Pacific Division Goalie Preview
Anaheim-Anaheim has a luxury of some sorts. They have 2 quality goalies in Bryzgalov and Giguere. Both are solid and have similar strengts. They are both positionally based goalies and play the angles well. Both are not fashy, but can make the big saves when needed. However, bothare questionable for the same reasons as well. Giguere has been streaky at times and has often had one good month followed by a bad one. Bryzgalov has proven that he can play under pressure in the playoffs, but has yet to show that he can take the full rigor of the regular season. They should split the time this year depending on who is playing better at the time, but it really doesn’t matter who is in goal since the ducks have Pronger and Neidermayer.
Dallas- Turco struggled last year, but because he had a solid defence in front of him he still won, at least until the playoffs. He is a member of a dying bread of reaction goaltenders, goalies who play more off of reflexes and diving around and less off of positioning. With Hedberg out of the system, the Stars will have to play a rookie as a backup, with it being either Stephan, Smith, or Ellis. Right now it looks like Smith will be the backup, as he has played well in the preseason. Either way, the backup wont play much with Turco, even though he has struggled.
Los Angeles- The Kings have a better goalie in Coutier than any of the goalies that they had last season. He was solid in Vancover and the only question mark here is how will he recover from that major injury. Labarbara played well in the begining of last year and struggled after and Garon proved that he will never be a starter again, though he is a capable backup. With all of the improvements that the kings made this offseason, and with Coutier in net, they stand a good shot at making the playoffs.
Phoenix- Joseph will be the number one, and he has proved that he can still play the game. He had a solid campaign last year and it will only be better this year since the team defense has mtured and become more experienced, as well as upgraded in the offseason. The backup will be Morrison, who started well last year with the Oilers but then struggled once Markanen came back from injury. Behind him is Lenevue, who is expected to be the heir apparent for Joseph, but will spend time in the AHL to continue development and get more playing time.
San Jose- This is a team that is so stacked in goal that Kiprusoff was a 3rd string. Toskala is a quality talent and Nabokov had an off season but is still encredibly skilled. Behind those two, who will be battling eachother for the starting job, is Shaefer, who was amaizing in his stint in the bigs having a gaa of 1.88 and a sv% of .92, Greiss, who is a supreme talent and has excelled in the DEL, Patzold, who has played relatively well in the AHL, and Dakers, who has been spectacular in the WHL. They can easily trade one or two goalies in their system and still be set for a while. Depth this solid is hard to come by, and the Sharks are the best at drafting goalies. Nabokov was taken in the 9th round. This team will have great goaltending for years to come.