Monday debate: the goalie

Ward has struggled with rebound control most of this young season, he's given up a handful of "soft" goals and he's had a few manageable pucks trickle through his equipment. Additionally, he has lost the "zen Cam" thing that he had during the Cup run where he would let that stuff roll off his back. These days, he's letting pucks roll off his back (and into the net).

All of those things happened on Sunday, and I was surprised to see him on the ice for the third period.

For now, I'm solidly in the Leighton camp. If nothing else, it'll get Cam fired up if he has to sit on the bench. It'll fire him up even more if he sits for two straight.

All your points are valid but I have not seen a game up until yesterday where Cam has faced less than 30 shots over a 4 game spread. Has Leighton had to face that many shots??? No - not even close. Has Leighton already had 3 years to try and be a starter for different teams??? Yes. Has Leighton on any other team ever proven to be anything more than a good backup??? No. So, now that he is with Carolina we forget about his past and think he is the answer to all our problems, yet all the while holding Cam's last 2 years against Cam? I think Cam should play and I think that as fans we need to be fair to both goalies - meaning if we are going to old Cam's years in the NHL as levarge when seeing how good Cam is then we need to do the same for Leighton. Might I also add that Leighton is 3 years older than Cam meaning he has had 3 years more to develop and become the starter but never made it there.

Let's see what ML can do against the Caps.

That being said, I agree with some of the other comments that the team needs to gets its head out of its collective butt. I've seen inconsistent effort, lots of missed passes, and just lackadaisical defensive play far too often this season.

Ward is certainly JRs boy so Laviolette has to give him his chances. He had to start Ward yesterday even though he choked away points in his last two starts. Now that he has performed poorly again Laviolette should be able to give Leighton a shot. Hopefully he makes the most of it.

 Everyone talks about how talented Ward is. He's supposedly unbeatable in practice. What gives? It has to be between his ears. Call the sports shrinks!

Since the Canes won the Cup, and Ward was the Conn Smythe winner, he hasn't played like he deserved either. He actually has gotten gradually better, but that is all.
The season they won the Cup, he stopped 88.2% of what he faced in 28 games (25 he started). Then he got hot for the playoffs, 92.1% for 23 games (21 he started) with 2 shutouts.

The next season, 89.7% in 60 games (59 started) with 2 shutouts. Obviously no playoff stats.

Last season, 90.4% in 69 games (67 started) with 4 shutouts. Again no playoff stats.

In my honest opinion, and I'm sure I'll get roasted for this one, Ward is just your average goalie, but due to his brief success in the 2006 Playoffs, he is viewed as more. His stats don't make him elite. He is currently raked 15th among goalies by save percentage (31st last year, and 32nd the year before). There were better goalies on teams that had worse records than the Canes.

I think this is the year for us to "wheel and deal" for a better goalie.

 They are out there - Free Agent Goalies Summer 2009

 http://www.nhlnumbers.com/freeagents.php?team=none&pos=G&summer=2009&status=none

Or we will be stuck with "Ward of the 'open' Crease" until the 2010/11 season.

Now, bring on the hate! lol

Just make sure he covers the puck!!!!! Cam seems to be struggling!!

I don't know why this happens, but the team plays harder in front of Leighton. I don't think that it's all Cam's fault-maybe the team tries to cover up more for Michael since he is "new". As much as I love Cam, I think that he needs some time to get his confidence back-whether it's in his own ability or in the guys playing in front of him. Let Michael Leighton start the Washington game, see how it goes, and then make decisions that are more long-term. But with that being said, I think that Cam is outstanding at times and has won games for this team that they didn't deserve to win. To me, he is the number one guy. He just needs to remember the way he played to earn that spot and the TEAM needs to get their act together. And that means everyone.

Leighton should start. The same defensive team and same forwards play for Leighton as play for Ward. It is illogical to put all the blame on the defense when Ward loses and give them no credit when Leighton wins. An inconsistent goalie with streaks of genius is far more deadly to the morale of a team than a steady goalie. With a streaky goalie, the team never knows whether or when swiss cheese goalkeeping will surface. At yesterday's game, when the Atlanta evened the game at 2-2, it felt like air going out of tire. I was on the fourth row next to the Atlanta bench. The Atlanta players were psyched up. Our team looked like, "Oh, no, another day where Cam couldn't stop the dancing Granny."

