There's an adage in ice hockey that makes little or no sense to many of us but must be true. Coaches say it. Players say it. At times, it even seems like migrating geese from Canada quack it.
Goalies win or lose playoff games.
No one puts that degree of pressure on defenders, wingers, centers or even the coaches. Arturs Irbe, the Carolina Hurricanes' goalie, has been hearing it since the day he learned to speak and understand English. Before then, he understood it in Latvian, Russian and other former Soviet bloc tongues. In playoff hockey, goalie's job is like minesweeper. No room for mistakes.