Goal Line Report
Lundqvist is The Man
by Patrick Hoffman on 03/21/11 at 08:12 PM ET
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From good friend of the blog Rob Simpson at MSGNetwork.com:
Part of Hank’s statistical success comes from his workload: Play enough games and you’re inevitably going to win your share, especially for a franchise that’s made the playoffs, or fallen one game short, every year since your rookie season. Over the last six seasons, Lundqvist has played in 53, 70, 72, 70, 73, and 59 games. That last number is expected to reach 68 by the time this one’s over, with regular back-up Marty Biron still out with an injury.
Which isn’t to take away anything from his accomplishments. Lundqvist has obviously had to be physically durable and mentally tough to endure this consistent workload year after year. To be a “hot” goalie in the NHL generally means being good for a season or two—the physicality and grinding schedule take their toll. The kind of consistency shown by Marty Brodeur and Lundqvist is the exception, not the norm. Only four other teams in the entire League have the same No. 1 netminder now that they had coming out of the lockout.
What’s been most impressive about Hank’s durability is his ability to bounce back. Lundqvist’s blips rarely reach the “funk” level, remaining short-term. He generally recovers very well from bad goals in a game and poor overall nights. Panic set in amongst the hockey pundits once again this season when Henrik went into a bit of a tailspin out of the All-Star break, but as quickly as he had submerged, his head was right back above water.
Click here for more on “The King”.
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Patrick has a tremendous passion for hockey. Besides covering the Rangers and the NHL for Kukla's Korner, you can also find Patrick's work over at Sportsnet.ca, The Red Light District Hockey Blog, NHL Home Ice, and Liam Maguire's Ultimate Hockey web site.
Prior to writing for the above mentioned outlets, you could find Patrick's musings at hockey web sites/outlets such as TheHockeyNews.com, TheFourthPeriod.com, Spector's Hockey, Hokeja Vestnesis, Blueshirt Bulletin, SNYRangersBlog.com and many more.
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