Does Auld in Net Signal the End for Hedberg's Career as a Canuck?
By Richard Eriksson on April 15, 2004 - 11:20pm
Eric at Off Wing Opinion gives us the run-down of a playoff brawl during the Canucks-Flames game tonight at GM Place. What he doesn't mention is that Ferrence hit Jovanoski in the back of the head, and when Jovo saw who did it, looked at Ferrence as if to say "not even worth it".
In a postscript, Eric says this about Alex Auld, the surprise starter in net for the Canucks:
Alex Auld got the start in net for Vancouver after Johan Hedberg yielded four goals to Calgary in Game Four. He's stopped eight shots in the first period.
Auld looked good except on the first Flames goal, where he went too far past the post after a shot that went wide. (He has a tendency to do this.) He had no chance on the second goal. This might signal to Hedberg that he will either be traded or released at the end of the season. This is not the first time he's lost the confidence of the coach: Crawford once publicly called Hedberg "terrible", though as Tom points out, he quickly apologized to both Hedberg and the team as the latter rose to the former's defense. All that is speculation, of course, and other than one goal where Hedberg was caught cheating in game 4, he couldn't be faulted for the other 3. And Crawford may just have wanted to give the Flames another look—instead of an excellent puck handler, he put in a bigger goalie—but with three different goalies in three games, the goaltending situation in Vancouver is less than clear at the moment.
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