Olympic Hockey: Goaltending Will Have Major Impact On Games

It's no secret that goaltending is the most important position in hockey. What a goaltender does can drastically alter the course of a game, so you likely won't be shocked to learn that the goaltenders in this years' Olympic men's hockey tournament will have a major effect on who wins and who loses in Vancouver.

Their impact is much more drastic than usual, though, in the Olympics. To prove that point, we have to look no further than the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, where a soft, almost laughable goal by Swedish goaltender Tommy Salo led to a 4-3 victory for tiny Belarus in the quarter finals, knocking the Swedes out of the tournament.

This year is no different. There are several teams in the Games this year that simply cannot stack up against the Russian and Canadian power houses, but with strong goaltending, these other teams do have a hope at coming home with a medal.

The first and most obvious case is with Team USA. They're a young, physical group who simply does not have the talent to matchup with the top teams in this tournament. They aren't a bad team by any stretch, but to say that they're going to medal is less than a guarantee. Their hopes all come down to goaltender Ryan Miller, who when on can be one of the best in the game today.

If Miller, with his lightning fast agility and penchant for stealing a game with his glove, can come through for the Americans a few times against the best teams in this tournament, the USA could win gold. If Miller plays like he has the last few games with the Buffalo Sabres -- not so hot, potentially looking forward to the Olympics and losing focus -- the Americans will be in severe trouble.

In 2006, it was goaltender Antero Niittymaki who backstopped an otherwise relatively weak Finland team to a silver medal. Niittymaki was lights out, earning tournament MVP honors and the praise of a nation. It'll be Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames starting in goal for the Finns this year, and they'll need a performance similar to Niittymaki's '06 run to have a shot at earning another medal.

The same goes for the defending gold medalists, Sweden. They're a solid team just like the Swedes always have, but they don't have the fire power that the Russians and Canadians do. But if there's one thing Henrik Lundqvist has proven in his time with the New York Rangers is that he can make a mediocre team look amazing. That's not to say the Swedes are mediocre, of course, but if Lundqvist can carry that magic over from the Rangers to the Olympics, Sweden could repeat as champions. Crazier things have happened.

The Swiss, who have even slimmer medal hopes than even the Slovaks, are banking on young NHL phenom Jonas Hiller to steal a few games for them. They have one of the hardest journey's to the medal round, going through the Canadians and the Americans in tough Group A before getting to the elimination games. Hiller will need to be fantastic for Switzerland to have any shot at doing anything in this tournament.

It's no different in Canada, where they won't have to rely on their goaltending so much but still need solid performances. The Canadian roster is so deep that the Stanley Cup winning goalie from last year, Marc-Andre Fleury, probably won't even get a sniff of Olympic action. Instead, it's future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur and hometown star Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks who will get the bulk of the games, with Brodeur likely leading the way.

The 37-year-old has played 58 games already this season in the NHL, however, and in the last month or so with the Devils he's shown signs of fatigue. He has a history of wearing down in the NHL's postseason, and already showing signs of weakness this year is a potential issue for Canada in the Games.

As for Luongo, he hasn't been much better. In fact, he was pulled from the game in his last start with the Canucks.

When you compare that to Canada's biggest challenge in Vancouver, the Russians, it become clear that the home-ice advantage might not be the best advantage. Russia's goalie Evgeni Nabokov has been almost unstoppable in the weeks leading up to the Games. His team, the San Jose Sharks, lost just two of his starts in regulation since early-to-mid January, going 10-2-2 since January 11. Going into the Olympics, the Russians have the advantage in goal, and that could swing things in their direction.

From Lundqvist to Kipper, Miller to Hiller and Brodeur to Nabokov, it should be an interesting tournament between the pipes. If any of these goalies play like they're the best in the world, it could mean a difference in medal color or simply not going home early. The fate of this tournament is truly in the gloves and blockers of the masked men.