In the game against the Flyers Niemi
looked like a goalie out on a mission to prove everyone wrong especially his
coach. You can tell that Sharks head coach Todd McLellan was starting to lose
faith in Niemi during that nine game road trip. Following the embarrassing loss
to Tampa Bay in the beginning of the trip McLellan, who usually doesn’t
criticize his goalies, criticized Niemi to the press and said that he couldn’t
play like he did if the team was going to win.
Then McLellan pulled Niemi from the game in the first period against the
Columbus Blue Jackets and the Nashville Predators after Niemi gave up three
quick goals in each game. McLellan lost so much confidence in Niemi that he
started backup goaltender Thomas Greiss in the last game of the road trip
against Minnesota. After being benched against Minnesota, Niemi was back in the
net against the Flyers and he went on to prove that he shouldn’t be on the
bench. He proved that he can still be a winner for the Sharks and that he can
stop every puck that goes near him.
I was glad to see Niemi bounce back
from adversity and if he can play like he did against the Flyers on a
consistent basis, then the Sharks can definitely contend in the Stanley Cup
Playoffs. However, that’s the key, consistency and that has not been Niemi’s
strong point. That’s why I like the way McLellan has handled Niemi recently
because it seems like when the coach is hard on Niemi, Niemi holds a chip on
his shoulder and goes out and shuts out an opponent. So the next time Niemi has
a bad game, McLellan should bench him the following game. By benching Niemi
after bad games, Niemi responds by playing his best hockey and the Sharks will
need that from him come playoff time. It may be something Niemi hates, but if
that’s what makes him play his best I don’t care if Niemi gets his feelings
hurt every now and then, as long as the Sharks win. So McLellan should not treat Niemi like a
starting goalie that has no competition at his position. He should treat Niemi
like his job is on the line game in and game out. If he does this, hopefully we see the angry
Niemi that we saw yesterday and that’s a man on a mission to prove people
wrong.
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