Coach Hook has enough of Salo
Showstopper: Ed Belfour: played much better than Tommy Salo.
TORONTO - Never mind finding another centre if Mike Comrie wants to take a hike. How about a goalie?
If Tommy Salo continues to make himself small in the net as his goal average keeps getting bigger, Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe may have to switch gears and scour the league for a starter, a lot harder chore.
Or Oilers coach Craig MacTavish will throw rookie Ty Conklin out there until either he or the ice cracks to see if he can be a No. 1 guy.
That is a more likely scenario for now, because Salo, once the epitome of efficiency and one of the top 10 goalies in the world, keeps traipsing around a red-light district.
Salo, who's given up 37 goals in only 276 shots this season, gave up three on eight shots in the first 24 minutes while the Oilers were buzzing Eddie Belfour.
Belfour came within nine minutes of his 67th career shutout when Ryan Smyth got one past him on the Oilers' 30th shot.
The Oilers deserved much better, playing hard, but suffered a frustrating 4-1 loss.
"I think we only had four chances in the middle of the second period and had three goals," said Leafs coach Pat Quinn.
Conklin, who hadn't played since pulling his groin Oct. 23 in Colorado, didn't give the Leafs a sniff in his 36 minutes, and has surrendered only three goals in 62 shots.
Anyway you slice it, it's time to see if Conklin can win and slap a Band-Aid on the hemorrhaging Oiler goals-against (41 in 13 games) average.
The Oilers should get a feeling in his mind and Lowe's and MacTavish's minds that he can be an everyday starter.
"Ty looked solid and we'll see what he's got now. He looked very comfortable coming off the bench from the outset," said MacTavish.
The hard part to fathom is how Salo, once their rock, has lost it, pretty much since that weird goal against Belarus in the 2002 Olympics.
He was only average in the playoffs against Dallas and didn't play the gold-medal game at the worlds against Canada; Mikael Tellqvist, the Leafs' backup, did.
Now Salo has an .866 save percentage, the worst of any starter, and a 3.42 average, also No. 30.
Forwards can hide and become role players if they lose their hands.
Goalies, who've stood on their head for years, have nowhere to hide if their skills start to erode.
Mats Sundin beat him with a backhand past his blocker when it didn't appear he had much to shoot at in the eighth minute and Alex Mogilny scored on a one-timer on a 5-on-3 with two seconds left in the first period.
In the second, Robert Reichel got one past Salo on a tip, but Salo didn't seem set on the Ken Klee shot.
It's not how the goals are going in; it's how many are going in.
Nobody in the Oilers room was fingering Salo, even though Belfour made seven or eight wonderful stops among his 35.
"I don't think you can ever put direct blame on one player. Anytime you give people like Sundin and Mogilny, two of the top scorers in the league, chances around the net, I don't think you can blame the goalie. Tommy's a premier goalie in this league and we want him in the net as often as possible," said Oilers captain Jason Smith.
MacTavish wouldn't single out Salo, either, but in his heart of hearts he must be wondering what's up with a guy who's had 20 shutouts and a 2.42 average in 290 Oiler games until springing a major leak this fall.
Goalie coach Pete Peeters is on the trip; he has lots of teaching ahead to work on Salo's mechanics or his head, to get him back to his elite status.
The Salo yank was a mercy pull, as much as anything.
"Anytime you're down three goals, it doesn't matter what building you're in, you have to make a change," said MacTavish, who discounted the Belfour-versus-Salo storyline.
"I don't think it's ever one goalie against the other. We had all kinds of chances but we kept laying the puck at the bottom of the net. It doesn't matter if it's Belfour then or Mike Palmateer coming back to play, it's irrelevant.
"You have to put the puck in the top part of the net to score in this league and we must have thought the net was 21/2 feet tall."
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"You see things and you say "Why?"; but I dream things that never were and I say "Why not?""- George Bernard Shaw
"Education is the power to think clearly, the power to act well in the world's work, and the power to appreciate life." - Brigham Young
Frankly, the way he's been playing so far, his trade value is extremely low right now, so he's probably not leaving anytime soon. MacT should give Conklin a couple starts so Salo can rest and hopefully start playing like he did during his all-star years.
I agree. Salo never has, is, or will be an "elite" goalie. He's too streaky. He can be elite for a temporarty period of time, but then he sinks down to Junior level.
Salo was never an elite goaltender, but he was a player that occasionally made those big saves that made a difference that made him look like an elite goalie. Now, you don't see that from him at all. He lets in the easy goals right now and just looks plain bad. But give him more time, it's still early in the season. I think after this year, he's gone. Conklin will start on Monday in New York against the Rangers; Salo has suffered a groin injury from what I've heard.
I think Im about done with Salo personally, hes had alot of opportunity to show that he can play consistantly this year and so far he hasn't done so. I agree that its a bit early, but IMO Salo's gone from bad to wrose since last seasons playoffs. Just take last nights game, if Salo had been able to stop even one of the goals that he let in that game woulda turned out differently. He looked as if was going to get on a roll after the last two games, but he followed up a decent performance with a really bad one. Inorder for any team to do well, at least some conistant goaltending is needed... and I know i'm getting furstrated with not knowing which Salo is going to show up in a game. Trading Salo at this point might not be plausable, hes inexpensive for the Oilers and they may not be able to get value in return. They'll prolly need to do a Goalie/Goalie swap, and salo's image in the league isn't to high right now...
Conklin has put up better numbers than Salo, and I think he deserves to play a few games... I think Edmonton should ride Conklin aslong as hes playing as well as he is.
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"You see things and you say "Why?"; but I dream things that never were and I say "Why not?""- George Bernard Shaw
"Education is the power to think clearly, the power to act well in the world's work, and the power to appreciate life." - Brigham Young
Salo's my favorite Oiler and has been for awhile, so I really hope he can pull it together. I've been pulling for him since the Salo-to-Oilers trade rumors began in 1998 and after Mike Milbury ripped Salo, from his mask on down, during his arbitration hearings way back when (Was that in 1998 also? I can't remember)
However ... the Oilers have to go with whoever's most likely to win, and if it isn't Salo, that's the way it goes ...
Salo hasn't been quite the same after that disastrous Olympic game vs Belarus in 2002, and I also wonder if he was playing hurt earlier this season ...
I really hope Salo can get it together before it's too late ...
Otherwise, I'll probably have to look for another favorite Oiler ... :?
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"If you're going to lose, lose with enthusiasm." -- former Edmonton Oilers coach Ron Low
Time For Salo To Go?
Time For Salo To Go?
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