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A Tale of Two Goalies
Ed Blefour‘s play in the Maple Leaf goal this season has for the most part been the calibre of play his team has relied on from the Ottawa Senators in four of the past five playoffs. He has yet to record a shoutout in 24 games this season – a stat that illuminates when you realize that the St.Louis Blues’ Curtis Sanford already has a pair. When the Eagle takes the ice in Ottawa this weekend, nineteen days will have passed since his last victory, while backup Mikael Tellqvist has won two games, stopping 55 of 57 shots in that span. So when Torontoist looked at the goalie ratings on YahooSports today, it was no surprise to see Tellqvist ranked 15, while the aging Belfour sat 25th.
It even seemed like the league schedule maker was against the Leafs this past week, sending the Dallas Stars to Toronto in the middle of Belfour’s slump as if to remind everyone why they let the him walk in favour of their backup Marty Turco.
With Tellqvist set to be involved with the Swedish Olympic team later this winter, prehaps it’s time head coach Pat Quinn gave him his shot. He has recorded points in 5 of his 7 starts this season and has superior numbers across the board.
In one of Torontoist’s favourite performances, Vin Diesel, through the character of Dominic Toretto told us, “It doesn’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile, winning is winning!”. And the bottom line right now is that Tellqvist looks to be the winner.