Pressure in the crease: Two netminders on the brink of stardom

It has been said by many in the hockey industry that goaltending is the most important position in the sport.

This is especially true if a team relies on its goaltending on a nightly basis. For two Original Six franchises like the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Chicago Blackhawks, they will need their masked netminders to have another strong season in order to get into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The two young goaltenders that will have an enormous amount of pressure on them to do so will be James Reimer of the Maple Leafs and Corey Crawford of the Blackhawks. It will be up to them to get their teams into the playoffs to play for hockey’s Holy Grail, the Stanley Cup.

James Reimer, Toronto Maple Leafs
Ever since Toronto Maple Leafs’ former netminder Ed Belfour left Toronto, the franchise has struggled to find themselves a true No. 1 goaltender, which coincides with them missing the postseason.

One problem was solved when goaltender James Reimer, 23, burst onto the scene and had an above average rookie season for the Leafs. In 37 games, Reimer went 20-10-5 with a 2.60 goals against average, .921 save percentage, and three shutouts, bringing back days of Felix Potvin to the Leafs’ faithful.

One hockey blogger, Brian Huddle of HockeyBuzz, FutureConsiderations and a contributor to Maple Leafs’ Annual, believes that it was Reimer’s head and attitude that made him successful in his first season.

“Reimer seemed to have much more success than most thought because of his mental toughness,” Huddle said. “He seems to have the ability to shake off a bad goal or a bad game and bounce back and his ‘happy-go-lucky’ demeanor likely had a huge effect.”

While Reimer proved a lot last year, the upcoming season will be a whole different animal for the young netminder. He will go into training camp knowing that he is the club’s No. 1 goaltender, and with that role comes a lot of responsibility.

“Reimer hasn’t had to shoulder the load of a number one since his Red Deer Rebel days and as was evident as his season progressed in Toronto, he was getting tired,” Huddle said.

With that said, Huddle believes Reimer has the right mindset and character to continue having success as an NHL goaltender.

“Reimer should be able to do well in Toronto as he is in a situation where he has won over the fans, who have given him nicknames in their love affair,” Huddle explained. “As long as he keeps a good attitude, he should be able to come out of the season in good shape.”

Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks
Last season, 26-year-old netminder Corey Crawford was one of the main reasons why the Blackhawks were able to sneak into the postseason as well as get to within one win of beating the Vancouver Canucks in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

This season, Crawford will be a marked man as he will be counted on to deliver once again for Chicago and be the No. 1 guy. According to Tab Bamford of Committed Indians, a Chicago Blackhawks fan blog, that should not be a problem for Crawford.

“He got a long term deal from the organization and the starting job is his,” Bamford said. “He’s a good goalie who just needed the organization to commit to him, and they did last year… and for the next few years.”

The Blackhawks committed to Crawford because of his strong showing last season. Crawford went 33-18-6 with a 2.30 goals against average, .917 save percentage and four shutouts in 57 games played.

Even with Crawford’s strong season, the Blackhawks still went out and signed former Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers and Anaheim Ducks goaltender Ray Emery, to a try-out contract. Emery was brought in to push for Crawford’s backup netminding job with Alexander Salak and probably to push Crawford to be even better than he was last season.

“Emery is only invited to camp, and will have to be very good in camp to win a job backing up Crawford in Chicago,” Bamford said. “With that being said, competition is always healthy in training camp.”

For Reimer and Crawford, the pressure will be on to surpass their performances last season and get their teams into the only season that matters come April.