, idiotic…. uh, wait a minute.*
Let’s stick to the obvious
Those crazy eastern buggers posing such a question might be (no, not really) on to something. Then again, that *no not really* might be *really serious* about the *or someone else* implying the Oilers make a trade.
That is an illogical route because Edmonton Oiler Coach Ken Hitchcock already said he likes both goaltenders.
We have two really good goalies who give us a chance to win every night. Now it’s on me to make sure there’s a rhythm.
Hitchcock added winning in the Western Conference is not possible without two good goaltenders. He stressed the need to make sure both of them get a little action in and their rhythm flowing along.
Translation: it’s best to leave the goaltending situation as is.
Oilers GM has won a Cup
Peter Chiarelli has a first-hand experience living in Oil country and getting harshly criticized for past dealings. Good thing he steers his own ship and he hired the third-winningest coach in NHL history in Hitchcock. Only Joel Quenneville and Scotty Bowman have won more games behind the bench.
So far, so good as the Oilers are 5-2-1 under Hitchcock. The super optimistic will say that’s 50 wins in a regular season. Optimistic reality says the Oilers should make the playoffs.
Pundits correctly predicted former coach Todd McLellan’s would be shown the door. This is not surprising, considering he has arguably the best hockey player in the world at his disposal…and not a lot to show for it.
Chiarelli caught flack for swapping out Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson. Only once during his six-year tenure as an Oiler did Hall finish with a +/- in the positive column. It was fun watching him score goals and rack up points. But not so much fun when the opposition scored, and they scored often.
But I digress.
Hitchcock likes both goaltenders and Chiarelli will leave well alone.
No starters here
Could be a good thing
The Oilers don’t have a starting goaltender because they have two excellent backup goaltenders. Playing them on an equal basis fits with Ken Hitchcock’s “for each other” philosophy.
In 2016-17 Talbot started 73 games, going 42-22-8, and backstopped the Oilers into the second round of the playoffs in 2016-17. Over 13 games, he finished with a 2.48 GAA and .924 save percentage. Good numbers for any goaltender.
Based on save percentage, the best Cam Talbot is a Cam Talbot playing half a season, give or take a few games. He broke into the NHL backing up New York Ranger legend Henrik Lundqvist and I’m sure he picked up a thing or two. Before coming to the Oilers, he has posted GAAs of 1.64 (21 games played) and 2.21 (36 games). Respectively his save percentages were .941 and .926
A little number crunching (okay guessing) says Talbot is an excellent goaltender…for a short time. He puts up good numbers playing around 40 or 50 games a year. In back to back seasons, he went from 36 games with the Rangers to 56 games with the Oilers. His save percentage dropped to .917 from .926.
That is a small sample size and a single season indicates his potential, good or bad. The games question is partly answered the following year. He started 67 games in 2017-18 going 31-31-3 and sporting a .908 save percentage. Surprise, the Oilers didn’t make the post-season.
Why Mikko? Because of Mikko
According to the Oilers website, Mikko Koskinen, had a good run in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), arguably the second-best professional hockey league in the world. His playing career stats are sparse but suggest he is a pretty, pretty good playing (you guessed it) about half a season.
His save percentage numbers don’t’ appear until the 2015-16 season, but games played and GAAs are recorded. His best GAA was 1.57 in 29 games in 2016-17. His worst KHL year was 2015-16 where he posted a GAA of 2.42 playing in 41 games.
Like Talbot, Koine’s save percentage seems best when he plays 30 to 40 games a season. In 2015-16 it was .915 in 41 games played. While the win/loss is not stated he did post a GAA of 2.42. The following year he played in 23 games with a GAA of 2.08 and his .916 save percentage is the only exception to the rule of more games and lower percentages.
Regardless, his best numbers came In his last KHL season. In 2017-18 he played in 29 games finishing with a sparkling 1.57 GAA and an eye-popping .937 save percentage. Again, it’s a small sample size and he is technically a rookie having played in four games for the New York Islanders…like eight years ago.
In that four-game stint, his save percentage was an unimpressive .873 with horrible 4.33 GAA. The anomaly is his record over those four appearances was 2-1. The positive to take is even with crappy numbers, he’s still a winning goaltender.
Currently, Koskinen’s record over 13 (started 12) games with the Oilers is 8-3-1 and his GAA of 2.23 aligns with his KHL numbers. Therefore, he is an excellent goaltender…for a short time.
Play a hot Talbot
Cam Talbot’s save percentage against St. Louis was .933 as he stopped 28 of 30 shots. Those are pretty, pretty good numbers. However, many us (me included) slapped our foreheads when the Blues scored two goals in the first period.
This armchair GM hopes Talbot plays a few games in a row while Koskinen recharges. Then tag, Talbot is out and Koskinen is in and so on and so on.
Here’s to Hitchcock finding the rhythm and getting the best out of the backups.
By Verhomme