Nov. 17, 2008

by Jac Coyne, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

BOISE, Idaho - If you were going to take one element from the Buffalo Bandits' run to the National Lacrosse League championship in 2008, it was the necessity of depth at the goaltender position.

Having a pair of quality goalies is important because of the ever-present threat of injuries - both Bandits goalies, Ken Montour and Michael Thompson, missed portions of the season due to concussions - but also because of the length of the season.

At the advent of the league, there was just an eight-game season, allowing teams to ride one goalie the entire way. Now that the slate has doubled, it's just too much of a grind for one man.

"Early in this league, I think you wanted to go with one guy, but over time coaches have learned that as the schedule has increased to eight to 12 to 16 games, it's real imperative if you can to have two goaltenders," said Steve Dietrich, the only goalie in NLL history to win league MVP honors (in 2006 with the Bandits).

In an effort to satisfy their quest to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, the Rush has made sure to stock top-drawer talent between the pipes.

Four goalies - Dietrich, Curtis Palidwor, Chris Levis and Brandon Atherton - are on the camp roster this fall. Dietrich (Rochester '97) and Palidwor (Calgary '04) have been go-to guys on Champion's Cup teams, while Levis earned quality time as Gee Nash's backup on 2006 champion Colorado Mammoth. Minus the pedigree of the other three, Atherton played extremely well during Edmonton's first weekend of training camp in Boise, Idaho, including an outstanding performance in the intra-squad scrimmage Friday night.

With the likelihood that only three goalies will dress on any given game night, some tough decisions lie ahead for Bob Hamley, the Rush's head coach and general manager.

"It's a nice problem to have," said Hamley. "If you're going to build teams, you have to have good goalies, and Buffalo proved that by winning a championship based on two guys you can count on any night. We have that, and training camp will be where we see how it shakes down."

Besides injuries and fatigue, the need for at least a pair of goalies is also a necessity with the recent trend of pulling goalies simply to provide a spark for the team.

"The last three years I was in Colorado with Gee Nash, and it was anyone's game any night, especially when we had Gary Gait as a coach," Levis said. "Gary would hook you for no reason, just to change the momentum of the game. In this league, there are so many good scoring opportunities and there's so much transition that there are going to be goals. It's all about momentum, so if you need to pull a goalie to get some momentum, so be it."

Whichever tandem gets the nod for Edmonton, don't expect any backbiting from candidates. Every goalie wants to get his minutes, but also realizes the importance of supporting the starter for the good of the team.

"Whoever is going is going," Levis said. "At the end of the day, we have to win, and that's number one. If it's Steve's turn to go, I'm his biggest fan. I know from playing with Steve before in Buffalo that when you're in the pipes and he's on the bench, he's your biggest fan. You have to have that. You can't have any animosity. And at the end of the day, you're competing with yourself more than anyone else."

"It's good to have a mixture of younger guys with the older guys, because the younger guys know their time is going to come and the older guys are trying to hang on," said Dietrich, who at 38 is part of the league's old guard. "The three of us get along, and we're looking forward to Curtis getting to camp. We'll let the chips fall where they may."

Whoever earns the nod, it's safe to say Edmonton's strength will be its goalies. Whether that translates into the same success Buffalo had will likely fall on the shoulders of the offense, which was dead last in the league last season.