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When to pull goalie in hockey?

Posted By: scotty
Date: Thursday, 4 June 2015, at 4:10 a.m.

In Response To: When to pull goalie in hockey? (Bob Koca)

You may well be correct, Bob. Patrick Roy, coach of Colorado Avalanche, and past star goaltender shocked people in the hockey world by breaking tradition and pulling his goalie very early a few times this past year when his team was trailing in the 3rd period. The details are fuzzy in my mind, and maybe someone else can fill in the missing pieces, but IIRC, he pulled his goalie with something like 4 minutes remaining, while trailing by 2 goals, successfully tied the game, sending the game to overtime for a decision. Roy has been successful with this strategy on a few occasions. Other coaches have become a little more liberal in pulling their goalies earlier.

However, it's possible that coaches are reluctant to break from accepted practices while in the Stanley Cup finals. Strange things can and do happen in the finals, when the players are facing maximum stress. The coach also needs to keep his players feeling confident, and pulling Bishop too soon after Bishop had allowed 2 goals in 2 minutes, might have been a factor in his decision. Lightening coach, Cooper, has to rely on Bishop for the rest of this series. Cooper certainly doesn't want to undermine the confidence of his key goalie. And the coach must balance those considerations with keeping the confidence of the rest of him team, as well, by making decisions in the best interest of the team.

Further considerations are location of the puck on the ice, what players does the coach want on the ice in a 6 on 5 situation, etc. I didn't see the third period, so I really don't know what was happening in the final minutes. It's certainly true that different coaches have different views on this.

In 1970, Montreal found themselves tied for the final playoff spot with New York Rangers. The deciding factor was to be total goals for over the course of the season. Montreal trailed NY by four goals, entering their final game against Chicago. Montreal did not need to win the game. They only needed to score at least 5 goals. This is perhaps the most extreme case ever of pulling the goalie, in the history of the league.

Quoting from wiki...

April 5, 1970 – The Montreal Canadiens were in a desperate race to qualify for the NHL playoffs. The Canadiens hosted the Chicago Blackhawks. With 9 minutes and 30 seconds left in the third period, Montreal was down by a score of 5–2. Montreal’s only hope of qualifying for the playoffs was to score three more goals. Canadiens coach Claude Ruel removed his goalie, Rogatien Vachon from the net. Vachon would return to the net only for faceoffs. Chicago would score five empty net goals and win the game by a score of 10–2. Montreal would miss the playoffs for the first time in 22 years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969%E2%80%9370_Montreal_Canadiens_season

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