The British Goaltender Gamble

Last season the Belfast Giants and the Cardiff Devils took the risk of signing a British goaltender. There was little doubt that the Giants’ Stephen Murphy and the Devils’ Stevie Lyle could ‘do a job’ in the Elite league, but little belief that they could challenge the top keepers.

The position of goaltender is generally considered to be the most important. As the only player likely to ice for sixty minutes, and the one who can singlehandedly limit a dominant team with sixty shots to a goal or two, you can understand why.

There have been some excellent keepers in the league over recent years: Jody Lehman, Phil Osaer, Martin Klempa, and Trevor Koenig, to name a few. The gamble, then, was to hope that the reward of an extra import slot will make up for the deficiency of the British goaltender.

Looking at the NHL, it appeared a good idea. Though the Detroit Red Wings iced Chris Osgood to free wage cap space rather than to free an import slot, the rationale is the same: sacrifice a star goaltender to strengthen the rest of the team. It certainly worked with two consecutive Stanley cup finals, one of which resulted in winning the cup. It is likely that Osgood will retire with more accolades than better, higher paid goalies such as Roberto Luongo.

The logical way to assess how successful the decision was for Belfast and Cardiff, is to look at the impact of the extra import Belfast and Cardiff were able to sign.

It’s difficult to say who the Devils’ eleventh import was; the midseason signing of Ryan Finnerty, the release and re-signing of Scott Romfo, and the on-off appearances of player coach Gerad Adams, muddied the waters. Rather than picking one player, it’s fair to say that the extra import gave the Devils the opportunity to have some depth and rotate their squad.

The Devils achieved the top four finish they had aimed for as well as reaching the playoff final, only being denied by a loss on penalties, which must surely be considered a decent season. Were it not for a horrific run of away form after Christmas, they may even have mounted a push for the league title.

For the Giants it is more straightforward; few would debate that Sean McMorrow was the Giants’ extra man. Although his on-ice performances were much maligned, and there was arguably less need for a tough guy last season, he brought a great deal to the Giants, and the league as a whole in terms of entertainment and marketing.

The Giants fell short of winning the league, and triumphed in the play offs. Many wonder if they would have won the league if a better player had been signed on McMorrow’s place, but it was certainly a decent showing. I would argue that the injury to Brandon Benedict had more of an impact than McMorrow’s lack of scoring.

By the end of the season the British goaltender ‘gamble’ had paid off; in fact it looked as if there was no gamble in the first place. Stephen Murphy led the league in GAA and save percentage, making a mockery of the notion of compensating for a weaker goalie. Stevie Lyle also had a good season, ranking third, ahead of Kevin St Pierre who finished higher in the league with Nottingham. Based on the goaltenders signed so far, it looks like the quality may be slightly lower than it has been in recent years, meaning Murphy and Lyle are likely to shine again.

This season, the bonus of an extra overseas player has been negated by the rising import level, with the top five teams allowed eleven and the remaining teams twelve. The number of British players that have moved to the EPL suggests that the Elite League teams are confident that they can sign enough imports to satisfy their recruitment needs. This is especially the case with no enforced wage cap and the ability to sign more imports into a squad as long as only the limited number ice in a game.

More teams are signing enforcers this season, many of whom can be considered ‘luxury’ players, which is another indication that teams feel they are able to sign enough imports.

Cardiff	v	Edinburgh
11th February 2012 19:00
Dundee	v	Hull
11th February 2012 19:00
Nottingham	v	Belfast
11th February 2012 19:00
Sheffield	v	Coventry
11th February 2012 19:00
Fife	v	Braehead
11th February 2012 19:15
Braehead	v	Fife
12th February 2012 00:00

Dundee	6-2	Fife
5th February 2012 18:30
Cardiff	4-5	Braehead
5th February 2012 18:00
Sheffield	2-4	Belfast
5th February 2012 17:00
Coventry	6-1	Fife
4th February 2012 19:30
Belfast	4-1	Cardiff
4th February 2012 19:00
Nottingham	6-2	Dundee
4th February 2012 19:00

	Club	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Belfast Giants	41	33	8	3	167	83	69
2	Nottingham Panthers	40	30	10	2	182	87	62
3	Sheffield Steelers	35	30	5	0	133	77	60
4	Coventry Blaze	40	25	15	1	153	113	51
5	Cardiff Devils	39	20	19	10	124	112	50
6	Braehead Clan	39	22	17	2	146	127	46
7	Hull Stingrays	41	11	30	4	107	165	26
8	Edinburgh Capitals	38	11	27	3	89	170	25
9	Dundee Stars	40	7	33	5	95	163	19
10	Fife Flyers	39	7	32	5	79	178	19

Peterborough	v	Guildford
8th February 2012 19:45
Swindon	v	Basingstoke
11th February 2012 17:45
Guildford	v	Peterborough
11th February 2012 18:00
Slough	v	Sheffield
11th February 2012 18:30
Milton Keynes	v	Bracknell
11th February 2012 19:00
Manchester	v	Telford
11th February 2012 19:00

Slough	3-0	Basingstoke
5th February 2012 18:30
Guildford	4-2	Milton Keynes
5th February 2012 18:00
Manchester	6-3	Swindon
5th February 2012 17:30
Telford	6-8	Peterborough
5th February 2012 17:30
Sheffield	3-0	Peterborough
4th February 2012 19:30
Milton Keynes	1-3	Manchester
4th February 2012 19:00

	Club	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Guildford Flames	38	26	12	3	172	111	55
2	Manchester Phoenix	39	24	15	3	145	123	51
3	Slough Jets	37	24	13	2	167	117	50
4	Sheffield Steeldogs	38	22	16	4	119	101	48
5	Milton Keynes Lightning	37	22	15	1	116	99	45
6	Basingstoke Bison	38	21	17	2	135	126	44
7	Swindon Wildcats	39	15	24	5	126	134	35
8	Bracknell Bees	37	13	24	8	107	142	34
9	Peterborough Phantoms	38	14	24	2	123	164	30
10	Telford Tigers	39	9	30	2	106	199	20

	Club	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts

	Club	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts

	Club	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts

	Club	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts

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