Everybody loves a great underdog, David and Goliath type of story. We love to see the person nobody thought could succeed do just that. Hell, in Philly we love it so much that we built a statue inspired by a boxing movie over it and played the music from its soundtrack at every sports event in the city. Admit it, sometimes you get a little choked up hearing some of those Bill Conti instrumentals.
With that in mind, Ivan Fedotov's journey to Philadelphia was something special and something we could embrace. He was a low-level draft pick, played his heart out in Russia, and became a champion. He tried to come over here, was "held back" for "refusal to enter military service" and "detained at a special facility", refused to honor the contract that he signed and refused to come here, and was prevented from playing due to IIHF sanctions on Russia, then he suddenly came over. Whew! That's a lot for a guy. This crazy three-year saga would make for a thrilling movie.
Or at least it would if it had a happy ending. Maybe there still is a chance for a happy ending somewhere for Fedotov here in North America. However, it's not going to be in Philadelphia. And looking at his stats over the two games over this weekend. Yikes! Ten goals on 32 shots, which includes two goals on three shots in the first period on Saturday's game when he was pulled after the first period. For those of you math wizards at home, that boils down to a .687 save percentage and an abysmal goals-against average of 7.53.
I've shared before that the most stressful jobs in professional sports are pitchers, quarterbacks, and goaltenders. Every professional sport is a team-based sport. A multitude of things can factor into a team winning or losing. However, if a team fails, fans and "experts" will usually focus the attention on blame on these three positions to start.
A goalie is also as good as the team in front of them. A lowsy defense will give up and allow more scoring chances. A team that can't score will invariably lose a lot of 1-0, 2-1, 3-1 type of games.
Even then, a great goalie can compensate. Dominik Hasek carried an average Buffalo Sabres team and made them legit competitors for years. Rookie phenom Dustin Wolf is helping to keep a Calgary Flames team, that nobody saw competing, alive in the Western Conference playoff race. At the same time, he is earning himself a strong nod for the Calder Trophy.
Overall, Fedotov has looked shaky. His GAA is 3.21 and his save percentage is .877. He's started 21 games, won only five of them, and has been pulled early in two games. He's had stretches where he seems like he was getting it together, but he hasn't panned out. For a goalie who is 28, you would expect more. Again, he was a champion goalie in the KHL, widely considered to be the second-best hockey league in the world. The level of talent is comparable. This should have been a smooth transition for him, and it hasn't.
It also hasn't helped that Aleksei Kolsov has been weak in the net as well. I'm guessing that they felt with Fedotov's experience, he'd have an easier time adapting to the NHL. It hasn't happened. Meanwhile, Kolosov has struggled at both the NHL and AHL levels.
With this season mercifully over in a few weeks, I'd be okay to give Kolosov another shot. I'd give Ersson as much rest as possible and try to earn that higher draft position. (Shhhhhhhh...I know we aren't "tanking", but still). No use in burning out Ersson right now.
As far as Fedotov goes, I think he has shown us all he has. He is signed on for next year as well. I'd just demote him to the Phantoms and try to find another goalie to fill his spot as backup. Maybe Kolosov can earn his way back or maybe he too will find a spot to play back in Allentown next year.
But Fedotov has shown he is not ready for the NHL and he shouldn't be around anymore. He hasn't earned it and his level of play hasn't shown that he deserves a spot on the roster. It's a shame because it took a lot for him to get here, and I respect him for all he's been through. But he shouldn't stay. Sentimentality is not a reason to keep someone on a team.
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