Re: 2009 Chicago Blackhawks

[Magnetic Curses]

the isles' 40 year old journeyman did just fine last night. but that's anecdotal.

 

One game proves everything, amirite?

 

you're the one that brought anecdotal evidence into the argument. they're fair game, now.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

you're the one that brought anecdotal evidence into the argument. they're fair game, now.

 

You crack me up.

[Magnetic Curses]

you're the one that brought anecdotal evidence into the argument. they're fair game, now.

 

You crack me up.

 

good, because it was my attempt at humor

[Flames24Rulz]

both are fine backups, neither is a full-time starter.

 

Huet is absolutely a starter in this league, and it's not close. There aren't two dozen better goalies in the league right now.

 

He may not be the ideal starter for a Cup contender, and he may be overpaid, but he's definitely a No. 1 somewhere in the league.

 

I wouldn't say "it's not close", but otherwise I agree. Huet is a starter on quite a few teams in this league. He's just not a starter for a team that's trying to win a Cup.

[jersey cubs fan]

All the goalie talk aside, that was a really uninspiring effort from the Blackhawks last night. They looked slow and tired, even the non-Olympians. There was about 10 minutes of mostly dominance and then they went to sleep.

[Soul]

All the goalie talk aside, that was a really uninspiring effort from the Blackhawks last night. They looked slow and tired, even the non-Olympians. There was about 10 minutes of mostly dominance and then they went to sleep.

 

Yeah. I went to work out last night and they were winning 2-1. I came out and they were down 5-2.

 

That didn't sound too much like the Blackhawks I'm used to. Also -- hasn't it been forever since we've beaten the Islanders? Strange that they would be the team we can never beat, if that's true (can't remember where I saw that).

[cubsfan]

both are fine backups, neither is a full-time starter.

 

Huet is absolutely a starter in this league, and it's not close. There aren't two dozen better goalies in the league right now.

 

He may not be the ideal starter for a Cup contender, and he may be overpaid, but he's definitely a No. 1 somewhere in the league.

According to his save percentage, he is 32nd out of 45 qualified goalies, on by all accounts a good defensive team.

[Magnetic Curses]

both are fine backups, neither is a full-time starter.

 

Huet is absolutely a starter in this league, and it's not close. There aren't two dozen better goalies in the league right now.

 

He may not be the ideal starter for a Cup contender, and he may be overpaid, but he's definitely a No. 1 somewhere in the league.

According to his save percentage, he is 32nd out of 45 qualified goalies, on by all accounts a good defensive team.

 

and that's assuming the quality of shots they see are equal, which they aren't.

[Soul]

both are fine backups, neither is a full-time starter.

 

Huet is absolutely a starter in this league, and it's not close. There aren't two dozen better goalies in the league right now.

 

He may not be the ideal starter for a Cup contender, and he may be overpaid, but he's definitely a No. 1 somewhere in the league.

According to his save percentage, he is 32nd out of 45 qualified goalies, on by all accounts a good defensive team.

 

and that's assuming the quality of shots they see are equal, which they aren't.

 

I think the best we see from Huet is when he's playing regularly. I could be wrong statistically, but I feel like when he comes in cold there's just going to be goals scored. If he's playing regularly, he can get hot.

 

Seeing Niemi look less sharp (even when we were winning), I'm starting to think now that we just need to play Huet and hope he gets hot.

[Garwilly]

14 minutes until the deadline

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Bowman just announced Huet is staying put, which presumably means no goalie deal and nothing substantial at all.

 

The die is cast.

[Soul]

So now the question is, how does Quenneville play this?

 

He can give Niemi more time, see if he develops more in time for the playoffs.

 

Or he can punt, say it's too close to playoff time and we need Huet playing, and switch back.

 

 

Either way, the talk about the Blackhawks going into the playoffs will certainly be whether the goaltending can hold up.

[jersey cubs fan]

So now the question is, how does Quenneville play this?

 

He can give Niemi more time, see if he develops more in time for the playoffs.

 

Or he can punt, say it's too close to playoff time and we need Huet playing, and switch back.

 

 

Either way, the talk about the Blackhawks going into the playoffs will certainly be whether the goaltending can hold up.

 

Niemi has been given a chance on multiple occasions this year, and each time it looked like he might be the guy, he stumbled. I say go back to Huet now, let Niemi get in some action and basically make it Huet's job to lose.

[NewUserName]

ok, I am going to kind of agree with Kyle on a hockey subject. Goalies tend to be fickle creatures. I think it is just as likely that someone like Huet gets on a streak and helps carry the Hawks to the cup as several other goalies who have in the past.

