Carolina Hurricanes Goalies: It Might Not Be Their Fault

A look at the Carolina Hurricanes goalie coach shows that David Marcoux should shoulder a lot of the blame

When you look at one of the main reasons the Carolina Hurricanes failed this year most Caniacs point without hesitation to the goalie situation.  Case in point was Saturday night’s let down by Cam Ward against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Cam has had his high points this season.   I won’t deny there were numerous games Ward earned the first star for the Hurricanes this season.  Cam Ward played 40 of the first 47 games for the Canes.  This was due mainly to Eddie Lack’s concussion issues.  One argument made was that by February, Cam Ward was just worn down.  But I saw something different that I felt had to be looked at.

Related Story: Cam Ward Tanked the Canes Season

Coaching Strategies

David Marcoux, Carolina’s goaltending coach is in his third season with the Carolina Hurricanes. There were times that he and the Canes goaltenders have not seen eye to eye on goaltending techniques.

This isn’t just my opinion but also an opinion voiced by Eddie Lack himself.  Last season when Eddie Lack after some real bad games pointed to Marcoux’s coaching and techniques as the problem.  Jason Botchford interviewed Lack last season and Lack had some very interesting things to say about how he was being coached in Raleigh:

"“It’s different,” Lack said. “Rollie [his goaltending coach in Vancouver] was 100 percent about you live and die in the paint.  Here they want me to challenge more.  I’m not going to lie, it’s been an adjustment.  At times, it’s been really hard.  Sometimes I catch myself in games looking down to see where I am in the crease because I have no idea where I am. [Emphasis ours]"

Does that sound like something a goaltender should ever be doing?  I know I wouldn’t want my

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goalie taking his eye off the puck for a second.  Yet it seems like Marcoux has instilled in Lack an almost fatal flaw in his goaltending play.  That split second it takes to judge one’s position in the crease is often the difference making a save or letting in a goal.

Why would any professional goaltending coach do this to a player?  Especially a player who was posting a save percentage above .920?  Playing goalie is just as much mental as physical and the idea that the franchise’s goalie coach is actively making a player worse on your team should be enough for a firing.  Not only are Marcoux’s methods suspect but so are his results as an NHL goaltending coach

Who is David Marcoux

David Marcoux’s claim to fame come from his tenure with Miikka Kiprusoff.  Marcoux served as the goaltender coach for  Calgary Flames from 2003 to 2009.  During Marcoux’s time in Calgary, Kiprusoff won a Vezina and a Williams Jennings Trophy by Marcoux’s second year.  What has not been talked about much is what happened to Kiprusoff in the remaining years under Marcoux’s tutelage.

The chart below shows the first three years of Marcoux with both the Carolina Hurricanes and the Calgary Flames.  The only difference is that Lack’s first year save percentage shows his stats with Vancouver since there are only two years of data for Lack under Marcoux.

This chart shows me one thing, whenever Marcoux starts coaching your goalies, the goalie’s performance heads only one way: down.  All three goaltenders get statistically worse with Marcoux and by the end are well below the NHL average save percentage.

Next: Top 5 Forward Free Agents

For the Hurricanes the season is over except to play a spoiler and help determine who makes the playoffs.  Caniacs truly believe that Carolina Hurricanes and GM Ron Frances have to go out this offseason and get the Hurricanes a top end goalie through trade or free agency.  But this writer is hoping before you bring in any goaltenders, That Ron Frances and Coach Bill Peters first takes a step back and re-evaluate some of his coaching staff more.