Anderson the Olympian?

Craig Anderson, Olympic hopeful, making a glove save through traffic against the Detroit Red Wings earlier this season.

There has been a lot of talk about the Olympics this year in Vancouver. For the Avs, it’s been one of the more intriguing story lines thus far.  Earlier this year, the Canadian team’s GM, Steve Yzerman, stated publicly that there would be a spot for Joe Sakic on the roster should he choose to continue playing. As we all know, Joe Sakic, who was the 2002 Olympic MVP, decided to hang up the skates last summer.

Even still, the Olympic questions didn’t end there. With goaltender Craig Anderson being crowned the NHL Player of the Month for October, there has been a lot of talk about his place on the American roster.

There are three available spots for a goaltender on an Olympic roster. Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabers has been having a career year and has basically locked the #1 spot. How good has he been? Martin Brodeur just broke the all-time shutout record this month, but if the Vezina Trophy was going to be awarded tomorrow, Miller would win it in a landslide. His 1.89 GAA and .937 SV % are tops in the league, stats that may remind some Buffalo fans of another world-beating goalie who used to play for them, Dominik Hasek.

In the backup spot we’ll probably see Tim Thomas, last year’s Vezina Trophy winner.

That leaves the final spot up for grabs. In the first month of the season it was pretty much a lock for Anderson, but recently I’ve been hearing talk about Jonathan Quick sneaking into the spot. I just can’t find any justification for this belief.

When we look at the two players head-to-head, Anderson seems to be superior. Their goals against average is nearly identical – Quick’s 2.58 to Anderson’s 2.68. After that, the gap widens. Anderson is top 15 in the league in SV% – Quick isn’t even top 30. Anderson is tied for the league lead for goaltender scoring. Quick dishes out the assists as often as Scott Parker.

People may try to talk about how Quick has led the LA Kings to their best season in years. But can we really attribute the success to him? I realize he’s started a league-leading 34 games for the Kings, but is he carrying that team? Or is it all those top 11 picks the Kings have gotten each of the last six drafts that are all starting to contribute?

Besides, despite playing over 250 minutes less than Quick, Anderson leads the entire league in both shots against and saves. Add onto that the fact that the Colorado Avalanche, who were supposed to be a terrible team this year, are leading their division, and you try to find me a goaltender who has carried their team more so than Anderson has done this season.

Anderson is prepared to represent America at the 2010 Winter Olympics, and based on his on-ice performance, I think it’s clear he’s earned it.