Anaheim Ducks: Early Season Goaltender Report Cards

The Anaheim Ducks have made it through their first month of regular season hockey. The staff at Pucks of a Feather is spending the week analyzing the performance of each of the players. Our resident goaltender, Jake Robles, is putting on his analysis hat to grade the performance of our masked men thus far.

Today we’re taking a look at what’s arguably been the only consistent part of Anaheim Ducks hockey thus far: The goaltending. My criteria for grading isn’t very intricate, but I’m just going to try my best to honestly rate the performances of our tandem’s play thus far.

With the entire team’s play as of late being somewhat unbearable to watch, it is worth noting that  I may be giving the goalies a little leniency because it is really hard to say giving up 30+ shots on goal every night is their fault.

I’ll be starting with the Anaheim Ducks faithful backup, Ryan Miller, as he’s seen less time and will most likely see less time on a consistent basis.

Ryan Miller

Grade: B

It’s hard to justify giving  Ryan Miller a lower rating than anything at the B range. The Anaheim Ducks veteran goaltender has had 3 starts and one relief appearance so far this season. He’s sitting at 1-2-0 and has faced 117 shots against in that period of time (he faced 6 shots in total in relief against Dallas.)

That is a lot of shots for just three games. It’s for sure not out of the norm for NHL caliber play in the slightest, but having to stop that many shots night in and night out is a lot to ask for. Yes, these guys have trained for years on end to be able to do that but a goalie can only do so much.

Miller is still a very technically sound goalie but more than anything this year, I’ve noticed his rebound control and ability to get back into position has been somewhat subpar. I think there’s a lot to take into account with just how bad the rest of the team looks when we’re in our own end and in general.

However, they’re some of the things that stood out a lot in the game against Buffalo. I think once things are ironed out with the rest of the team, it’ll be a little bit easier for both Ryan Miller and John Gibson to feel a little more comfortable and not so frantic in net. I know personally that it is a whole lot easier to focus on stopping pucks when you’re not constantly barraged with them.

John Gibson

Grade: A-

First of all, I just have to say, poor Gibby. With the abuse he’s faced just 11 games in, it’s looking like the Anaheim Ducks bonafide number one is in for a crazy year. Fresh off his 8 -year extension, Gibson has looked phenomenal so far, minus one or two stinkers here and there.

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Like I said at the beginning, it’s nearly impossible to say Gibby hasn’t been great when he’s seeing 30+ shots every single night. In 11 games, he’s faced less than 30 shots just twice and over 40 shots, five times.  It’s obviously very concerning that he’s facing that many shots a night but the thought of his past seasons makes me even more concerned.

Having your number one overworked like that is just a recipe for disaster, no matter who you are. Look at Cam Talbot last season for example. He went from playing 73 games the year prior where he was exceptionally good for the Oilers that surprised everyone, to playing somewhat bad the next year and starting just about the same amount of games.

Guys get burnt out when the team around you isn’t exactly the greatest. Trying to balance what you’re already paid to do and having to bail out your teammates makes for one heck of a bad time. Luckily for us, we have a guy who’s definitely excelled at having to do both.

To my surprise, Gibson has come into this year a lot more composed. While I don’t necessarily think stopping pucks with your head is a great idea, it’s a very welcome surprise to see that Gibby has worked on his game from a technical standpoint and quieted down his mechanics.

He doesn’t flail at a lot of shots like he used to, which is great considering the volume of shots he faces every night. He also seems to have worked on his flexibility a lot more. I know over the past couple seasons his groin problems have made his splits and pad saves a little sketchy to watch, but so far, he looks good.

Undoubtedly, he’s been the MVP of this season so far hands down. He’s doing his best to give us an opportunity to compete in every game. It sucks that he doesn’t have much support from the skeleton crew that is the team in front of him, but John Gibson has been up to the task and given us all he can.

Be sure to keep a look out for the rest of the Anaheim Ducks grades coming out this week. In the meantime, head over to read our early season grades for our rookies!