Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
The Toronto Maple Leafs head into their first Stanley Cup Playoffs appearance in nearly a decade with the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. But despite the fact that they’ve been one of the more consistent teams throughout the year, no one is expecting much.
Part of the reason that so many people have such low expectations, aside from the fact that this is an organization that has been the very symbol of “failure” since the 1960′s, is the somewhat unstable situation going on as far as their goaltender is concerned.
There were a great deal of rumors about the Maple Leafs last summer and before the regular season began in regard to their reported desire to upgrade their goaltending situation. But regardless of how many rumors swirled around this team and Roberto Luongo, they came into the season with the combination of James Reimer and Ben Scrivens.
Reimer has been one of the more pleasant surprises of this regular season. He hasn’t been a Vezina Trophy candidate, but he’s been incredibly consistent over the course of the year, just as this Maple Leafs team has.
After a year in which he struggled with injury and performance, Reimer came back and established himself as a legitimate no. 1 goaltender. He finished the season with a .924 save percentage and 2.46 goals-against average, including four shutouts.
But while Reimer has been mighty impressive this year, he still has a lot to prove. Coming off of a season in which he registered a save percentage of just .900 and a GAA over three, many aren’t going to be quick to trust that Reimer is back for good.
Which means that he’ll have quite a bit to prove during the postseason. If he wants to firmly establish that he is this team’s goaltender of the future and stave off any potential Luongo rumors this summer, he’ll have to come up big for this team in the playoffs.
