Olympic Hockey: Goaltending Will Have Major Impact On Games

It’s no secret that goaltending is the most important position in hockey. What a goaltender does can drastically alter the course of a game, so you likely won’t be shocked to learn that the goaltenders in this years’ Olympic men’s hockey tournament will have a major effect on who wins and who loses in Vancouver.

Their impact is much more drastic than usual, though, in the Olympics. To prove that point, we have to look no further than the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, where a soft, almost laughable goal by Swedish goaltender Tommy Salo led to a 4-3 victory for tiny Belarus in the quarter finals, knocking the Swedes out of the tournament.