In my opinion, the goaltender is the most important player for any team when making a championship run. Ever since the 2004-05 NHL lockout, many rules were changed that brought the necessary skill-set and responsibility of the professional goaltender to a whole new level. In today’s game, goalies have to deal with 4 on 4 overtime periods, more frequent penalty shots and goaltender regulations, and the now ever so often shootout that goaltenders of the past never had to prepare for. In this blog, I’m going to talk about the goaltenders that are really impressing me this season, old and new.
It would truly be a crime to blog about NHL goaltenders and not mention the New Jersey Devils’ Matrin Brodeur. Marty is currently in his 19th year with the Devils and is the oldest goaltender in the league. Over his long career, Brodeur has 663 wins, which is more wins than seven NHL franchises. So far this season Brodeur has been playing very well with a 2.29 GAA, .912 save percentage, and a 7-2-3 record. Not bad for a 40 year old.
Craig Anderson of the Ottawa Senators has so far been the strongest goaltender in the league. So far this season, Anderson has a 1.57 GAA, .950 save percentage, and a 8-4-2 record. This is Anderson’s second season with the Senators and so far he seems to be on the verge of a career year.
The St. Louis Blues’ Jake Allen is one rookie goaltender who seems to have the potential as a future started. While his numbers are not that good (2.62 GAA, .895 SV%), He has started off with 3 wins in 4 full starts (3-1-0). It should be interesting to see if the Blues stick with Jake Allen or Brian Elliott as their official backup now that Jaroslav Halak is back from his groin injury. In Halak’s first game back last night (Wed, Feb. 20) he held the Colorado Avalanche scoreless through regulation until letting up a goal in overtime.
After rumors of Roberto Luongo possibly being traded away for the Vancouver Canucks earlier this season, Lunogo has made the best of his minimal starts and once again worked his way to number one on the depth chart with a 4-0-0 record (1.63 GAA, .934 SV%). Cory Schneider, who was named the starter before the season began, hasn’t been playing as stellar, but still has fairly solid numbers with a 4-3-0 record (2.64 GAA, .915 SV%). This could be the start of a very long and interesting goalie controversy.
Another interesting goalie development comes out of the north star state. The Minnesota Wild introduced their new backup Darcy Kuemper. Kuemper got his opportunity after Josh Harding voluntarily stepped down from starting against the Vancouver Canucks on Febuary 12th. Harding was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis during the off season and admitted to feeling “off” earlier that day due to a new medication. So far, Kuemper has started in two games(1-1-0) and has posted a solid 2.02 GAA and a .934 save percentage. These numbers were put up against the Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks, both of which have very strong offenses.
Last but not least is former Boston Bruin, Timmy Thomas. For those of you who haven’t heard, Boston traded Thomas to the New York Islanders for a second-round conditional draft pick for either the 2014 or 2015 draft. Boston traded Thomas to free up some salary space after he decided to take the year off. The Islanders are currently rebuilding and I could see them really benefiting from having Tim Thomas in net. For now, Islanders fans can just keep their fingers crosses for next season, because it seems like a Thomas return this season is out of the question.
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