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I often find myself frustrated and confused by many of the coaching decisions related to starting certain goaltenders. It would help if I had more insight on every coach’s motives and decision-making process, or if I had more access to their pre and post-game comments, but I don’t. Nevertheless, there are too many others that still leave me perplexed.

I’ll use Toronto as my main example, where Ron Wilson has been splitting minutes in an aggravating fashion since March started. J-S Giguere was extremely rusty in a 5-1 loss to Carolina, but started the next game two days later (March 4) and rebounded well, but still dropped a 2-1 contest to the Bruins. Jonas Gustavsson got the call two nights later, and in the first game of a back-to-back, made 22 saves for a 2-1 victory over Ottawa.

As of next Monday, there will be four weeks left in the NHL regular season. And during those final four weeks, we will be running some contests here at DobberHockey. Each week, there will be a list of players provided with a specific scoring system. The entrant with the most points at the end of each week will receive an autographed 8x10 photo (Ribeiro, Sullivan, Boyes, or Spezza). To reward our loyal DobberHockey members, those with over 1000 posts on the forums will be given a slight advantage. However, if you make a shrewd selection, it won’t matter if your post count is low.

Nikolai Kulemin made himself a household name in Russia in 2006-07 when he captured the  Russian Super League (now known as the KHL) MVP title. The Maple Leafs used their second-round draft pick in 2006 on Kulemin, and he made their scouts look very smart with his title-winning campaign. He notched 27 regular season goals in 2006-07 (10 more than anyone else on his team, Metallurg Magnitogorsk), and added 10 more in 15 playoff contests. That Magnitogorsk team had only three players hit double digits in goals, making Kulemin’s 27 goals all the more impressive. He finished his career in Magnitogorsk with a 21 goal season in 2007-08, deciding after that to make the move across the water to the NHL. Kulemin has yet to display the offensive skills that made him a star in Russia on a consistent basis for the Leafs, but the flashes of brilliance have been there.

Remember back in October when I broke down the issues goalies were having with intense traffic in front, numerous deflections and re-directions? Well, after the first week back from the Olympics, I can safely say we’ve witnessed an exact replica of what transpired in the first month of the season.

We’re literally back at square one. It’s déjà vu all over again, and not just with the goaltending. Hits to the head are also a hot issue, so with the GM Meetings taking place this week, it looks like changes are certainly on their way.