Four battles for No. 1 goaltending spot

James Reimer.

Several NHL clubs are going to have interesting starting goalie battles to watch this upcoming season.
Here are a few teams that have a tough decision to make when it comes to picking their starting goaltender:
New Jersey Devils: Martin Brodeur and Cory Schneider
Ever since the 1993-94 season, Martin Brodeur has owned the net in New Jersey for the Devils.
Brodeur’s, 41, statistics speak for themselves (669-380-105-43, 2.23 GAA, .913 save percentage, and 121 shutouts) and no matter what happens in the upcoming season he will go down as one of, if not the best, goaltender in NHL history. He has been the team’s starter in almost every single year of his career and deservedly so.

Though, things will be much different going into the upcoming campaign. The Devils now have 27-year-old Cory Schenider, a goaltender that has shown that he can be a starter and that when giving ample amounts of playing time, can be one of the best goaltenders in the league.

Expect both goaltenders to be in tip top shape come training camp, which will give head coach Pete DeBoer a lot to think about.
Anaheim Ducks: Jonas Hiller and Viktor Fasth
The Ducks are very lucky to have two extremely talented goaltenders who are both relatively young and have a lot to offer when it comes to being a starter for this hockey club.
At 31 years of age, Hiller has had several good seasons for the Ducks and is someone that can play a lot of games and win a lot of games when he is healthy. He was very good last season in going 15-6-4 with a 2.36 GAA, a .913 save percentage and one shutout and played well in losing a seven-game series to the Detroit Red Wings.

The club also has 30-year-old netminder Fasth, who got off to an 8-0 start this past season as a rookie and finished the season by going 15-6-2 with a 2.18 GAA, .921 save percentage and four shutouts.

The battle for the starting job might not be decided until a few months into the season but whether it is Hiller or Fasth, the Ducks cannot go wrong between the pipes.
Toronto Maple Leafs: James Reimer and Jonathan Bernier
It’s been about nine years since the Toronto Maple Leafs had a true number one between the pipes and that was Hall of Famer Eddie Belfour.
Reimer and Bernier have a ton of potential and both will be looked at when it comes to the starting goaltending position. Reimer, 25, showed a lot this past season in leading the Leafs to the playoffs for the first time since 2004 in going 19-8-5 with a 2.46 GAA, a.924 save percentage and four shutouts.

Reimer figured he had the number one job sown up going into the upcoming season but unfortunately for Reimer, the Leafs acquired Bernier. Bernier, 24, spent the last three seasons behind Jonathan Quick but when he did get to play, he showed that he is more than capable of winning hockey games and that he has the potential to be a number one goaltender in this league.

It will be interesting to see which direction Leafs’ head coach Randy Carlyle goes in but with Reimer and Bernier, Leafs’ fans should be content in knowing that they have two solid young netminders that are not even close to their ceiling yet.
Phildelphia Flyers: Ray Emery and Steve Mason
If you are a Flyers’ fan or just follow hockey in general, than you know that Philadelphia is a graveyard when it comes to goaltenders.
Going into this season, however, it appears that the Flyers have two capable number one goaltenders. The team went out and signed Emery, 32, who had success before as a starter with the Senators and Flyers and who is coming off a terrific year in Chicago in which he went 17-1 with a 1.94 GAA, a .922 save percentage and three shutouts.

On the other hand, the team also now has Mason. The 25-year-old who struggled mightily after winning the Calder Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year in 2009, seemed to find his game after being traded to the Flyers near the end of last season as he went 4-2 in seven games with a 1.90 GAA and a .940 save percentage.

This will probably be a battle between the two for the first two months of the season before team head coach Peter Laviolette has the confidence in one of them to be their starter.

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