Chuq's been on my case to start up the goalie handicapping postings I've been doing for the past few years on the Sharks mailing list we run. That will start "real soon now", since I hope my schedule will be only mildly insane.
Right now, let's take a 30K ft look at the goaltending in the Western Conference.
Okay, you can stop looking now.
I'm beginning to see glimmers of hope from what had started to look like a pretty splah season in the west
The current top team in the west are the Canucks, the Red Wings, and the Stars. No big surprises here, and the only story is when Cujo is going to get traded from the Red Wings to a team in the Eastern Conference who needs to have a goalie to push them over the top.
Hasek is back, and Detroit has him. What else do you need to know? In pre-season, Hasek looked like he could have used a couple more weeks of warm up, but when the season started, he was there. He's sporting a 2.00 GAA and a .914 save percentage. And he's still showing that he has a Slinky for a spine. Hasek comes into the season with (my guess) 8-10% body fat, and it always amazes me that he doesn't completely wear out during the season. Give credit to genetics, training, and his backup, Manny Legace.
If I were in a fantasy league, and needed to pick a backup goalie, Legace would be the one. He's going to play 15 games ( at least) this season, and Detroit doesn't have to hold its collective breath when they put him in. How many teams can say that? Legace has the right attitude to be a backup--he's ready to go in when needed, and he doesn't have any aspirations to be the #1 goalie in Detroit. Since he plays a significantly different style than Hasek, he's the perfect complement in the duo. The only way these two aren't going to keep Detroit in the running for the cup is if Detroit decides to get very old very fast.
Dallas belongs to Marty Turco--all he has to do is come up with a performance that's close to what he did last year. Turco's an interesting combination of steady and passionate--he's a known quantity in goal, but he's also known to be intense as well as cranky.
Turco's save percentage is currently below .9, and that's due to one stinker in Detroit. Other than that, his GAA and SV% have paired nicely. If Dallas is going to insist on keeping the shots on goal down, that's going to cut down on wear and tear on Turco, which is good, given his late season injury. I think that he wasn't anywhere near 100% when he came back for the playoffs, and rather than spectacular, he was just very, very good. And against the Ducks at that time, it wasn't good enough. Turco's not huge, so he's going to rely on positional play to keep the pucks out of the net. However, he can rely on pure athleticism, and go to the ice with the best of them. And unlike a lot of the larger goalies, the cutdown in pad height isn't going to affect him.
Turco's partner in goal for the second season is Ron Tugnutt. Tugnutt has watched a bunch of his contemporaries sail off (or be pushed off) into the sunset, and he's still ticking along. Tugnutt's major problem in the past was ability to keep his weight and stamina up--he comes into camp lighter than his "official" weight, and it goes down from there. During his time at Columbus and earlier in Ottawa, a number of pundit felt he had dropped below 150 lbs, which left without any reserves, much less strength to play goal. Like Legace, he can come in any point during the season--he did the job while Turco was down last Spring--and do the job. What he can't do is three games in a row. Let him play 15 games a season, and Dallas will be in the running for the Jennings.
In Vancouver, Cloutier and Hedberg will be sharing duties this season. While Cloutier is currently the go-to guy, don't be surprised if Hedberg sneaks into the #1 slot by the end of the season. Cloutier shows that playing with emotion is a double-edged sword-he's going to be into the game, but he's done some amazingly stupid things--I was watching the Van/Phx game, and Cloutier was insisting on taking on Sean Burke at the 20 minute mark of the third period--and he needs to stop channeling Billy Smith and get that energy focused on goaltending. Cloutier's too streaky, and can get into funks that are killers. And he's usually good for one orthopedic injury a season.
Hedberg, on the other hand, is Mr Rock-Steady, especially compared to Cloutier. He has a good work attitude, and right now what he needs to work on is gettng past the "no one has seen the game tapes" scenario that he hit last year. That, and playing for a truly abysmal team in Pittsburgh. Remember--Pittsburgh is the same organization that told Patrick Lalime to take a hike after he pulled them out of the doldrums. I'm sure Ottawa sends flowers every Valentime's Day. Hedberg's got a good style--he just needs it to be refined.
If Vancouver keeps up the goalie coaching with Hedberg, they're going to have a one-two punch that's going to surprise the league.