CockRoche wrote: Hoags wrote: CockRoche wrote:Did you guys have this discussion last year as well? Just curious, as by the sounds of the original post you did.
That is sad and funny at the same time.
My view:
Leclaire - I have never been a fan; skill set or health wise. He is not a starting goalie and should never be counted on to be one. Makes no sense.
Elliott - is growing on me.
Did you ever write your thoughts on Leclaire ? I'm curious why he can't be #1 (skill wise anyway - we all know about his health), besides the fact he never won anything in Juniors.
Nope, I never did. He has never really been brought into threads I have looked at until now.
Short answer - skill wise. He doesn't trust himself and therefore guesses way to often. He is a small goalie, who plays even smaller.
I will expand tomorrow when I have some more time if you wish. Actually, I want to, I just have to remember to.
SeawaySensFan mentioned it already as well and I will now expand on my short answer above.
If you do any kind of instructing young goalies and even been to a goalie school yourself, you will know that there are two ways a goalie can make a save. You can either be in position and block the puck or you can just react to the play that develops. The best goalies do both and they make that decision to either block or react subconsciously in a split second. Any later and it's most likely to late.
We can all agree that Leclaire is a reaction and reflex type goalie. He is able to do this because of his athleticism. Problem with Leclaire is he has no ability at all to make to blocking style save. Leclaire is not a short guy. His style makes him look like that though, he looks like a small goalie. Other than Antti Niemi, I can't think of another goalie that gets as low in thier stance as Leclaire. It's fine to be wide with your legs, but keep your back straight and cover the top portion of the net. Leclaire is bad for that. His top shelp is exposed greatly, just because of his wide stance. The puck moves faster than reflexes and shots get by Leclaire too often up top.
This is just the skill set analysis that you asked for Hoags. You didn't want to go into Leclaire health issues. His style though creates his health issues. The are 2 peas in a pod. He is not going to get away from his injuries until he changes his style. Leclaire guesses and reacts on every save which because he is not in position, he will then have to push his body to the limits and make the sometimes extraordinary, miraculous flopping save where injuries happen. Leclaire has already had the worst injury a goalie can have which is his torn meniscus. That is a tough one to come back from, it forces you to change your game. Leclaire hasn't.
Leclaire needs to get into a rhythm, without consistent starts he won't be able to do that. You can't get consistent starts though if you let in 4 goals a game. See the problem here?
I tend to go off in 7 different directions with my posts when talking about goalies. Chalk that up to having too much in my head and not enough writing experience. My apologies.
Hoags, did I answer you question? Leclaire is not a #1 goalie because of his style and proneness to injury. Starting goalies need to be counted on. When has Leclaire ever given you the confidence that he can be counted on for long periods at a time? Never is the answer.
Fans of Vancouver, Buffalo, New Jersey, Nashville, Rangers, Phoenix, Boston, Calgary and St. Louis (now) don't have to worry about their goalie making a save, they know it is going to happen. It is a good feeling to have as a player or even a fan to know that your goalie will make the save when it is needed. Ottawa fans can't say that with Leclaire.
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