I think we can all agree that the Sabres have had poor production from their backup goaltenders ever since Martin Biron was traded in the 2006-2007 season. It’s been a flaw in this team for quite some time now. The Sabres give away too many points when their starter is resting. I do think some people are nostalgic for what Biron offered — a dynamic, likable personality and a decent win-loss record. What he did for this team in the past however has no bearing on what he might have been able to do for the Sabres in the 2010-2011 year.
I guess I’m supposed to follow that up by reminding everyone who reads this place to get over it, right? It’s funny; I hear more from the people complaining about the Biron-to-Buffalo supporters than I do from the actual advocates. This happens a lot in sports. People create these irrational interest groups and speak of them as if they’re the majority but really they’re probably just a couple of harmless people musing wouldn’t-it-be-nice scenarios and remember-when memories.
I didn’t necessarily want the Sabres to sign Biron but I was disappointed when I heard the Sabres had resigned Patrick Lalime. I thought over the course of the two years he has played here he was consistently a poor goaltender. He let in terribly soft goals at what I considered a frequent basis and at very inopportune moments. The skaters in front of him looked at times to have very little faith in Lalime and it was totally deserved.
The counter argument to my Lalime position is this: I’m expecting too high of production from a backup goaltender. He’s obviously not a top-30 talent. If he were, he’d be starting someplace. All backup goaltenders are below average.
I’ll address that argument in a minute but first I want to direct attention to another part of this discussion. I’ve heard a lot of people say over the years something along the lines of Lindy Ruff does not know how to handle the backup goaltender position. Managing this position does not seem like something that’s very complicated. I would agree that Lindy Ruff tends to be a bit more reluctant to start his backup than the majority of other coaches. That’s what he prefers especially when he has an exceptional starter on his roster. I also think that Ruff has been guilty of starting his backup goaltender the wrong night when the Sabres play back-to-back weekend games. He doesn’t do it regularly but I can certainly recall feeling surprised with his selection in that particular situation more than once.
But really, what is the logic behind proclaiming Ruff a poor manager of his goaltenders? The general assumption is that if a goaltender doesn’t appear in any game-action for an extended period of time, his performance will suffer. That’s basically the way most people have rationalized the poor production the Sabres have been forced to tolerate from their backups the past couple of years. I’m not so sure it’s right.
Ryan Miller started 68 games last year. You might be surprised to learn that figure was only the 8th highest in the National Hockey League. The seven players who started in more games than Miller last year were Brodeur (NJD), Quick (LAK), Kiprusoff (CGY), Lundqvist (NYR), Nabokov (SJS), Anderson (COL), and Bryzgalov (PHX). Of course I was curious how well the backup goaltenders performed on these teams. Some teams like the Rangers, Kings, Flames, and Sabres (Enroth started once in November if you recall) used more than one goaltender to backup their starter last year so I averaged the stats of all the backup goaltenders together to make the data a bit more clear to understand. Here’s what I found:
Now, there’s not exactly a trend or anything remarkable to take from this chart other than the fact that there were a handful of backup goaltenders that started in fewer games than Patrick Lalime and outperformed him, significantly. This is only one year’s worth of data. I’ll concede to the possibility that in years past it was different. I’m not trying to convince anyone with these numbers just invalidate this ridiculous notion that Lindy Ruff is a delusional maverick in the way he manages this position and that his apparent mismanagement is what’s causing Patrick Lalime to perform at his level. It was never unreasonable to have expected a better performance out of Lalime in the games he started.
Just to show a little more context, here is the production from the next seven least active backup goaltenders or backup goaltender combinations.
I cut off the list at Minnesota so that Buffalo would be the median and also because any time a goaltender starts in more than 25 games, he should probably be designated with a term other than backup.
Anyway, if you have working eyeballs, you can pretty easily tell backup goaltenders that are starting in games more regularly do not necessarily perform better. In fact if anything, the numbers suggest the opposite. So remind me again why people continue to clamor for Lindy Ruff to play Patrick Lalime more? If it’s because you assume he’s going to play better because backup goaltenders that appear in game-action more consistently perform better, you’re mistaken. I mean let’s be real here, it’s not like Lalime, instead of playing, is sitting on his couch eating Butterfingers. I’m sure there’s a technique to keeping yourself prepared for game-action and I’m sure he’s taking all the necessary steps to ensure that he is. Sometimes though, being prepared is not enough.
