Hockey home

It seems now more than ever there are multiple goaltending controversies around the league. With more teams carrying two capable (and often equally skilled) netminders instead of the more typical starter and backup,  unwanted frustration has been placed upon us poolies. With goalies at such a premium in basically every fantasy hockey format, it is essential to have at least two capable starters. Chances are you were rewarded if you took a late round flier on Pekka Rinne or Jonas Hiller last year. How will the goalie controversies facing several NHL clubs play out in 2009-10? Who will win out?

In just three frenzied days of action, five goalies have walked away with two-game winning streaks, including Craig Anderson, Miikka Kiprusoff, Ray Emery, Marc-Andre Fleury and Carey Price. And unless you watched all 23 games so far, you probably resorted to box scores and recaps to see how your goalies fared. But since they don’t tell the whole story on a goalie’s performance, you might be wondering where to go from here.

In lieu of a lengthy analysis this week, I chose to post up a few thoughts (quick hits, if you will) of mine on the day that the puck FINALLY drops on the 2009-10 season!

It’s probably fitting that Marion Gaborik was born on February 14^th.

Like St. Valentine’s Day, he is a player that many love, but many others only love to hate him. Talented but fragile, Gaborik is a frustrating fantasy player, but as a collective, we poolies can’t ever seem to breakup with him permanently – even if the relationship is obviously unhealthy.

Thanks to some great pre-season coverage by the NHL Network over the last week, I was able decipher a handful of goalies that are already heating up for a red-hot start to the regular season. Although these exhibition games were meaningless in the standings and filled with prospects and rusty veterans, things like positioning, body movement and rebound control still reveal a lot when it comes to how a goalie might start the regular season.