WHO SHOULD BE THE FUTURE GOALIE OF TEAM CANADA?

By Olivia Lawrence
RP Show Intern 

On Thursday’s episode of The Rod Pedersen Show, Rod Pedersen bet Andrew Paterson from Winnipeg Sports Talk that Carter Hart will be the next starting goalie in the 2022 Beijing Olympics IF Carey Price does not go. A bold statement from Rod, but he is confident with his choice. Paterson on the other hand, disagrees, he believes Marc-Andre Fleury deserves the position over the rookie. 

“Wait a second, we’re giving Carter Hart the number two spot on Team Canada?” said Paterson Thursday’s show. “I mean, to be honest after the season he had last year, he’s going to be lucky to make the team… Marc-Andre Fleury won the Vezina Trophy and Carey Price had a solid season. To me those are your two guys, and then there’s just a bunch of question marks.”

Beyond Fleury and Price, Paterson believes the goalie situation for Team Canada is one area of deficiency in comparison to other teams in the world.

“If Marc-Andre Fleury is not good enough for Canada’s team the Vegas Golden Knights, he’s not good enough for me at Team Canada,” said Rod Pedersen.  “I’ve also seen Carter Hart at his best. So he had one bad year, so what, other goalies have had bad years. Carey Price has had bad years in his career.” 

Rod Pedersen is a fan of Fleury, but explains how Fleury has not really represented Canada internationally during his career—his last significant international role was with the World Junior Team in 2003. He was also selected for Team Canada in 2010, but he never got any ice time. 

“If Carter Hart, all of a sudden, tears it up, he could be on the team and he’ll be an option,” said Paterson. “I think that’s the best case scenario for Canada, but my God, he had one of the worst seasons for a starting goaltender in the National Hockey League last year. So there’s a lot of work to do before Carter Hart actually earns a spot on the team never mind jumps the guy that won the Venzina trophy last year.”

This whole discussion came about after the NHL released news about Carey Price this morning (Oct.7). The Montreal Canadiens star goalie voluntarily entered the NHL and NHL Players Association joint Players Assistance Program. Price will be away from the team for a minimum of 30 days. It is unknown why Price entered the program, but it is suspected to be for mental health reasons. The news came unexpectedly. Hockey fans are hoping Price will return soon, but everyone can agree his mental and physical health is the top priority. 

Only time will tell who the starting goalie will be for Team Canada at the Olympics—Canadian hockey fans will have to stay tuned to see it.  In the meantime, who do you think will be the future goalie of Team Canada?