The Book
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 Shading indicates vulnerable areas. |
98-99 Season:
Tied for fourth in NHL in shutouts. Career highs in games played and minutes played.
The Physical Game:There are few goalies who play a better positional game than Vanbiesbrouck. He doesn't make wild, diving saves, because he doesn't have to. He blends a strong technical game with good reflexes, anticipation and confidence. He isn't very big, so he plays his angles and squares himself to the shooter to take away as much of the net as possible. He makes himself look like a much bigger goalie. He is very aggressive, forcing the shooter to make the first move.
Those facts made his playoff performance baffling, since he allowed some highly questionable--okay, soft--goals that didn't help the offensively challenged Flyers in their first-round loss to Toronto.
Vanbiesbrouck plays a butterfly-style that takes away a lot of low shots and he has a quick glove hand, so most shooters try to go high stick-side on him, but that's a hard corner to pick. He reads wraparound plays well and seldom gets beaten. He gets into occasional trouble when he plays too deep in his net and holds his glove hand too low.
Vanbiesbrouck is a good skater with fine lateral motion. Active with his stick, he uses it to poke-check, guide rebounds, break up passes or whack at any ankles camping out too close to his crease. He won't surrender a centimetre of his ice. He is also confident out of his net with the puck, sometimes overly so. He'll get burned by trying to force passes up the middle.
The Mental Game:
Vanbiesbrouck is highly competitive and keeps himself in superb condition.
The Intangibles:
Vanbiesbrouck brings a positive attitude to the ice and is a good team player. You'll never hear him publicly criticize his teammates. If anything, the netminder goes out of his way to pump up his teammates.
Strengths
Like a fine wine, Vanbiesbrouck gets better with age. His reflexes are still top-notch, but he now thinks more with his head than with his heart. Vanbiesbrouck goes post-to-post effectively and has no problem coming out of the net to challenge the shooter.
Weaknesses
Beezer is not a superior stickhandler. In fact, he sometimes handles the puck like it's a stick of dynamite. He's been whistled far too many times for shooting the puck over the boards and causing a delay of game. Vanbiesbrouck has yet to win The Big One.
