LONDON,U.K- It’s not a good time to be an ‘elite’ goalie in the NHL. There have been numerous injuries to some of the top goaltenders, while others have suffered huge dips in form. Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo are widely acknowledged as the best netminders in the world, but both endured horrific luck this season. Brodeur suffered an elbow injury in November that was estimated to rule him out for four months, while Luongo suffered a groin injury, also in November, sidelining him for an estimated two months. Another goalie to suffer injury problems is Rick Dipietro. The New York Islanders’ franchise goalie suffered yet another knee injury this season requiring surgery for the third time in his career. Aside from the injuries, a lot of goalies have had sub par seasons. J.S Giguere of the Anaheim Ducks is one such example. The Conn Smythe and Stanley Cup winning goalie’s numbers are below what is expected of him at the moment. However Giguere’s season has been stellar in comparison to Marty Turco.
Turco has had an atrocious season behind a depleted Dallas defense, and has been at fault for a host of goals, looking a shadow of his former self.
Chris Osgood has been even worse than Turco. Towards the start of the season Detroit didn’t play as well as a team boasting their players should, but that doesn’t excuse Osgood’s play, which has been extremely shaky, as shown by his ugly 0.883 save percentage thus far.
Two goalies that are known as the best behind the ‘big two’ of Brodeur and Luongo are Miikka Kiprusoff and Henrik Lundqvist. Neither has put up numbers to shout about though both have been solid, often keeping their respective teams in the game. Lundqvist in particular, while having some inconsistent displays has had to deal with a poor New York Rangers defense in front of him that are prone to giving up odd man rushes.
A surprising addition to this list of under-achieving goaltenders is Evgeni Nabokov. His stats are solid but not spectacular (.908 SV% and 2.49 GAA), but these numbers, which are slightly worse than his previous form, are surprising in that they are coming behind a veritable juggernaut of a team in San Jose Sharks, who sit atop the NHL after a breathtaking first half of the season.
Not all starting netminders are playing badly though. Niklas Backstrom in the Minnesota Wild goal is having a terrific season, whilst not receiving a huge amount of help from the team in front of him. His save percentage of 0.927 and goals against average of 2.17 shows that the undrafted Finnish goalie is capable of carrying a team, though he continues to fly below the radar.
Tim Thomas is also having an excellent year, sharing the netminding duties with a rejuvenated Manny Fernandez for the Boston Bruins. The team has had an excellent start to the season, exceeding all expectations to sit second in the NHL at the halfway mark, and their netminding tandem has been a huge part of that. The two are third and fourth in the NHL for save percentage, with .933 (Thomas) and .928 (Fernandez) respectively.
Despite the good form of this small group of goaltenders, it is plain to see that a lot of the better goalies are out of sorts this season, and are most definitely not playing up to their considerable talent.
So where does this leave their teams? How are they managing without the normally stellar play of their star goalies? The simple answer is that a lot of backups have really stepped up to the plate this year, taking their chances with both hands.
A perfect example of this is Craig Anderson. The Florida Panthers backup has forced his way into the frame alongside star goalie Tomas Vokoun. Vokoun went through a slump towards the beginning of the season, allowing Anderson to step in and steal the show, posting superior numbers to Vokoun as well as looking very solid in nets. His save percentage of 0.933 is currently the second best in the NHL, all while playing behind an average Panthers team placed 16 in the standings.
Clemmensen in action for former club Toronto Maple Leafs
Ty Conklin is the man to benefit from Chris Osgood’s dismal form so far for the Detroit Red Wings. The man brought in to backup Osgood in the offseason boasts both a save percentage and goals against average in the top ten among NHL goalies. His stats and play both far exceed Osgood’s this season, and Red Wings fans are certainly happier to see him start for their team.
In the offseason Chicago Blackhawks signed Cristobal Huet to be their number one goalie, which looked like signalling the end in Chicago for Nikolai Khabibulin, who had never hit the form he displayed in Tampa Bay for the Lightning. He was even waived at the beginning of the season, but was passed over by every team. Since then he has played extremely well, outperforming Huet and once again establishing himself as Chicago’s number one. His improved play could be attributed to the fact that this is a contract year for the Russian.
A young backup that has impressed so far is Jonas Hiller of the Anaheim Ducks. With Giguere’s patchy form, and his need to miss several games due to personal reasons mean that Hiller has been given a chance to shine. The 26 year old has produced excellent stats so far (0.926 SA%, 2.20 GAA, 3 shutouts) and has come a long way since joining the Ducks as a free agent in May 2007. The undrafted Swiss goalie still has to work on his rebound control, but he is showing signs of becoming a very capable starter in the NHL.
Impressive Steve Mason of the Columbus Blue Jackets
With so many backups pushing their way into the spotlight, and the usual suspects pushing their way out of contention, the race for the Vezina trophy is wide open, and should be both entertaining and unpredictable. The question now is if the underperforming stars still have a starting role if and when they pick up their games. Contact the author at Dave.lambert@prohockeynews.com
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