You may not need a star goaltender to win a Stanley Cup, but you can't argue the value of depth.
The Montreal Canadiens rank No. 5 overall in goals-against average.
You think the Habs are concerned with their goaltending heading into the second half of the season given Carey Price's remarkable rebound after losing his starter's job to Jaroslav Halak last season? Of course not.
If we learned anything from last year's Stanley Cup playoffs, it is that you don't need a stud between the pipes to win the championship. You'll recall the Chicago Blackhawks won the Cup riding risky rookie Antti Niemi whom they showed the door not long afterwards. In fact you could make the case Halak offered up one of the best goaltending performances of the post-season and not only did the Canadiens fail to make it to the final, he was traded in the off-season to St. Louis. Thanks for nothing.
What is interesting is the Blackhawks finished fifth in G.A.A. last season, exactly where the Canadiens stand today. Does that make the Habs the No. 1 choice to win the Cup this year? Uh, no.
It makes you wonder though; exactly what role does goaltending play in deciding the Stanley Cup winner. Is too much importance placed on goaltending?
Well, if you ask the Vancouver Canucks, who are currently No. 1 in G.A.A. in the NHL, they'd probably say it is huge. That's because with Cory Schneider emerging as a capable backup to Roberto Luongo, Canucks fans are breathing easier these days. For as much as Luongo has been ranked as a prime NHL stopper throughout his 10-year career, there remains lingering doubts about his ability to carry a team through four grueling rounds of the post-season. With Schneider playing as well as he has thus far, perhaps Luongo won't have to.
How many other contending teams are happy with their stoppers? You could argue few have as good a 1-2 punch as Vancouver, but I doubt many spend too much time lying awake at night worrying about the goaltending.
The Philadelphia Flyers have been thoroughly impressed with rookie Sergei Bobrovsky to the point that they sent last year's playoff hero, Michael Leighton, to the minors. With a 10-5-2 record, veteran Brian Boucher has also been satisfactory as the team's backup. The Flyers only rank 11th overall in G.A.A. but it's unlikely that GM Paul Holmgren will be looking for an upgrade at the trade deadline.
After a slow start to the year, Marc-Andre Fleury is back to being the goalie who took the Pittsburgh Penguins to one Stanley Cup final and then won the Cup the following year. Brent Johnson showed he could carry the load early when Fleury struggled.
The injury-riddled Detroit Red Wings rank 18th in G.A.A., but when they get healthy, having Jimmy Howard as the starter and Chris Osgood as the backup heading into the playoffs will be palatable.
The New York Rangers are starting to turn heads in what has been a very good season, thanks in large part (as usual) to King Henrik. Henrik Lundqvist and his backup, Martin Biron, have been very good playing behind a young defence and a very hard-working group of forwards who have responded to coach John Tortorella's teachings.
Even though the Washington Capitals have yet to click on all cylinders, many still believe they will be a huge factor in the playoffs. The question is, can youngsters Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth get the job done in net? Based on what we saw from Chicago and Niemi last season, the answer should be yes.
The Dallas Stars have been one of the NHL's surprise teams this season and a big reason has been their goaltending tandem of Kari Lehtonen and Andrew Raycroft. Lehtonen is finally living up to advanced billing, albeit years after he was supposed to raise the Atlanta Thrashers to great heights, and Raycroft has revived his floundering career. Are the Stars real Cup contenders? That is debatable, but if their goaltending continues to be this good, they may well be.
The biggest question mark in net among Cup contenders is in Tampa Bay. After it became painfully obvious Dan Ellis and Mike Smith were not going to lead the upstart Lightning to glory, rookie GM Steve Yzerman acquired veteran and 41-year-old Dwayne Roloson from the Islanders. Roloson quickly rewarded his new boss's faith in him with a 1-0 shutout of the Capitals. But the next game, against Pittsburgh, Roloson was awful. Roloson is 3-1 with the Lightning having beaten Ottawa and shut out the Capitals again. Yzerman will continue to keep his fingers crossed.
If there is a goaltending duo that rivals Vancouver's pair, it would have to be the Boston Bruins. In fact, you might make the case Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask are indeed the NHL's No. 1 pair based on the fact the Bruins rank No. 1 in G.A.A. at 2.16. The Bruins, though, are not leading contenders for the Cup and wouldn't be included in the top group of likely champions.
Another strong duo is Pekka Rinne and Anders Lindbak with the Nashville Predators who currently rank No. 2 in the NHL in G.A.A. at 2.30. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has regularly followed the Predators, a team who always seems to have solid goaltending. The problem is the Preds don't have enough scoring potential to be anything except a team that will once again scratch and claw to make it to the playoffs to most likely lose in the first round.
In spite of the fact goaltending didn't play a huge role in the Blackhawks winning the Cup last season, it will be a huge topic of conversation during the final stretch of the regular season and in the playoffs this year.
Stay tuned.
