CBC-Sports

Roloson rolling along

March 25, 2009 04:50 PM | Posted by   Craig Simpson  

At the start of this NHL season there wouldn’t have been many, if any, Edmonton Oilers fans who would have predicted that veteran Dwayne Roloson would be the Oilers starting goalie in March.

At the beginning of the year, Edmonton had a three-goalie dilemma on its hands. It seemed like the Oilers would move Roloson and allow Mathieu Garon continue the roll he finished with last year, while Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers would serve as the back-up.

Roloson himself saw the writing on the wall during training camp and decided to leave his wife and kids back home in Ontario so they wouldn’t have to be uprooted from school in mid-season.

Overcame early season uncertainty

Instead, it has been the veteran Roloson who has dug in, worked hard and got his game back in top form. Garon struggled early and was the one traded away. Deslauriers has played in just eight games and hasn’t started since Nov. 30.

Roloson, who is in the last year of his contract, has become an inspiring and entertaining story for the Oilers during their annual drive for one of the last playoff spots in the Western Conference.

At the age of 39, you would think his best days as a player are long gone, but thanks to his competitiveness and solid work ethic, he is in the midst of his best year ever.

With 26 wins, he is just one win shy of his career high. With nine games left in the Oilers season the most games he can play is 65, which is three shy of his career high, but if he reaches that number, he would have started an incredible 38 straight games. Already his 29 starts in a row is an Oiler team record. The previous mark of 20 was shared by Grant Fuhr and Bill Ranford (which is surprisingly low when you think that Fuhr played 75 of 80 games in 1988, and Ranford played 71 in 1994).

During his run, Roloson has a modest record of 13-10-6, but his strong play has been one of the only things keeping the Oilers in the playoff race. Edmonton has given up over 30 shots in 21 of those 29 games and over 40 shots in seven. Add to that, the Oilers’ offence has scored just two or less goals in 14 of those games.

A chance to extend his NHL career

Roloson’s 2.75 goals-against average may be higher than he would like it to be, but his .916 save percentage is close to the top 10 goalies in the league. Tuesday night’s 3-2 loss to Detroit was another example of Roloson keeping his team in a game, but not getting a winning result. The Oilers were outshot 44-26, but still had a 1-0 lead well into the third. A couple of quick breakdowns saw the Wings score three and take home the win, but Roloson was the game’s first star.

If Roloson can stay hot and the Oilers make the playoffs, this late season surge will certainly earn Roloson another contract. The question is: will that new contract be with the Oilers? If nothing else, Roloson has put the team in a tough position. They want to develop their two young goalies in Drouin-Deslauriers and Devon Dubnyk, but neither has proven to be ready yet.

If Roloson shuts the door and takes the Oilers into the post-season like he did in 2006, the Oilers may have no other choice than to overpay him to keep him from leaving. Either way, Roloson’s play has given the soon to be 40-year-old a great chance to extend his NHL career.

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