I can usually follow the logic Darcy Regier uses to adjust the roster but this decision has me a little confused. Ryan Miller has certainly made the conversation a bit more interesting. I think we can safely say that he’s quite pleased the Sabres signed Patrick Lalime. Miller personally thanked him during his Vezina acceptance speech. They’re clearly good friends. I’m sure Darcy Regier cares what Miller’s thoughts are on the matter but I doubt if Regier considers them at all when it came time to choose whether or not to offer a contract. This is a business. Ryan Miller is a professional. He gets it. He’s not your typical egomaniacal star that demands a bowl of red only M&M’s at his locker every morning. The Sabres don’t have to walk on eggshells around this guy. Just listen to the way he talks. Miller is modest and mild mannered to the core. I really don’t need to remind fans about any of this but it seems that some of Miller’s traits have been lost in the Lalime talk. Miller’s preferences don’t matter. The only thing that matters when it comes time to make these sorts of decisions is putting together the most talented, successful team possible. I’d like to believe the signing of Lalime was based on the Sabres’ faith in his ability to play the position, not his relationship with Miller and I refuse to think Miller needs his buddy next to him in order to play at the level he showed this past year. I just have trouble understanding where this faith comes from.
I think we all know that Ryan Miller can and probably will start between sixty-five and seventy games next season. It would be nice if the Sabres’ backup goaltender could win something like seven or eight of those remaining games. Lalime seems to be a guy worth rooting for. I want him to do well. I want the Sabres to do well first and foremost though. I have to admit, this signing concerns me. I just don’t feel comfortable knowing that Lalime will have the responsibility of starting goal in place of Ryan Miller. I think the Sabres could have and definitely should have found someone better.
The few very solid starts that Lalime had last year – all against very good teams if I remember correctly – came when he was playing regularly (though that was partly because he got that start in Portland). And then Lindy stopped playing him. Back-ups as a group might not play better with more time, but I think we’ve seen enough to at least debate that Lalime as an individual does.
That said, I personally can’t get that worked up about the back-up goalie. Even with an overall subpar performance from Lalime the Sabres scored 100 points, won the division, and finished 3rd in the conference. If Miller gets hurt for a long period of time, the Sabres are probably screwed no matter what because he’s so much the heart of the team. I think his loss would be much more than just performance on the ice. Back-up is way, way down on my list of concerns.
Heather,
All points you made are fair. I think there’s evidence that shows if Lalime plays more consistently he will play better. Other goaltenders don’t need to play as frequently to have quality starts and so I can’t help but wonder why the Sabres would bring back Lalime to be a player that occasionally fills in for one of the world’s best? Clearly Miller is going to get his starts next year. The Sabres should have tried to find someone capable of playing sporadically and not have to start 20-25 games. Ruff shouldn’t have to change the way he does things and have Miller sit more often to accommodate his backup. That’s ridiculous.
I’m really not as concerned about this as I suggested but I do think the Sabres missed an opportunity to improve their team. They have bigger problems, of course. The Lalime signing is news though and everyone seems fine with it probably because we haven’t seen him play in a couple months and the last we’ve heard of him was during Miller’s speech — a warm, touching moment. I think people should look through that and remember how they felt watching this guy play the last two years.
Is there anyone out there you think the Sabres should have signed rather than Lalime? I feel the same as you, Lalime is a good guy and I’d like him to do well but I never really feel confident when he’s in net. It would have been nice to upgrade but you look around at the other backup goalies signed this summer especially for under $1 million and there’s not anyone who’s a big improvement. I do believe price was a big factor in Darcy’s decision, why pay a guy $1.5 million to play 15 games? And I think he really limited himself by insisting on a 1-year contract (guys like Biron or Raycroft might have been had if we had been willing to go 2 years). But in the end I can’t point to someone who was out there in that price range and say, “I wish we had them instead of Lalime.”