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Making the American World Junior Squad: Goalie |
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Goaltending has become a major strength for the United States. In the Olympics they had so many options it wasn't really fair. When you can parade out names like Miller, Quick, Thomas, Schneider and Howard you're doing alright. In the junior leagues this is also the case and the US continues to mold new goalies of the future.
John Gibson – Gibson is pretty much guaranteed to be the starter. He’s the best goalie in the OHL and has backstopped the US internationally many times and with great results. I still think he should have been the starter last season as Campbell was struggling. This is his year.
Jon Gillies – The Flames prospect is having a remarkable year as an 18 year old rookie in the NCAA. He has a sparkling .923 sv% in 11 games for Providence College. At 6’5 he’s a big guy that covers a lot of net, though he’s a bit slow on his feet. With the year he’s having he’ll make it.
Jay Williams – A solid undrafted goalie we’ll probably see drafted this year, the 19 year old is having a great year for Miami University. The 6’2 butterfly goalie has come out of nowhere onto the NCAA scene.
Garret Sparks – The Leaf prospect is having a solid year for the Guelph Storm. He’s a bit inconsistent and shows signs of brilliance followed by questionable wtf moments. Overall he’s a streaker and the kind of guy that can be dangerous in a tournament like this.
I would go with:
John Gibson
Jon Gillies
The way the Americans have been handling their goalie situation suggests that they will let one player run them through the tournament. Unlike Canada, Russia and a few other countries that try to see which goalie is hotter. They've been doing this trend for as long as I can remember. So I think Gibson will get the vast majority of starts this time, Gillies like Gibson before him will get his turn next year as the starter.
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