I think that Leighton should be in goal. Cam seems to be fighting the puck lately, even when he makes the saves. Perhaps Cam needs to know there is true competition for the #1 spot this year and his performance will be better. That being said, certain people need to not be double-shifted when they aren't performing. That just makes for double the screw ups. I won't mention any names but there were certain people who basically just called in the game yesterday and didn't bother to show up.

Wardo IS the number one goalie but he has played the last two games and lost. Leighton IS the number two goalie but in his last game he did win. Now, we all know these facts but you have to look at the defense too. A goalie can only stop shots that the can see so the defense needs to clear the lanes and keep people out of the crease. Also, a goalies reaction has to be sharp but it is also up to the defense to not allow the other team in to pick up rebounds. There is a lot of things that have to happen that many people do not understand so they quickly blame the goalie.

The team has not be playing up to their profession status for the last two games so they were beaten. We need more shots on goal, more crashing the net, and less fancy passing. We need to stop dumping the puck, playing the boards so much, and more movement in front of the net. If we accomplish these things we will win more games!!!

With that said, I say play Ward against the Caps, get the team to pull their weight, and we will win. BUT, if we do not play well, they Caps get two goals in one period, put Leighton in to try. It certainly couldn't hurt!!!

I agree that Leighton deserves to start on Wed. We've seen this before with Cam- he plays well for a few games & gets everyone excited, then his play falls off again. Until he establishes consistency, Peter should go with whoever's playing better at the time. Right now, based on stats, that's Leighton. As an aside, I think it should be very concerning to management that this team is having a great deal of trouble finding a consistent effort over the course of a single game, not to mention over a string of games. It was a horrible time for the organization to raise ticket prices, & somebody needs to learn how to motivate this group. Otherwise, changes in leadership must be made soon before the market loses interest.

the main excuse for Cam Ward is the defense in front of him...well if the defense in front of Leighton is playing good enough to win, then Keep him in until things change

Since winning the Cup, Ward's performance has fluctuated. His inconsistency is killing this team. Allowing 5 goals on 22 shots in the Atlanta game was clearly unacceptable. I love the Hurricanes, but honestly, I have grown tired of watching their lackluster performances. I am convinced that Ward is fully unable to stop breakaways. If the game comes down to a shoot-out with Ward in net, it is certain we will lose. This organization needs to punish those who are underperforming, and reward those who are bringing it on a nightly basis. Bench those who aren't playing up to their potential, and strip the "C" or "A" off a few sweaters and redistribute them to those more worthy. In this weakened economy, the Canes realistically cannot expect to fill the arena 41 times/year with incredibly dismal performances like yesterday's. This is really the third consecutive season that fans are being subjected to poor effort.

Another vote for Leighton. I think he needs to play in every back-to-back series and everytime Wardo plays a stinkbomb of a game like yesterday.

And the Ruutu-Helminen-LaRose line needs to be put back together. :)

Leighton. But given JR's long-term commitment to Ward, I wouldn't be surprised to see Ward in nearly every game that's not a back-to-back. Let's not over-rotate on Leighton... he has been on the NHL/AHL edge for years, and I wonder if he is really good enough to a #1 in the NHL.

To me, though, the more interesting questions are (1) who will lose ice-time when Cullen and Sutter return, (2) will Eaves get any ice-time when he has recovered, and (3) what becomes of the Brind'amour/Samsonov line.

Ward - 10 games, 4-4-2, GAA 2.86, SV% .910 Leighton-5 games, 4-1-0 GAA 2.36, SV% .926

Let Leighton run with it for a couple games to see if he can handle the load of games. Leighton did better in the pre-season, and has a tendency to appear more calm during games, even recovering after letting in a goal, where it seems at times Ward gets flustered easily.

Michael Leighton should start.  I don't think there's any question about it.  Ward hasn't gotten it done for 2 seasons.  If he wants to be a #1 goalie, he needs to earn it, and right now he just doesn't deserve it.

Lavi really needs to start making coaching decisions based on the actual performance of his players instead of giving them leeway because of things they've done in the past.