Raycroft - Simply Not Good Enough

I have to admit I doubled over in laughter when reading the comments by Dave in my last rant. I will assume because I know Dave and he is a pretty sharp guy that he has not watched a lot of Leaf games this year, because if he has he would not have made the comments.

Again Mr. Raycroft fails to make a save and pulls the old hands up in the air after a wrist shot by Jason Blake from 50 ft beats him, with no screen, right after the Leafs pulled even and were starting to dominate the flow of the game. You may have seen previous examples of this rule when watching Sean Avery sail one over him last Sunday. Or perhaps the fantastic goal in the same game that was shot from the goaline that went up in the air hit him in the back and went in. Also love the Asham 45 ft blast from a bad angle that whisked by him for the Islanders 4th goal.

The simple point is Raycroft is not an NHL goalie. While my friend Dave wrongly thinks I am looking for a saviour, all I am looking for is a goalie who makes a save, that's it. You know a goalie that might once in a while make a nice save to perserve a win. One thing you can count on with Raycroft, is if the game is on the line, in a shootout or near the end of the game if the other team hits the net, It's in. Of course the Leafs might still make the playoffs, but it will be in spite of piss poor goaltending.

Dave also brought up in the Buffalo game how the floodgates opened and Buffalo had great chances, and of course scored on every single one. What Dave forgets to mention is that it was the AHL 2nd goal which deflated the team, or maybe Dave forgot to watch the 1st period when the Leafs outshot Buffalo 21-9 had 2 breakaways 10 great scoring chances, and scored 1 goal. Buffalo's defence was horrible for 2 periods but unlike the Leafs they actually have an NHL calibre goalie in the net to help them. See when opposition has 5 chances and scores on every single one, while Leafs have 10 chances and score on 1, doesn't that say something? Plus Dave did you see Buffalo leave Sundin alone beside Miller in the final seconds. What happened there? Oh that's right Miller made a huge save to perserve the win. Imagine that!!!

Couple of other stats to throw at the wall and lets see what sticks. 0.895 Save Percentage. I believe 50 other goalies have a better SP. How many teams are in the league again?

The Leafs have outshot there opponets in 56 of the 81 games this year. Only 25 times this year has an opponent outshot the Leafs, which leaves the Leafs one of the best teams in this category, however there Win Loss record does not reflect this, wonder why this is Dave?

Raycroft is 43rd in GAA, again see question above on how many teams there is.

Tim Thomas for the Bruins who I think it can be agreed is a joke as a goalie has faced 150 more shots then Raycroft however Raycroft has allowed 20 more goals then Thomas. Take a wild guess at which goalie has allowed the most goals this year?

Raycroft has the worst Save percentage in the league when it comes to the shootout.

If Raycroft made one Save against Buffalo, and stopped one shooout shot, the Leafs would be in the playoffs today. Again Dave not looking for a saviour, I guess I am just looking for something along the lines of better then Tim Thomas.

Cheers