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This sucks on so many levels.
1) I was really hoping to see Roloson get a cup
2) The Oilers are pretty much SOL
3) Goalies have been voicing concern with how many times goalies have been run all through this past season, but the NHL only cares about scoring so they dont listen.
4) Ty Conklin is currently the most nervous person in North America
I'm just gonna comment on number 4 a little bit. I've been a hockey goalie since about 4th grade and I think I can provide some insight as to some of the more interesting (I think anyway) aspects of the situation the Oilers face.
Being a starting goalie on a hockey team is the second most difficult job in sports. Some of the more obvious things you need to have are being in shape, have quick reaction times, be flexible etc. But I think more importantly than being physically ready, you need to be mentally ready. Being a good goalie requires you to have excelent situational awareness, leadership skills, and most of all a great knowledge of the game of hockey. All these things will lead to being consistant. When you're consistant, your team knows what to expect every day. They know which situations you'll do well in, and when they really need to step it up. Consistancy is hard. Some days you'll get extremely frustrated because the puck seems to be the size of a bullet. You cant stop what you can't see but you have no idea what you're doing wrong. But then there's the days the puck feels like its the size of a beach ball. Those are what goalies live for. I can say that the single best feeling I've had in my life is what you get at the end of the game when your team mobs you because you just stole a game for them. Then there are the absolute worst days where the puck still looks the size of a beach ball, but you still can't seem to get in front of it. You need to learn to take all 3 of those days in stride, look at things subjectively and more or less stay mentally disattatched.
I said being a starting goalie was the second hardest job in sports because I think being a backup is the hardest. You still have to deal with the exact same issues as the starter. But all you get to do is practice. Just as there are good and bad starting goalies, there are good and bad backups. The bad ones are the ones that sulk because they can't accept the fact that they aren't #1. These are the guys that when they are put into the game, the team feels like its a throw away game. The good backups recognize that they have 2 functions. The first is to work harder than the starter does. In an ideal situation, you have 2 goalies on the team, both competing for the same spot. By working harder than the #1 guy you do 3 things. The first is you compete for that starting spot. That's where you want to be. If you compete for that spot well enough, you'll motivate the #1 guy to step up his game as well, which is obviously good for the team. That's the second job you have. The third job, and arguablly the most important is to be ready if you're needed. This is also by far the hardest of your jobs.
As a backup, the only ice time you get is in practice. As with everything, practice is absolutely nothing like the games unless you make it that way. Practice is to work on the physical aspects of the game, but there's really no way to practice balancing the pressure, stress, and adrenayline you feel in a game. But none the less, you need to be ready on a moments notice to step in and take over the reins. Sometimes for the rest of the game, or sometimes for the entire season. Goalies aren't just another position, you're automatically a leader on the team, arguably moreso than the team captain. If you play bad, your team plays bad. If you play well, your team will feed off your energy and do the same. If you look unsure, your team will do the same. If your confidince is solid as a rock, even in the hard times, your team will go out and get things done.
Part of me would absolutely hate to be in Ty Conklin's shoes right now, but most of me would absolutely love it. Like it or not, this is his chance. Something backup goalies dream abobut. Being called upon in the games biggest stage to come in and save the day. While nowhere near as important as what he is going through, I had a similar situation happen to me when I was playing junior hockey in Germany. This was my first year playing in Juniors (ages 17-21). I was 17, and the other goalie on the team was 21. He was one of the goalies on the German national street hockey team. He was pretty damn good. I had him beat in reaction time (I have to be cause I'm a little guy), but he was almost perfect when it came to positioning, technique, and mental coolness. That year about half way through the season, he tore a muscle in his leg and was out for the rest of the season. I remember the day he told me he was out for the year. I told him "man, I'm so sorry". His response was "heh, no you're not".
Coming in off the bench half way through a game is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. In warmups you break a sweat, but then you sit on a bench in a cold ice rink for a couple hours. Your muscles tense up, its hard to stay focused because in the back of your mind you keep thinking "man, I just rode a bus for 8 hours to come watch a hockey game". Then you see your goalie go down and you instantly get butterflies in your stomach. You start stretching your muscles just in case, but you're hoping you wont be needed. You try to sink into 'the zone'. Then the coach looks at you and nods and you get the deer in the headlights look. Litteraly, 2 minutes has passed and suddenly you go from a permanent fixture on the bench to a team leader. I went into the game with us down by 3 goals, and I only let in one more for the second half, so all in all it went well. My next game was something different. Something very similar to Conklin's mess up with the puck behind the net, but this one lasted 60 mins. Thankfully I bounced back, finished the rest of the season and our team stayed in 3rd place. The exact same place we were when I took over.
While what I was playing was hardly the stanley cup finals, I think it still is very similar to what Conklin is going through right now, only in his case its about a billion times stronger. While I dont think its likely to happen, seeing Conklin recover from his game 1 mess up would be a great ending to these playoffs.
PS...sorry its so damn long. Hockey, and more specifically goaltending is actually a larger passion of mine than aviation.
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