Addressing The “Issues”
At the beginning of the offseason, all of the contributors here at Pucks of a Feather participated in what we like to call “rant week.” Jacob Robles wrote an article urging everyone to stop blaming the goalies for the Anaheim Ducks issues.
As mentioned, the goalies are a convenient scapegoat. That’s why I think some people are not happy with the Pittsburgh native’s new contract. There’s always a need to blame someone, and Gibson is the easiest target. Many unmerited issues lay on the table regarding Gibson, and I think it’s high time we address them, again.
The first issue in the hot seat is the age-old “John Gibson is injury prone” debacle. This argument had some basis of truth before the 2017-18 season. In previous seasons, Gibson was notorious for suffering from groin-related injuries. It was cause for concern.
This past season, if you break it down, all of his injuries, aside from maybe two, were caused when he was hit by a player of the opposing team. Gibson also had a personal record of most games played with 60 under his belt during the 2017-18 season. His 60 games also earned him a spot among the league leaders in goalie games played. This is an impressive feat considering many elite NHL goalies played less than he did.
Another issue I’ve seen bouncing across the internet, like a tumbleweed, is in regards to the playoffs. It is so easy to blame your goalie for the failure of the team. Especially when your side got swept like the Anaheim Ducks did by San Jose last April. It’s a hard issue to get past that when all you see is the scoreboard lit up on the wrong side of an 8-1 score.
Nevertheless, when it all comes down to it, John Gibson didn’t really have a team in front of him. Neither the offense or defense played a cohesive game in front of him. It was hard to singlehandedly fend off every shot taken.