NHL Starting Goalies for 2006-2007??

[Minstrel]

Both can't be properly assessed due to the injuries last year really; Aucoin has looked fantastic in preseason and he's also been tagged as the team Captain this year so I wouldn't see Aucoin going anywhere really, I think he is a key to bringing along the stable of young defensemen we have in the system with Seabrook, Keith and Barker probably playing serious minutes this year they can't just be put out there even with a great defensive coach that is gold with young players... I think it's a very different situation.

Khabibulin can/already has been replaced and his contract makes him a liability...

If someone gets moved on D due to contract my guess would be that it's going to be Cullimore who is a spectacularly overpaid bust that was healthy all last season and proved his complete lack of worth especially in "The New NHL".

[Kekkonen]

Never underestimate the risk teams are willing to take to find an answer in net; see Belfour, Ed and Hasek, Dominic

That's true, but they don't cost 15% of the cap -- for this season and the next two. In the old NHL you could always have dumped him on the Rangers (well, maybe not even them, given how fantastic Lundqvist was his first season), but even their hands are tied now.

[Minstrel]

This is why it may not happen right away; but it could easily happen at the deadline... the Cap is a total salaries paid for the entire year thing; so teams can have players that combined their salaries are over the cap limit, it depends on how much salary they have paid out for the year.

I'm very very far from being a math guy but the basic concept is that Khabibulin for example doesn't mean a team will need to have 6.5 mil in Cap room available to deal for him, just enough remaining to pay the last few months of his contract for the year. That could be done via a trade and/or via a team putting a player on waivers for example to clear room, trading a player making 3.0 and waiving a vet making 3.5 for example clears enough space even for a team that is right at the cap and is even easier for a team that might have a few mil in room to work with. Yeah for 07-08 they're over but that hasn't stopped New Jersey this year and they are WAY over.

[Kekkonen]

Yeah, I'm not saying he's unmovable, but any potential team will want to take a look at how he plays. If he plays even reasonably well, he'll probably have takers. Especially if, say, Hasek hurts his groin again, diagnoses it himself and declares that he's going to be out anywhere between the next period and 14 months.

The trouble with Khabby and the cap isn't really the millions he's making this year. It's the 13,5 million bucks he'll make in the next two.

[Minstrel]

Yeah, I'm not saying he's unmovable, but any potential team will want to take a look at how he plays. If he plays even reasonably well, he'll probably have takers. Especially if, say, Hasek hurts his groin again, diagnoses it himself and declares that he's going to be out anywhere between the next period and 14 months.

Yeah, and you can always count on Ed Belfour's Back Spasm Vacationâ„¢ period to possibly cause problems. It's such an odd position filled with equally odd individuals so you just never know...

The trouble with Khabby and the cap isn't really the millions he's making this year. It's the 13,5 million bucks he'll make in the next two.

Agreed. That's why a contending team might look at it as simply the price of doing business and at worst they are stuck with it for the next season even if they can't use the offseason months to deal him to someone who will give him an extension along with a trade... this year at 6.5 and then the next two seasons the same is probably the only reason nobody took them up on it last season really. It's not like trading DiPietro's 15 year deal

[Kekkonen]

Ah, Eddie the Eagle... Florida getting Belfour was by far the strangest goaltending move of the off-season. Not that getting Hasek was a brilliant move for the Wings, but I can sort of rationalize it – maybe they’re just gambling on his old squeaky groin, and counting on Osgood to be able to hold the fort while they look for help if/when Hasek goes down. But Eddie... Florida already has Auld, who won’t be a Vezina candidate this season, but he’s young and he has a lot of talent. Eddie, on the other hand, is just about the opposite of the veteran mentor type; in fact, he has a long, long history of antagonizing his back-ups (and security guards and a lot of other people, but especially his back-ups).

[Minstrel]

Oh yeah, I know all about Eddie the Ego's detrimental effects on team chemistry especially backups; even though he was really at the peak of his game in his Chicago days many people wanted him gone by the end of his tenure and weren't sad to see him go, me and Jeff Hackett included

[Kekkonen]

Ah, right... Eddie's bounced around the league for so long after his Blackhawk days that I didn't realize you've probably seen enough of him to last a couple of lifetimes.

