Aebischer the New Number 1?
After a tremendous performance against the Toronto Maple Leafs that resulted in a shootout victory for the Montreal Canadiens, it appears the team will ride the wave of good goaltending to their next game against the Philadelphia Flyers. As a result, number 1 goalie Cristobal Huet will sit and watch at least for now until Aebischer starts to falter.
Huet struggled in the pre-season with a GAA over 5.00 and a save percentage hovering around .800. He was not good in the first game of the year against Buffalo, allowing 2 late goals to bring the Sabres back into the game and eventually losing it in the shootout. The 31 year old Frenchman has not lived up to the big contract he received this past summer.
Though Huet starred in the 2nd half last season, eventually beating out incumbent Jose Theodore for the number 1 job, his tremendous play has not carried over this year. There were some concerns that perhaps Huet was a flash in the pan. 39 games as a starter do not make you a bonafide one. Hopefully for the Habs he can get his game back as he is a necessary component for any playoff hopes the team has.
It is encouraging that Aebischer began the season well as it may very well be the case the team needs both goalies in top form to compete. Aebischer is a proven starter but one who has failed to deliver the goods in the playoffs.
The Habs may be hard pressed to score goals. They do not have much depth scoring wise at centre unless Tomas Plekanec can start producing. He is a converted winger and may not be suited to centre the 2nd line. Outside of Captain Saku Koivu there are not many good options up the middle. GM Bob Gainey has been criticized by this and did not solve the problem trading away Mike Ribiero. He did however improve the dressing room and character 10 fold getting rid of Ribby and the last link to the 2 amigos (Him, Theo, Dagger).
The team packs some skill to go with tremendous speed. They should have enough to generate plenty of scoring chances and be dangerous off the rush. It was a sound move on their part to improve the D with Janne Niinimaa and now have the depth back there the team has lacked in previous years (when Brisebois was one of their top guys).
So the team is going to need top goaltending and if they are not going to get it from Huet, Aebischer will need to step up. So far so good for Montreal.