Goalie Controversies Are Down

Jim Gunther

2007-09-28

 Giguere

Take a look at the list of NHL teams that had goalie controversies in 2005-06, then 2006-07, and now at the start of the 2007-08 seasons. Are you noticing a trend?  It is true; the tag team tandem of having two goalies sharing/ competing for a bulk of the starts is on a decline.

For fantasy owners this is good news.

 

 

Remember just a few seasons ago (2005-06) the Flyers had a great team. The problem in terms of reaping the benefits (in fantasy hockey) was their goaltending situation. Like many NHL teams that season, they used a tandem of two goalies; Esche and Niittymaki. While they each won a lot of games, fantasy owners were very frustrated trying to figure out who was starting when. This caused headaches and missed opportunities to pick up some fantasy points.

The Flyers were a typical team that season, using two goalies more often, in what they thought was the new open-ice, speedy NHL. At the start of 2006-07 season, many teams started off with the same two goalie tandem philosophy. As the season wore on and teams got to experience a second season under the new rules, coaches started to play one goalie more often. In the end, the number of goalies sharing/competing for starts is down. Here are a few examples:

 

Team

Competing in 2006-07

Clear Starter 2007-08

Anaheim

Giguere and Brygalov

Giguere

San Jose

Toskala and Nabokov

Nabokov

Rangers

Lundqvist and Weeks

Lundqvist

Minnesota

Fernandez and Backstrom

Backstrom

📢 advertisement:

Buffalo

Miller and Biron

Miller

Colorado

Theodore and Budaj

Budaj

Florida

Belfour and Auld

Vokoun

Ottawa

Gerber and Emery

Emery

St. Louis

Sanford and Lalime

Legace

Depending on the size of your league, in years past it was very difficult to get two solid starting goalies unless you drafted them early. With more NHL teams narrowing down to one clear starter, fantasy owners will have a much easier time managing their team and thus compiling the necessary points to compete. You will be less likely have four goalies (two spare) on your fantasy roster, which in turn gives you more flexibility to fill your bench with players in other positions. You may have also noticed this difference in your fantasy league draft. You no longer need to scramble to get two starting goalies right away. A few rounds may have passed by and you were then able to get your second solid starter. 

While not all teams have clear number one starters, the tag-team tandem system decline is evident. Be sure to take advantage of it and adjust your management style accordingly.
 

 

Leave A Comment

UPCOMING GAMES

Jun 17 - 20:06 FLA vs EDM

Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
JAKE WALMAN EDM
ALEXIS LAFRENIERE NYR
SAM REINHART FLA
CONNOR MCDAVID EDM
SAM BENNETT FLA

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
JESPER WALLSTEDT MIN
DUSTIN WOLF CGY
ALEXANDAR GEORGIEV S.J
LUKAS DOSTAL ANA
PHILIPP GRUBAUER SEA

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency CHI Players
24.2 ILYA MIKHEYEV RYAN DONATO CONNOR BEDARD
21.0 JOE VELENO LANDON SLAGGERT LUKAS REICHEL
21.0 TEUVO TERAVAINEN FRANK NAZAR TYLER BERTUZZI

DobberHockey Podcasts

Fantasy Hockey Life: Detroit Red Wings with Max Bultman

Max Bultman of the Athletic is here to report on the Detroit Red Wings. Jesse and Victor interview Max about returning pros Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane, Marco Kasper, JT Compher, Elmer Soderblom, Andrew Copp, Vladimir Tarasenko, Moritz Seider, Simon Edvinsson, Erik Gustafsson, Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon. In Cat’s Instincts, Cat […]

Fantasy Hockey Life: Emma Lingan on the Nashville Predators

Emma Lingan of the Hockey News is here to report on the Nashville Predators. Jesse and Victor interview Emma about returning pros Filip Forsberg, Jonathan Marchessault, Ryan O’Reilly, Steven Stamkos, Luke Evangelista, Michael Bunting, Zachary L’Heureux, Joakim Kemell, Roman Josi, Brady Skjei, Ryan Ufko, Juuse Saros, and Justus Annunen.. In Cat’s Instincts, Cat Silverman of […]

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

📢 advertisement: