Mario's Not The Key
By Scott Robertson

Knew that headline would get you. Of course he's the key to the Penguins' 2001 Stanley Cup chase.

Except that he's not.

Garth Snow may turn out to be. If not him, then Jean-Sebastian Aubin.

A lot of us have stars in our eyes, our minds abuzz with the thoughts of the kinds of offensive fireworks the Penguins might be able to supply with Mario Lemieux back on the ice. Put him on a line with Jaromir Jagr and their chemistry alone will turn backs of opposing goaltenders' necks red thanks to that flashing light.

That's a nice thought, and it may well happen. But it won't be enough without quality goaltending. Is Snow or Aubin the kind of goaltender who can take a team to a Cup?

Goaltenders are like quarterbacks. There are painfully few quarterbacks in the National Football League who can lead a team to the Super Bowl. There may be even fewer goaltenders who can take a team to the Stanley Cup Final.

Consider that as of today, only six active goaltenders have been No. 1s on Stanley Cup championship teams. Colorado's Patrick Roy, Calgary's Mike Vernon, Detroit's Chris Osgood, Dallas' Ed Belfour, Mike Richter of the New York Rangers and New Jersey's Martin Brodeur have done it. No one else has.

There are some awfully good goaltenders in the NHL who have not. Guys like Washington's Olaf Kolzig and Toronto's Curtis Joseph haven't done it. Neither has Buffalo's Dominik Hasek nor St. Louis' Roman Turek. All four are considered much better than the Penguins' tandem of Aubin and Garth Snow.

We all know that a hot goaltender can take a team a long way - but a hot streak alone can't take you all the way. If it could, Ron Tugnutt would have carried the Cup into Pittsburgh last season.

In the playoffs, teams pay much more attention to playing well in their own end and, as a result, often make mediocre goaltenders look good and good ones look great. Witness previous playoff performances by guys like Greg Millen, Don Edwards, Mike Liut, Don Beaupre and countless others. Those guys carried their teams a long way, but not quite far enough.

Goaltenders who win Stanley Cups, with few exceptions, are the best at their craft. One could argue it takes a Hall of Fame pedigree. Consider that since 1971, only 13 goaltenders have backstopped their teams to the title - no less than 10 of them, and maybe 11, either are or will be in the Hall of Fame. Think back to the likes of Ken Dryden, Gerry Cheevers, Bernie Parent, Billy Smith, Grant Fuhr, Tom Barrasso and the six mentioned previously. It's very rare for a Bill Ranford or an Osgood to win a Cup.

The Penguins don't win back-to-back Cups with Frank Pietrangelo or Wendell Young in net. Sure, Pietrangelo made some great saves and won some key games - but he didn't win 16 of them, the number you need to win a Cup.

Kenny Wregget didn't do it, either. He played well, but not well enough. When the Penguins won, it was because Barrasso was outstanding. There are those in hockey circles who believe he, not Lemieux, was the most valuable player in the Penguins' second Cup run.

The question the Penguins face is whether Snow or Aubin can provide the goaltending necessary to win a Cup. Snow took the Flyers to the Final against Detroit in 1997, where they lost to the Vernon-led Red Wings. Bob Clarke, the Flyers' GM, thought enough of Snow that he went out and acquired John Vanbiesbrouck to take over.

Aubin hasn't done it either. Injuries have limited his opportunities thus far - remember, he likely would have been No. 1 entering last season's playoffs if not for a knee injury. Early this season, the knee felled him again.

These questions, by the way, run deeper than at the NHL level. It almost escaped notice that last month, former No. 1 draft choice Craig Hillier, once the heir-apparent to Barrasso, was sent down from Wilkes Barre/Scranton to Wheeling and replaced by Moon Twp.'s Mark Scally. Yes, that's the same Mark Scally who was playing club hockey at Penn State last spring. Youngster Sebastian Caron now looms as the goalie of the future, but he's far from ready to take a team on a Cup run.

And unless Snow or Aubin can prove he's the kind of goaltender who can carry his team in the playoffs, the Penguins aren't ready for a Cup run, either.