Troy Pfaff: “Because It’s The Cup” Five Hole Dive Style, Vol. 2
BECAUSE IT’S THE CUP- Since my inaugural post on Monday, the playoff race in both conferences has become even more amusing.
The San Jose Sharks are suddenly leading the Pacific Division despite being one point away from missing the playoffs entirely, while the Washington Capitals lost to the Buffalo Sabres in what could prove the biggest game of the season for both clubs. The Sabres now control their own destiny and the Capitals will need some help to sneak into the eighth seed in the East.
Still as amusing is the NHL’s “Because It’s The Cup” marketing campaign, consisting of both tv commercials and posters at Dick’s Sporting Goods stores across the country.
Of course, we can’t expect the NHL to use these posters to their full potential, as running anything that could possibly offend a given fanbase isn’t a particularly great idea for the league itself.
For a soon-to-be 20-year-old writer such as myself, it won’t hurt. With that, I bring you volume two of my Because It’s The Cup – Five Hole Dive Style series.
Enjoy:
Roberto Luongo is a phenomenal goaltender. There’s no doubt about it, unless we’re talking about when the pressure is truly on.
His regular season numbers have been outstanding since coming to the Vancouver Canucks for forward Todd Bertuzzi in a trade with the Florida Panthers on the eve of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.
Only once since then has Luongo had a goals against average above 2.38 (excluding this season’s 2.41 mark) in a season.
When April rolls around, though, Luongo becomes a different player.
He was solid in his initial postseason with the Canucks, posting an awesome 1.77 GAA and .941 save percentage over 12 games, but his playoff numbers haven’t come close to that again.
His goals against average in the Canucks’ other three postseasons is nearly 2.70 and his save percentage is under .917, including a 2009-10 postseason where Luongo saved less than 90% of the shots sent his way over 12 games.
However, the Canadian’s struggle with pressure was never more evident than in Game 7 of last season’s Stanley Cup Finals.
Luongo saved just 17 of 20 shots (85%) in a 4-0 loss at home to the Boston Bruins in last season’s Stanley Cup-clinching game.
Opposing him in that game – and saving all 37 shots faced – was Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas. Thomas made headlines this past January when he refused to join his teammates for their customary trip to the White House as taken by all Stanley Cup winners.
The 37-year-old goaltender claimed the decision wasn’t about political affiliation, rather stating that “the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties and Property of the People.”
The decision drew both praise and criticism from hockey writers, politicians and fans.
Because It’s The Cup – Five Hole Dive Style: Volume 1
Follow Troy on Twitter @TroyPfaff for more NHL content and the rest of the Because It’s The Cup – Five Hole Dive Style series.
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