[batdad]

Oh yeah, I know all about Eddie the Ego's detrimental effects on team chemistry

Eagle and his team chemistry effect could cause a nasty chemical reaction, considering who else is in Florida this season.

And Minty...why would Chicago trade anyone? Clearly after having the best pre season record they are going to take it all this year. Right?

[Minstrel]

Oh I know when I'm being baited... let me just say there are reasons

[Forsberg]

I sincerly hope hawks get some proper succes for once, but am I the only one that think we have heard " This is the year hawks finally break out and regain respectabillity", for the past what 6-7 years?. Seems to be the same every year, new season, new hope, but will they be back to out of the playoffs by march once again?. And no not baiting Minstrel heh, just wondering honestly.

[Minstrel]

Honestly, my faith all begins with Trent Yawney as he really is the difference. When he was with Norfolk, the team's AHL affiliate as you EHMers know he built a really great reputation as a teaching coach that excelled at getting the most out of players. He was, again due to the Hawks overwhelming desire to do things on the cheap, the only AHL coach who didn't have a single assistant coach. He had two part time assistants one of whom was also the Hawks North American scout (yes the only one... ) at the same time while the other was a glorified trainer/conditioning coach. So he pretty much ran the thing from top to bottom and if the Hawks hadn't given him the full-time gig when they did someone else would have.

So, this is a young core of players that believe in Trent and he believes in them. Some of them he's been working with for four or five years now so that's a bonus. Both Kyle Calder and Mark Bell credit their successes to Yawney teaching them how to be pros and while both are gone now they were called to lead a team of nobodies, washed up filler veterans and kids that should be in the minors, That was their galmorous detail the past few years as the old veteran leaders even though they are only 26 & 27 this year. I won't say either will become the next Johnathan Cheechoo after their respective trades but both will be very valuable to their teams because they play the game right and have a great work ethic due to solid coaching.

The bright spots of last year were Seabrook and Keith taking the official steps to become real NHL defensemen and that wouldn't have happened without Yawney. The Hawks have had all manner of young talent wasted and ground into submission in the past decades and their drafts have been hideous. The team has also always tried to "fake" a rebuilding effort but could never resist clogging the lineup with overpaid pointless veterans that got preferential treatment. They often cost the team in both player development, taking away opportunities as well as taking away players and prospects that went elsewhere to bring these gems in. Look no further than seeing names like Gary Valk and Igor Korolev at Forward and Alexander Karpovtsev and Boris Mironov on D for that one. Yes, both Valk AND Korolev played as replacements of Amonte and/or Sullivan on top line over a young healthy Tuomo Ruutu for example.

While nothing can be done about the scourge that is Martin LePaycheque the team did buy out Barnaby and Brown and young players are taking those slots now instead. They brought in real centers who can also kill penalties and this is the first time I've seen a team obviously "on the same page" since the 80s. Everyone earned their slots and knows their roles. I have no idea what the results will be but there are enough positives with this team right now to have covered any three prior Hawk squads and it's mainly because they've finally put faith in their young talent, and gotten a coach that knows how to do more than turn everyone into a mucker and grinder. There is a real accountability, get what you earn mentality here now instead fo the BS that has plagued the team for years.

Also, this team may even get better as the season goes on instead of worse which would be a refreshing change. They're still the Hawks of course and still have a low talent level comparatively and yes they are still run by the worst ownership in all of professional sport but at least they seem to be doing most things right instead of everything not just wrong but backwards so I expect them to be a better than average team that suprises a lot of people and are fun to watch.

[batdad]

All that being said, our lovely radio pundits in this city have predicted the first coach to lose his job will be Yawney. Maybe it will be like in my EHM game, where Yawney gets fired and is immediately hired by me as Vancouver Canuck assistant. Let it be known that the GM here in EHM is ready to pull the trigger on Alain attributes really suck Vigneault if the Nucks do not win the Stanley Cup.

[Minstrel]

Two interesting things gleened from early coverage (gahdblessh NHL Center Ice!)...

In Los Angeles Dan Cloutier looks to be physically ready to go and has been working very hard with Goalie coach Bill Ranford as well as getting input from front office member Ron Hextall both of whom put forth an ultimatum to Cloutier to finally leave the bucket helmet behind as well as ditching Cloutier's tendancy to get to high above his crease looking to interfere with opposing skaters as they come in which could both help him to remain helthy as LA apparently will count on him as their #1 as they've waived Jason LaBarbera to send him to the AHL.

