The Goaltending
On the opening page, I mentioned that Arturs Irbe saw most of the action for the Hurricanes in net. I wasn’t being hyperbolic. Of the Hurricanes’ 82 games, Irbe played in 75. No, that’s not a typo. The little Latvian was a workhorse for Paul Maurice‘s squad. That said, it should also be said that his backups didn’t perform exceedingly well.
Eric Fichaud, on his third team in 5 years, showed some solid play only to nullify it with extreme bouts of inconsistency. His first appearance of the season, a 4-1 win in Vancouver on October 15, saw Fichaud surrender only one goal. While not tested extensively, he did his job. In his next appearance one week later, Fichaud was beaten 4 times on 15 shots before giving way to Irbe.
Eight days later, the Francophone pitched a 24-save shutout against the team that drafted him, the New York Islanders. He followed that up by yielding 6 goals on 26 shots against Toronto. Things went downhill for the young goalie after that point, the lone exception being a relief win against the Atlanta Thrashers in which he stopped all 23 shots he faced after relieving Irbe early in the 1st period.
Veteran Mark Fitzpatrick got into 3 games, surrendering 8 goals total in his first 2 appearances. His third appearance was a brief stint in relief of Irbe in which he did not face a shot. The 1999-2000 season was Fitzpatrick’s last in the NHL.
Here’s how the Hurricanes’ goalies fared once the fog lifted:
- Arturs Irbe – 75GP; 34-28-9; 2.42GAA; .906SV%; 5SO
- Eric Fichaud – 9GP; 3-5-1; 2.94GAA; .883SV%; 1SO
- Mark Fitzpatrick – 3GP; 0-2-0; 4.48GAA; .882SV%; 0SO
Irbe, like Cam Ward, was pressed into action more and more due to the inconsistent play of his backups. He didn’t have a bad season, but there was only so much that he could do with a team that was still working to find its identity.