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Elliotte Friedman’s weekly 30 Thoughts column on the CBC website is currently the best read in hockey. Friedman is insightful, articulate, knowledgeable, fair, and most importantly, interesting. He has sources and contacts in the hockey world that most could only dream of. He has an ability which is rare in this day and age - providing a balanced and reasonable opinion on the league, the players, and all 30 of the clubs.

Each week I will post my own observations (I couldn’t completely steal Friedman’s idea so I’ll pick a number other than 30) – with a heavy emphasis on the fantasy side of hockey, of course. Prospects, goalies, sleepers, busts, it will all be covered each week.

The keen fantasy manager cares little about who currently dominates the crease. Instead, they care more about who is going to dominate next. Whether you’re molding a keeper team for future seasons or simply taking mental notes for next year’s draft, you gain more wisdom by knowing which goalies are making solid strides today in order to build a foundation for a better tomorrow.

At this stage of the season, you should have plenty of well-defined opinions regarding the fantasy value of goalies like Michal Neuvirth, Ondrej Pavelec, Tuukka Rask, Jimmy Howard and Jonathan Quick. If you don’t, or you still have specific questions regarding any goalie, you can always toss me a question in the weekly fantasy goalie mailbag.

As the man with the most wins and the most shutouts in history, Martin Brodeur is often talked about as the best goaltender ever.

But Darcy Norman, author of Hockeynomics, emphatically disagrees.

Upon the horizon and around the corner, under the surface and out of thin air, they’re coming in waves and I don’t know from where. A backup here, an emergency recall there, you just simply can’t prepare for when a fantasy sleeper will appear. The key is to remember that anything is possible when the stars are aligned and a goalie quickly gets comfortable.