Examining Bruins’ Goaltender Chad Johnson

Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

First I wanted to say I wanted Anton Khudobin back before the Bruins decided to save a little money and go with Johnson.

Now we all know if you have an injury to your number one goalie you’re probably in trouble and that’s putting it politely. One of the reasons I wanted Anton back was; when Tuukka Rask struggled at times Anton stepped in and performed admirably, to the point of people were talking about him being a number one goalie.

Now let’s talk about Chad.

Chad Johnson is a 27 year old Goalie that lacks a lot of NHL experience (10 games prior to this season). His inexperience is an issue to the point I’m not sure what attracted the Bruins to him. He is a big Goalie at 6’-3” tall. (one inch taller than Rask but the similarities end there). Though I can’t say he has been bad for Boston but I can say he has a propensity of letting in a “Soft” goal a game. Whether it’s from lack of focus, anticipation… I’m not sure but it is a horrible habit. One in which could cost the team at some point but hasn’t yet.

Chad’s numbers are actually quite impressive but in my mind deceiving as well given the soft goals allowed.

2013-14 Stats:

6-1, 1.98GAA, .928SV%

An observation I made recently, that falls in-line with talking about soft goals, it appears to me that Johnson relies too much on his overall size and positioning to make saves. If it gets by his big frame, then so be it kind of thing. He is also rather slow in movements and slow to react to plays in front of him.

*A good example of that was what happened in his game against the Edmonton Oilers. Goalies are taught to follow a play until the end, yet David Perron took a rebound, skated around the net and swept it in the empty corner for a goal. Johnson never moved from the far post, which I found unacceptable. You don’t have to have lightning quick reflexes or instincts to be a good goalie but you do have to have some anticipation and movability.

We can only hope that he improves with more experience but I don’t see him getting any quicker. Also, can you learn anticipation? Go B’s!