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Wroclaw Times - There is never a winner in a goalie duel


Greg_Di

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Kingfisher vs Rift

 

 

The thing about a goalie duel is the winner is usually never a goalie. Someone scores eventually, and he becomes the hero whose name is remembered forever, who lifts his stick, celebrates and receives the cheers while the goalie who ends up winning the game has to skate the full length of the ice, stay humble and celebrate the goal scorer. The goalie then has to talk about the amazing goal during the interview but never anything about the duel.

 

That goalie in the Wolves vs Legion playoff series was Ismond Kingfisher. Kingfisher held his team in it all series and in game 5 put on a show to stop 25 out of 26 shots to win it in overtime. Ismond won’t be remembered as the hero of the game though. The hero was Shawn Glade who netted the winner.

 

The other thing about a goalie duel is there is a loser. Someone lets in a goal eventually, and he becomes the one who was not good enough, the villain who has to bear up under that name and shake it off, Someone that will be harassed by fans and news reporters because they let in that goal and has to move on to the next game. It's hard when the next game isn’t until next season. It’s hard when that one goal ends your season.

 

JB Rift was the man who let one in. He played an exceptional game, fighting to the last second to give his team a win but what Rift was fighting for was only a delay of the inevitable. The writing was on the wall for his Toronto Legion. After an amazing regular season, they were defeated in just 5 games.

 

The highly entertaining fifth game of the Wolves vs Legion playoff series will go down as an incredible goal-tending battle. The Legion pressed early, but Kingfisher would not budge, making a number of highlight reel saves to keep the game scoreless. In the third period both goalies let in a goal each within one minute of each other. As the teams both tightened up with overtime approaching, the game slowed down. That didn’t last very long, as they picked up full steam right out of the gate in overtime. The goalies matched each other save-for-save, and it didn’t seem like either of them were about to crack in the first minute.

 

Then the unthinkable happened as the Legion received a penalty by Oyorra Arroyo. The ensuing powerplay was too much for Rift and Glade managed to get one past him giving the Wolves the win and another opportunity to play in the finals.

 

Many Fans and broadcasters will remember the goal for many seasons to come but will they remember the goalie duel? We highly doubt it.

 

This wasn’t just a one-off, the whole series was a duel between Kingfisher and Rift. Maybe it is time for us to remember the goalies and the battles they put up against one another and not only the forwards or defenders for scoring the game winning goals.

We here at Wroclaw Times have nothing against the goal scoring heroes and we are excited the team we have been following all year is going to the finals, we just believe the goalies should get a little more respect when a great goalie duel happens. Give them some credit as well.

Edited by Greg_Di
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