June 07, 2006

I'm for Conklin

Mustafa Hirji (email) at 05:15 PM

As many of you may have noticed, I've been away from posting for a while. I'm usually motivated to post here when I disagree with someone, usually a governing politician. With Paul Martin gone, I've been feeling less rage against the government and haven't had the motivation to restart posting.

Until now.

After the Edmonton Oilers first game loss to Carolina, and the additional loss of goaltender Dwayne Roloson for the rest of the playoff finals, most fans and commentators (link 1, link 2, link 3) are all calling for Jussi Markkanen to take over playing goal instead of Ty Conklin (who made a gaffe in the final minute of play on Monday, thus leading to the loss). I think they are wrong.

  1. Markkanen hasn't played since March 1, 2006. He therefore doesn't have any recent experience in a real game and won't be attuned to the speed of the game. Conklin played three games in March after Markkanen, posted another win against Colorado in the final game of the season, and has about 6 minutes of experience from Monday's game too. Conklin's more ready for the challenge than Markkanen.
  2. Conklin has played better of late. Conklin's recent record indicates that of his four last regular season games, he posted 3 wins, and carried the fourth game to a tie after overtime (where the other goaltender lost the shootout). For those games, Conklin sported approximately a 2.20 goals against average, and an 0.894 save percentage. Markkanen's record shows an abismal 3.33 goals against average for his last three games, and an 0.831 save percentage in that period. While Markkanen played well back in November, Conklin has played much better in recent history.
  3. Conklin seems to have good confidence despite is gaffe last game. In an interview, he shows no signs of having let his gaffe hurt his confidence. Concerns that Conklin won't be ready for this game are likely wrong.

I therefore stand against the tide and call for Ty Conklin to start in net tonight.

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