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Corey Hirsch column: Goalies reveal the one city they struggled in the most

Don Wright-USA TODAY Sports / USA TODAY Sports

Corey Hirsch is a former NHL goaltender who spent parts of seven seasons with the New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals, and Dallas Stars.

Belated congratulations to the Stanley Cup-champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Nashville put up a great fight, but in the end the Predators couldn't overcome one thing: Pekka Rinne's struggles at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

Let's be honest, if it wasn't for Rinne, Nashville isn't even in the final. But Rinne lost all three games in Pittsburgh - and statistically, his numbers were awful. He finished the series 0-3 with a .756 save percentage and a 5.39 GAA at PPG Paints Arena.

Rinne's numbers in Pittsburgh during the regular season were just as bad. Zero wins, three losses, an inflated 4.59 GAA, and an .880 save percentage.

Ouch.

Ask any current or former player and they will tell you they have that one arena where they just didn't play well in. Try as we did to reverse the curse, nine out of 10 times, it ended in disaster. None of us knew why. Was it the atmosphere? The ice? The boards? The distractions? Or just pure voodoo?

Maybe it would have helped for Nashville to have sacrificed a rubber chicken. A real chicken. A bucket of KFC. Anything.

Personally, Edmonton was my problem rink. The ice was hard and fast, and it seemed like the players even shot the puck harder.

I was with Dallas when Dave Tippett gave me a start in Edmonton on March 15, 2003 in what I knew would be my last chance to get back into the NHL. Sure enough, in the third period, I threw a pass off the shin pads of my defenseman, Derian Hatcher. Shawn Horcoff scored in the empty net while I stood in the corner.

Rexall Place had finished me off.

I asked some of my goaltending fraternity brothers where they struggled most:

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

Sean Burke (NHL playing career - 1987-2007)

"Toronto was a nightmare. It was my hometown and I had so many distractions. I couldn't get into my normal routine. It became a mental thing, somehow it always fell apart. Nothing worse than spending a thousand dollars on tickets, and getting pulled in the first period. The only live game my grandmother came to I got kicked out for fighting."

Bill Ranford (NHL playing career - 1985-2000)

"San Jose and Colorado. We would take the commercial milk-run flights and spend a full day in the airports, then play like crap the next night."

Olaf Kolzig (NHL playing career - 1989-2009)

"Pittsburgh, in the old Igloo, (Mario) Lemieux, (Jaromir) Jagr, (Ron) Francis, (Alexei) Kovalev ... enough said."

Jamie McLennan (NHL playing career - 1991-2008)

"Detroit. I hated the feel of the rink and the boards. I always had a tough time reading the bounces, plus they always had great teams that were really tough in front of the net."

It’s not limited to just goalies - skaters have their problem rinks, too.

Scott Mellanby (NHL playing career - 1986-2007)

"For me, I always found Calgary a place where I struggled, I don't know why. I had a couple good games there, but when you play 20 years, odds are you will play well at least once there."

So don't feel bad, Pekka. We all have that one arena. I'm just sorry yours happened to be home to the team you faced in the Stanley Cup Final.

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