Should the coach choose the hot one or the best one? 

 

It’s a topic that comes up periodically in sports. Should a starting player lose his job due to injury if his replacement has been terrific? There certainly isn’t a book that has the answer, so the decision rests on a “gut feel” with the coach.

 

So, here’s the dilemma facing the BCHL champion Penticton Vees as they get set to start the best of 7 Doyle Cup tonight when they visit the AJHL champion Brooks Bandits: Former Prince George minor hockey product Michael Garteig carried the load in goal for the Vees in the regular season and played most of the games when the team won a league record 42 in a row. The 20-year old Garteig finished with a 41-4 record with a 1.93 GAA and a .927 save percentage. His back-up, 18-year old Chad Katunar went 13-2 with a 2.87 GAA and a mediocre .887 save percentage. In other words, Garteig gave up, on average, nearly a goal less per game while his save percentage was considerably higher.

 

Late in the regular season, Garteig suffered a lower-body injury which allowed Katunar the opportunity to play regularly. I watched Katunar struggle in his last regular season game, a 5-2 loss to the Prince George Spruce Kings which ended the streak. He fought the puck, had difficulty with rebound control and certainly looked like a back-up that struggled with confidence.

 

Well, guess what? That same Katunar quickly elevated his game and has been nothing short of brilliant in the playoffs, going 12-3 with a sparkling 1.74 GAA and a .938 save percentage. The Vees have won seven in a row, including a four-game sweep of the Powell River Kings in the Fred Page Cup final. Katunar has been named first or second star in five of the last six games and stopped 129 of 136 shots against Powell River. By the way, Powell River outshot Penticton in each of the four games, and 136-98 overall.

 

With this in mind, do you have any idea who is ready to return? Actually, Garteig was healthy enough to be the back-up in the last two games, April 10th and 11th.

 

Naturally, this appears to be a win-win situation. There is a strong belief that no player should lose his job due to injury; this debate often comes up in football when a starting quarterback has been sidelined for a period of time, yet his replacement has been exceptional. Remember Drew Bledsoe with the New England Patriots? After he was hurt, he never got a chance to re-gain his position because a guy by the name of Tom Brady seized the opportunity over 10 years ago and hasn’t looked back.

 

It is clear Garteig is a better goalie than Katunar. The statistics support this. Having said that, this isn’t November or January or an early March game against the Spruce Kings. A sport is about the moment.

 

If I was making a decision I would always go with the hot one, in this case Katunar, until he loses or has a poor performance. It’s more beneficial to do that and then go back to Garteig, if needed.

 

The good news for Penticton, there really isn’t a wrong answer for their coach and GM Fred Harbinson. They are so strong they could win with either, or perhaps even with third string Cole Buckley.

 

The Vees are living proof the best substitute is a spectacular one.

 

 

#

 

If one believes that it’s an odd year with the visitors winning many of the first round Stanley Cup playoff games, think again.

Road teams won 19 of the first 28 games (through Wednesday). None of the eight teams that opened with home ice advantage (the first two at home) won both of them and two visiting teams, L.A. and Philadelphia, swept the first two games. This isn’t a mirage either.

Home teams went just 22-27 in the first round in 2011 and were just 23-26 in 2010. The last time the home side had a winning record in the opening round was in 2009, going 24-20.
Visitors also won six of the first nine overtime games. (By the way the seven overtime games on the first four days of the playoffs were a single-season record)

I guess the common phrase “home sweet home” should now tweet it is more sweet to be “home away from home.”

 

 

 

Maple Leafs apologize to fans for paper cuts received to neck from poor quality bags. Vow to supply better next year. 

 

 

Two surprising discoveries in a recent survey of Bhutan: a) 90 per cent of its people say they are happy; b) another 10 per cent say they are Maple Leafs fans. 

 

Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer says his injury problems are neck-related. Probably from all that looking at pucks behind him.

Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com      

 

 

Hockey’s long-suffering Toronto Maple Leafs have finally been sold by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. If only the Leafs could get the rest of the NHL to stop schooling them.

Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sidelinechatter/

 

A $150 million Titanic visitors center opened last month in Belfast. The museum hopes to be the biggest draw for fans of disasters since the Air Canada Centre.

Congrats to Jamie Moyer on his first win of the 2012 season. The lefty thus becomes the first MLB pitcher to have a win transmitted not only on the internet, but also by Morse Code.

Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, Californiawww.leftcoastsportsbabe.com

 

 

As Jamie Moyer labored to get his record setting win at age 49, many wondered if he would make it out of the seventh inning. Literally. 

 

The US soccer team unveiled their new uniform featuring a prison stripe pattern. They have been condemned by the Cincinnati Bengals who say that is a copyright infringement of their 3rd jersey.

The US Secret Service is in a scandal after 11 members were sent home from Columbia after a $47 bill was not paid for a prostitute. Reaction from the NBA was quick and decisive… they scheduled next years All Star game for Columbia and paid the tab up front.
Contributor Derek Wilken of Calgaryhttp://smacksport.blogspot.com

 

Indiana has offered a scholarship to an 8th grader—-which means they’ll have to raise its academic standards. 

 

Mike Tyson recently lost his front tooth (again) when he was head-butted by his Tiger, Kenya.
Kenya had his ear re-attached earlier today. 

 

 

A police officer in Nanaimo disguised himself in a bunny costume and ticketed people talking on cell phones and not wearing seat belts. His haul for the weekend? 250 lbs of carrots.
Comedy writer TC Chong of Vancouver

 

 

 

 

Actress Pamela Anderson owes the state of California more than $520,000 in unpaid personal taxes. That’s roughly $12 per breast augmentation surgery.
Comedy writer Jerry Perisho http://monologuewriter.blogspot.com/