05/12/03
Cloutier faces the music
Not about to make excuses for abysmal playoff performance

Brad Ziemer, Vancouver Sun

CANADA.COM

There's a nasty "photo" making the rounds on e-mail that shows Canuck goalie Dan Cloutier sliding out into the crease with his pads stacked to make a save. Behind him, a large beach ball is entering the net.

While he may be getting skewered in cyberspace, Cloutier insists he is being treated much better in the real world.

"People have been very supportive," Cloutier said on the weekend, as he and his Canuck teammates packed up their gear and headed out for what figures to be a long summer. "It's been nice. Obviously, I've been out [on the streets] the last couple of days but like I said everyone has been very supportive and I appreciate that."

Not surprisingly, his Canuck teammates are also circling the wagons for their goaltender.

Just as Cloutier was about to begin his interview with a large group of reporters in the Vancouver dressing room, winger Todd Bertuzzi walked by and issued this warning: "Show some respect." Publicly, at least, the Canuck players are standing by Cloutier.

"It is absolutely, absolutely ridiculous," Bertuzzi said of the heat Cloutier is receiving. "Everyone in this whole city is pointing a finger at him. It's totally ridiculous. I don't understand why it happens. Year in, year out they pick on the goaltender, especially Clouts, and it's ridiculous. He's been our MVP for the whole year.... You want to point fingers and blame someone, you can blame me. I can take it, I can handle it."

Defenceman Mattias Ohlund also came to the defence of Cloutier, suggesting he is being unfairly singled out for what was a collective collapse that allowed the Minnesota Wild to rebound from a 3-1 series deficit.

"I'm pissed off because it's so unfair," Ohlund said. "This guy has been our best player the whole year and at times we have really struggled but he has given us a chance to win every game and he has done that in the playoffs, too.

"There were tough games in the playoffs with not a whole lot of shots. You look at the goals they scored, too. It's not like they scored on wide-open shots from the blue line. There were a lot of bounces and tip-ins and we made some bad defensive plays at times. There's no other goalie in the league that I'd rather have behind me [than] him. I know everybody feels the same way on this team."

Cloutier attempted to deflect some of the blame after Thursday's 4-2 loss to the Wild that knocked Vancouver out of the playoffs. On the weekend, however, he was offering no excuses for his play and the abysmal .826 save percentage he recorded in seven games against the Wild.

"I should have certainly played better, there's no doubt in my mind," he said. "I could have been better in a lot of areas."

And of all that criticism he is receiving in the media, Cloutier added: "That's all right. That comes with the position, I guess. I choose to play goalie and that's one of the things that comes with it."

Especially in Vancouver, which has a well-earned reputation for being a graveyard for goalies. Cloutier insists he is not ready for a change in scenery a la Felix Potvin, who was shipped to Los Angeles when it became apparent that things just weren't going to work out in Vancouver.

"I still feel good about being here," Cloutier said. "I know what you mean about people after a while needing a change, but the city's not getting old. I still really enjoy it here. I enjoy every part of it, the city, the organization and my teammates."

What Cloutier and undoubtedly the Canuck organization that is now pondering his future are hoping is that he is experiencing some of the bumps other goalies -- like Ottawa's Patrick Lalime -- have had to endure before finding playoff success.

Cloutier likes to think he at least took some baby steps this spring when he helped the Canucks rebound from a 3-1 deficit and get past the St. Louis Blues in the first round. Cloutier was especially strong in the seventh game of that series.

"Well, I won a Game 7 this year and not a lot of people have that on their resume," said Cloutier, who becomes a restricted free agent on July 1. "And I won a series. That's a big step in my career, winning a playoff series and being down 3-1. Don't get me wrong, the Minnesota series, I'm upset about that. But like I said, at the end of the summer we're going to look back and say we came back on St. Louis to beat them. I've always tried to take the positives and that's pretty big for my career. I think you guys said after that Game 7, it was the biggest game of my career and I won that.... That's going to stick with me."