Which position is the most important in a playoff series?

I have the Islanders-Devils game on as background noise while I write. Following a Rick DiPietro glove save, FSN NY Islanders broadcasters Howie Rose and Billy Jaffe began a discussion about which singular position is the most important in sports, particularly in a playoff series. Both agreed that a goaltender was more valuable than a starting pitcher, quarterback or high scoring basketball player because the goaltender can steal a series.

I thought that it'd make for an interesting discussion, so...

 

Quarterback is No. 4, no question.

I think a high-scoring basketball star can be neutralized too easily by a great team defense, so he's No. 3.

Toss-up between an ace pitcher and a hot goaltender, but if the framing of the question is "which is more important in a playoff series" ... you need at least a second ace pitcher to win you that series. One pitcher can't do it all (Mathewson notwithstanding.) So he's No. 2, making the winner:

No. 1, Hockey goaltender.

 

Goalie. This isn't even that difficult.
How many times have you seen a goalie go berserk and single handedly steal a series or several for his team (JS Giguere comes to recent memory, though I'm sure bigger hockey buffs could offer up far better examples) ... And at the same time, how many times have you seen a Super Bowl team win despite a quarterback (I think recent Steelers fans can let you know on that one).

 

I went with goalie as well.
A good quarterback might win you a game, but defense is what really wins or loses football playoff games (and we'll equate one playoff game to one series for this discussion).
A great scorer in basketball can take you a long way, but you need some support around him. If other guys aren't making shots when the double- and triple-teams come, it's over in five.
An ace pitcher is important, but will win you two games at most. That makes a big difference in playoff baseball, sure, but you can work around it if you're the other team. I'd say it's more important in the divisional round, where it's best of 5 and you can take the series with one good game from your other starter. In a best of 7, the importance diminishes.
A great goalie, though, can carry you all the way. How many times has Martin Brodeur gotten the Devils to the finals? Giguere is another good example, along with some of Ron Hextall's or Dominik Hasek's better moments. You can't win if you can't score, and a great goalie can make it damned near impossible to score.

 

For further evidence, cf Patrick Roy Montreal 1986 & 1993.

 

if you would have said pitching, as in three starters and a reliever, i'd say that. but you didn't, so i won't.

 

I'm not much of a hockey guy, but I'd definitely go with the goaltender.

 

Same here.

 

Goalie, at least unless it's the Stanley Cup finals. In the finals, the better team tends to win; it's hard for a goalie to steal that series.

 

Hockey goaltender without question. There have been some amazing playoff performances by goalies legendary and nondescript alike that prove the point.

 

Disagree.

Patrick Roy singlehandedly won the '85 and '93 Cup for the Habs.

Dryden beat the Bruins in '71.

You can make a case the Whalercanes won because of Ward.

A mediocre team can always beat a better team with a hot goalie.