Ilya Samsonov opens up about how his rough start has affected him

From an outside perspective, the position of goaltender looks like the easiest in hockey. Once you get over the fear of being hit with the puck, all you do is cover as much of the net as possible and let it hit you. Of course, any hockey fan knows that is the furthest thing from the truth. Goaltending is extremely difficult. I myself was reminded of that as I fished the puck out of my own net for the 5th time tonight.

For Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov, it's been a rough start to the season. In 4 starts, he's surrendered 14 goals, including 3 on 4 shots against the Tampa Bay Lightning last week. Since that third goal, Samsonov hasn't played at all. Joseph Woll backstopped the Leafs to a comeback win over the Lightning and was absolutely stellar in the Leafs' wins over Washington and Dallas. As of right now, Woll is the unofficial 1A goaltender.

The thing is, we know Samsonov is a solid goaltender. His .919sv% last season, and the fact that be backstopped the Leafs to their first playoff series win since 2004 are evidence of that. He's simply fighting it at the moment. That's the thing about goalies, if our heads aren't screwed on just right, pucks just find a way through us. A defiant Samsonov vowed to be better going forward.


At the very least, his attitude is right. Samsonov is looking inward, rather than blaming bounces or his defence, which, lets be honest, hasn't been fantastic thus far. The other piece of good news is that with confidence issues, sometimes all it takes is one good save to turn it all around. Something as small as that has the power to change a goalie's confidence level, after that, all that's needed is a few more saves to bring them back to themselves. Here's hoping Samsonov can find the confidence that convinced the Leafs to sign him. There are a lot of games left on the schedule, the Leafs will need Samsonov if they want to have a chance at winning the Atlantic Division this season.