Picking a starting goalie a no-stress decision for Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour
A helpless feeling for any goalie is to be without his stick, lying on his back in the net with bodies colliding in front of him and the puck crazily bouncing around the crease.
And the game on the line. That, too.
That’s the position and predicament goalie James Reimer found himself in as the final seconds of regulation ticked off Thursday in Toronto. The Carolina Hurricanes led the Boston Bruins 3-2, but the Bruins, with an extra attacker, were aggressively after a tying goal, crashing the net, slapping at the puck.
“A mad scramble,” Reimer called it.
Reimer lost his paddle, which ended up in the right circle. As defenseman Jaccob Slavin moved in to help, Reimer thrust his body from the post into the net, lifting up his pads in a desperate stack.
“You’re toeing that line between staying in control and playing with composure and yet having enough freedom in your game to throw some limbs around and just try to get something in front of the puck,” Reimer said in a media call Friday, smiling. “You’re just trying to get your body in front of the puck as much as possible.”
And then the horn sounded. The Canes had won Game 2 in Scotiabank Arena to even the Stanley Cup playoff series at one game apiece and Reimer and his teammates could finally exhale and celebrate.
“The guys battled hard,” Reimer said. “It’s a 20-man unit where everybody is pulling on the rope and doing their job, and at the end of the game it’s just a war to get to the finish line.”
The Canes and Bruins will probably go to war again Saturday at noon in Game 3, in an NBC national broadcast. Because of the Tuesday night postponement of Game 1, the schedule calls for three games in four days and another decision for Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour: Reimer or Petr Mrazek in net.
“We truly do have two really good goalies, so it’s the easiest decision to make,” Brind’Amour said Friday. “It’s based on rest and giving the guy the best chance to succeed.”
After Mrazek started Game 1 on Wednesday, facing 40 shots, Brind’Amour quickly turned to Reimer. Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, in contrast, stuck with Tuukka Rask in both games after Boston won the opener 4-3 in double overtime. Cassidy said Friday he anticipated Rask starting again Saturday.
“We didn’t want a tired goalie or even a remotely tired goalie,” Brind’Amour said. “There’s no reason to when you have another goalie who you have a lot of faith in.”
While Brind’Amour likes Mrazek’s passion and ultra competitiveness and will likely start him Saturday in Game 3 “based on rest,” Reimer has the coach’s complete trust. And BrindAmour trusts the opinion of goaltending coach Jason Muzzatti.
“He has a real good relationship with both those guys and has a real good feel for where they’re at with their mental and physical states,” Brind’Amour said. “There is a lot of communication. It’s not that tough of a decision.”
Both goalies want the net, although Reimer said Friday, “All you want to do is win a Cup and do what you can to help out, so when he’s going I’m his biggest fan.”
Mrazek is quicker in the crease and a better puck-handler. Reimer is calmer but also a battler, a word often used to describe his play in net. Reimer, sharp and focused in the preseason training camp, finished off the three-game sweep of the New York Rangers in the qualifying round with 37 saves in a 4-1 win, and now has beaten the Bruins with 33 saves.
“He’s put in the work to put himself in this conversation,” Brind’Amour said.
Another point of conversation after Thursday’s game was the lack of fans and the sterile environment of Scotiabank Arena. Rask, in his postgame comments, said the games in Toronto don’t have a playoff vibe or feel to them.
“It’s kind of like playing an exhibition game. It’s definitely not a playoff atmosphere out there,” Rask said.
Rask said having fans cheering you or jeering you creates the playoff buzz of a series, saying, “There’s none of that so it just feels like dull at times.”
Not to Brind’Amour. Not to Reimer.
“I think the games have been incredibly intense,” Brind’Amour said. “I noticed that in Game 1 against the Rangers. I was kind of shocked at how emotional it was considering what makes hockey great is the fans in the stands and the emotion in the game they bring.”
Reimer, wearing an “Immeasurably More” T-shirt Friday, more or less shrugged off Rask’s comments.
“Everybody is entitled to their own opinion,” Reimer said. “But for us, we’re grinding. I think we’re coming together as a team and playing with a lot of passion, a lot of emotion right now. It feels like we’re in a fight.”
This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 2:17 PM.