Also, in Anaheim it appears that JS Giguere has felt the heat from Illya Bryzgalov's playoff performances and worked to fill the holes that were shot in his game by "The New NHL" in the offseason. He's gotten away from beign overly agressive on his angles and positioning that was getting him caught fairly regularly out of position last year. He looked fantastic versus LA in the game I saw, super sharp and super fast like when he carried the Ducks on their 03 playoff run.

Again though in the game in which he made 40+ saves he went down flat on his back as if he's been shot late in the game with a muscle cramp. This has been a serious issue with Giggy in his career as he dehydrates very quickly leading to a lot of cramping issues. He actually has holes drilled in the bottoms of his skates to allow sweat to drain through... but from a guy who was thought to have lost his status as a #1 'tender and even rumored to be close to falling out of the league this is an interesting change of fortune it would seem and it will be interesting to watch how the net duties get split up in Anaheim.

Mark Denis is out of Columbus because the team believes that young Pascal LeClaire can hand the full time duties for them. From seeing him last night (even with the big comeback that eventually saw them lose the game) I have to agree this kid has got it. He's not exactly "come out of nowhere" as he got a lot of time especially late last year and proved himself worthy at least of the shot this year. He doesn't have much of a defense in front of him especially with Bryan Berard out with back injury but he looks very confident and super-technical and fast, reminding me of Jose Theodore and the previously mentioned JS Giguere who gained notice due to their uncanny quickness. His stats may not be great this year but if you get a chance to watch him you'll see he has that ability to keep his team in the game.

[keithv]

What's going on in Montreal? Is Huet injured or is Carbo platooning the two?

[Minstrel]

Here's the report I had on it fromt he Montreal media:

Huet suffered from cramps during the third period and overtime of Friday's game against the Sabres. He will be replaced by David Aebischer, but coach Guy Carbonneau said the cramps are not the reason for the change. Carbonneau believes his team has two strong goalies and wants to take advantage.

A lot of teams had back to back games and have played two goalies early on, including San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim so I wouldn't amke much out of this yet. Huet did look spectacular when he was in there...

[Kekkonen]

Goalie coach Bill Ranford as well as getting input from front office member Ron Hextall both of whom put forth an ultimatum to Cloutier to finally leave the bucket helmet behind

What exactly is wrong with the 'bucket helmet' (we call it 'the Tretiak model' here)? Hasek has used his own peculiar version of it all through his career (and I think Osgood still uses the standard bucket, but that's hardly a recommendation). I have a hard time convincing myself that the standard two-piece head gear allows you a better field of vision -- in fact, I think it's restrictiveness on the field of vision is just the reason Hasek has given for using the strange-looking gear he does.

[Kekkonen]

Minstrel must be happy with Eddie's performance last night... 5 saves on 9 shots for an impressive .556 save percentage. Which, incidentally, makes me wonder what the 'default rate' for save percentage is -- at what point do you start suspecting that the goalie actually tries to duck shots?

[Minstrel]

The "bucket" leaves goaltenders more prone to injury; especially concussion and neck/throat issues as the accompanying hanging plexigalss piece can shift out of position easily leaving the throat open to being hit with pucks and sticks which actually has happened to both Osgood and Cloutier in the past.

As for the concussion matter the molded masks deflect/dissipate strikes better so that the blows are dampened while Cloutier said he often got cuts and bruises around his eyes from being struck in the cage/helmet. I knew they were better for lessenign the damage of hits to the masks but I didn't know about the cuts and bruises part actually.

I'm sure that in Florida this exactly what they need Eddie Belfour, backup goalie... but it's pretty obvious that's the situation now. What is it about Eddie that makes GMs do stupid things in his regard time after time? Over the lockout and last year the Leafs paid him like 7 or 9 million to play I think it was like 30ish games... I can't remember the details now but it was the world's dumbest contract and yet just like I said in the first post of the thread before he was signed that he was just waiting to see who his next victim will be.

[Kekkonen]

OK, thanks for the info. I've often thought that the modern-style masks look like they were designed to deflect a puck that hits it e.g. at the temple area. The design is not unlike that of some protective military gear.