With the 2016 World Cup tune-up winding down, plenty of teams have some goaltending decisions to make. It sounds like the situation is pretty much settled for North America, however.
John Gibson gets the nod against Team Europe during Sunday’s exhibition, yet Gibson himself said that Matt Murray is still the No. 1 guy, according to ESPN’s Craig Custance.
Team North America certainly seems interested in making sure Gibson isn’t rusty:
Both goalie options are interesting in their combination of promise (Murray’s Stanley Cup win, Gibson winning the Anaheim Ducks’ top job) with inexperience.
Murray only has 13 regular season games and the 21-game playoff run to his name, yet Gibson isn’t exactly a seasoned workhorse either. He’s only played in 66 regular season contests along with six playoff games.
In other words, this isn’t one of those situations where a goalie is firmly established as the veteran guy. So why not just let Murray’s championship run be the tiebreaker?
More on Murray being the “lead dog.”
Meanwhile, Thomas Greiss will start for Team Europe.
Thomas Greiss gets the net tonight for #TeamEUR. #WCH2016 pic.twitter.com/FlLweJjSvn
— Team Europe (@TeamEUR_WCH) September 11, 2016