HabsCast Hockey Blog

Uploaded on September 22, 2006 (flickr.com)
by David Giral

Entering the second season of the “new” NHL, many questions have been asked as to who will be the number one in many cities. Teams like: Montreal, Anaheim, San Jose, Ottawa, etc., all had issues when it came to the question: Who will be the starting goaltender? Many of these teams decided to go with splitting the games up and seeing who would get hot and earn the position of the number one goaltender for their respected team.

To many, at the beginning of the season, Andrew Raycroft was already the #1 in Toronto. He had never even played a game for the Leafs and was highly appraised after being a third string goalie last season for the Boston Bruins (Hmm…So you put all your faith into a guy who absolutely stunk up the joint last season and automatically give him the start? No wonder the Maple Leafs are where they are now.) I’m not saying J.S. Aubin is a number one goaltender – in fact, I don’t think either of them are, but hey I wonder how he felt after going undefeated last season in regulation after taking over from Tellqvist after he got shelled 2 games in a row at the Bell Centre.

But enough about the Leafs. Let’s look at the upside of the two goalie system. It honestly provides healthy competition between two goaltenders because they know that job is on the line and if they don’t play well they are going to be the bench warmer. I really love what it has done for our team. Carbonneau was very fair at the beginning of the season platooning both goaltenders 2 games a piece for about the first 6 weeks of the season, and during October Huet was shaky/average and Aebischer played exceptionally well. But then from November to now, Huet has been the one who has been playing better and therefore has been starting more games. I am a fan of this system. Yes, I know we have Jaroslav Halak and Yann Danis who are great prospects right now, but are they someone you want in the playoffs in case the Cristowall gets injured???

Aebischer is a good goalie and I think he should get a start every back to back game, and after every 4 or 5 games to keep Huet rested. This would keep Aebischer sharp and not rusty sitting on a stool all the time. I’m more of a fan of keeping Aebischer as a backup if he wants to stay here for the 2M range because injuries always happen and we have enough goalie prospects. Trading one of them away would not impact us much with what we have now.

As I have stated before, many teams are incorporating this split time, going with the hot goalie system and right now it looks like its working. San Jose is up in the standings, as is Anaheim and Montreal. The main thing to remember is when a number one goalie has a backup, who he believes can’t take his job; he probably takes it easier knowing the job is safe. I mean come on look at Theodore and Huet. But when a goalie knows the guy on the bench can play up to or close to his standards and has a damn good chance to steal the job, he’s going to be playing his best to get the next start.

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