Now he has to walk the walk. Michal Neuvirth gave a buzz worthy interview for iSport.cz and translated by the lovely folks of RMNB, the young Caps goaltender has proven to be frank when giving interviews. Whether he is calling out his competition, or calling Alex Ovechkin a "has been" Neuvirth sets himself up this year as the kid that has to take job number one. If he doesn't than all of this fluff is just talk.
Don't get me wrong, confidence is a strong thing to have. But over confidence can give way to doubt when things go wrong. So far, Neuvirth hasn't show us he is ready to be a NHL number one. Outside the injury just weeks before the playoffs, maybe we would not have seen Braden Holtby as a job threat for the goaltending position. If Tomas Vokoun had stayed healthy down the stretch of the later part of the season, we probably wouldn't be talking about Holtby at all this past post season for the Capitals.
Neuvirth has the tools to be a good goaltender in the NHL. A great one? Well that remains to be seen. He is calm in the crease, squares to the shooter nicely and has the quickness to make up for mistakes. He is a benefit to his team in terms of what he does on the ice. If he is as frank to reporters as he is in the locker room, that could cause problems with friction off the ice.
Now that Neuvirth has said what he has said, now he has to back it up with his play. Show us why Neuvirth should be the number one goaltender for the Washington Capitals.
No comments:
Post a Comment