 

This is getting way ahead here, but I also think Hawk fans need to be careful in not just blaming everything on goaltending, especially in the play-offs.

[17 Seconds]

wasted season

[sherwood921]

Headed to the game tonight - here's hoping Huet gets a roaring applause seen as our best bet is having him confident the rest of the year.

 

Of course, I'm sure he'll be boo'd.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

This team is plenty good enough to beat any team in the Western Conference even with Huet on a cold streak. Khabibulin had some awful games in the playoffs last year.

 

And Huet is perfectly capable of going on a hot streak. It'd be nice to not have to hope for that, but the "season over" garbage is just that.

[17 Seconds]

i'm only half serious with the "wasted season" stuff, but there's a very good chance it's true.

 

last 10 stanley cup goalies

 

Fleury

Osgood

Giguere

Ward

Khabibulin

Brodeur

Hasek

Roy

Brodeur

Belfour

 

pretty much all of those guys are in another league than huet, with the exception of maybe osgood (although osgood was pretty good that year). goaltending is far and away the most important position in the playoffs.

 

now, of course it's possible for any goalie to win the stanley cup. but kyle specifically is making it seem like huet could take the hawks to the cup and it wouldn't really be a huge surprise. if that's true, then there would be more scrub goalies like huet with their names on the stanley cup.

 

that list is pretty telling. to me, this "well huet can get hot blah blah" stuff is not far off from "well the cards won 83 games and won the world series so..." stuff. is it possible? of course. but relying on that is pretty weak, because it's highly unlikely.

 

so yeah, i think there's pretty good reason to feel like our lack of a goalie might make this end up being a wasted season.

[jersey cubs fan]

that list is pretty telling. to me, this "well huet can get hot blah blah" stuff is not far off from "well the cards won 83 games and won the world series so..." stuff. is it possible? of course. but relying on that is pretty weak, because it's highly unlikely.

 

so yeah, i think there's pretty good reason to feel like our lack of a goalie might make this end up being a wasted season.

 

Except the 83 win cards normally wouldn't even make a playoffs, and the Blackhawks are one of the best teams in the league. Even if they fail to win the cup it won't necessarily be a wasted season. The core would still be intact and young. If they flame out in the first or second round, sure, have at it. But making it to the western conference finals would still be an accomplishment worth enjoying this year.

[17 Seconds]

you know what i mean when i say wasted season. if we have a roster this great, but we end up falling short because of the lack of a goalie, how is that not a wasted season?

 

also, with the cap issues... this year is the best rosxter we're going to have. obviously we're stuill going to be good, but this is the year with the best chance.

 

and i don't agree that making it to the western conference finals this year is any kind of accomplishment. we did that last year and we're a much better team this year. a championship is the goal right now, nothing else.

 

if we end up as the 1 or 2 seed and flame out in the playoffs and it's due to bad goaltending, you really wouldn't call it a wasted season?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

last 10 stanley cup goalies

 

Osgood

Giguere

Ward

Khabibulin

 

There's a lot of mediocrity right there. The myth that you have to have a great goalie to win the Stanley Cup comes from the fact that a mediocre goalie who wins the Cup is automatically considered great for having won it.

 

Those four guys I cut out above all have career save percentages lower than Huet's .915. Fleury does too, actually.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

if we end up as the 1 or 2 seed and flame out in the playoffs and it's due to bad goaltending, you really wouldn't call it a wasted season?

 

If that happens, absolutely. But it hasn't happened yet.

[17 Seconds]

last 10 stanley cup goalies

 

Osgood

Giguere

Ward

Khabibulin

 

There's a lot of mediocrity right there. The myth that you have to have a great goalie to win the Stanley Cup comes from the fact that a mediocre goalie who wins the Cup is automatically considered great for having won it.

 

Those four guys I cut out above all have career save percentages lower than Huet's .915. Fleury does too, actually.

 

save percentage of those players the year they won the cup (we're talking aobut how good they were when they won the cup, not how good their careers were):

 

Fleury- .912

Osgood0 .914

Giguere- .918

Ward- .882

Khabibulin- .910

Brodeur- .914

Hasek- .915

Roy- .913

Brodeur- .910

Belfour- .915

 

huet this year- .902

 

the only guy under .910 was ward, and he was 21 and a rookie at the time so the .882 wasn't really a true indicator of how good he was (although i dont think he's very good anyways)

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I guess then it comes down to if you think Huet is going to play as badly as he has so far the rest of the season. I think he's at the low end of a slump and you'll see those numbers improve in the final 20 games and the playoffs.

[17 Seconds]

i hope you're right

 

do you think q should go back to huet over niemi now?