Goaltending woes around the NHL two weeks into the 2007-2008 season...

Often, even if your team has ammassed the cream of the crop of superstars on their roster, it may not be enough to win in a new and tough NHL era.

It might be really early, and I know you cannot blame a goalie for how he performs on most nights, but let's take a look at how some goalies are faring around the league almost 2 weeks into the new campaign.

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The Atlanta Thrashers have learned this the hard way, only 5 games into the season their goaltending monster of Kari Lehtonen and Johan Hedberg have combined for a total of 23 goals against and subsequently a zero in the wins column and 5 losses despite Ilya Kovalchuk putting up his usual spectacular goal-scoring fiesta night-in and night-out.

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In Toronto, the Maple Leafs and their fans have had to endure the shaky start of new acquisition Vesa Toskala in the blue and white.
The prized pickup of Leafs GM John Ferguson Jr. this offseason from down in Sunny San Jose currently leads all goaltenders with 18 goals allowed in only 4 games, complimented by a 4.48 GAA and a paltry .878 SPCT%.

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It's the same old story down in Tampa Bay, as the curse of Nikolai Khabibulin lives on.
With 3 wins so far this year, the Lightning have all the offence they need with Vinny Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards to compensate for their lack of a solid starter between the pipes.
The Lightning lost a game last night 6-4 to their counterpart Florida Panthers and you could argue that TB's goaltending is back to its old habits again.
After three strong consecutive performances by Johan Holmqvist in the team's first 3 wins; the Swedish sophomore let 4 goals on 15 shots go right through his body against the Panthers yesterday evening with all of them being considered in your blogger's eyes quite soft.
He was replaced by Marc Denis, originally sought for the starting role 2 summers ago (but that didn't work out either) and nothing out of the ordinary or remotely solid came of him in his 7 shot stint besides one weak goal that killed the momentum Tampa Bay had going after scoring four unanswered goals on Tomas Vokoun that period.

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Manny Fernandez was supposed to be the answer for the Boston Bruins in goal, but Tim Thomas is showing why he should be the number one for the B's.
Two ordinary outings and 10 goals against have people wondering if Fernandez can get back to his previous form from 2 seasons ago with the Wild, the same season which he stole the starter's job from Dwayne Roloson.
Until he decides to play like his salary dictates, the Bruins have all the time in the world to watch Tim Thomas shine for them.
A 1.48 goals against average and a .957 SPCT% puts Thomas in the top 3 in each of those categories to start the season; and I see no reason why Fernandez and his 5.00 GAA should park their butts in Boston's crease as long as the Bear is playing like a superstar.

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Jonathan Bernier had fans salivating after a stunning game against the defending Stanley Cup Champs on Opening Night in the United Kingdom, but the hype has calmed down ever since.
2 games and 11 goals later, the former first round draft choice Bernier is on the bench again and could end up in Manchester pretty soon.
Jason LaBarbera hasn't been any better the rookie Bernier with no wins and a .827 SPCT% to get his NHL career back on track.

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Marc-Andre Fleury, Chris Mason, Miikka Kiprusoff, Martin Brodeur, Robert Luongo and Ryan Miller all need to be better if their teams have a chance at success this year.

Olaf Kolzig, Cam Ward, Nikolai Khabibulin, Manny Legace, Martin Biron and Cristobal Huet are carrying their teams with solid performances night-in and night-out.

Yours truly is a goaltender as well, and is only giving his two cents on this subject...things can change, it's only a few games, but here's how it's looking so far...

-BBeR

Thrashers should go back to Hedberg...

After tuning in to last night's MSG Rangers-Thrashers broadcast transmitted on TSN, I noticed that Kari Lehtonen was in net and I was actually very surprised.

Lehtonen had a paltry Game 1 playoff debut, in which he allowed 4 goals on 38 shots, respectable but what wasn't respectable was the two softies he let in, which ultimately cost him his Game 2 start.

Johan Hedberg, a respected figure in the dressing room and a decent goalie, got the nod from Bob Hartley in Game 2, the last game at the Phillips Arena before Atlanta would head to the Big Apple.

Hedberg ended up having a monster of a game and was unlucky on two un-stoppable goals as the Trashers lost 2-1 and went down 2 games to none in the series.
I actually thought Hedberg played more than a monster of a game...but a HELL OF A GAME!

The guy was phenomenal and it looked as if he was the only one willing to win as the Thrashers put up another less-than-stellar performance for their anxious fans.
Had it not been for him and his acrobatic saves-which have followed him through one end of the continent to the other (and no, not like Hasek, his acrobacy was more systematic if you like), the game would've had a similar ending to last night's horrific and certainly embarrassing 7-0 loss to the Rangers.

I understand Hartley's logic to go back to Lehtonen in Game 3, he's their man, and he thought that his young Finnish netminder had understood the message sent to him once he found out his backup goalie would start Game 2.

He obviously didn't, and it made Hartley look like a total fool for putting him in.
I think his going back to Lehtonen after Hedberg's awesome performance was mainly because he wanted to be perceived well by the media and the fans.
Look, I played Hedberg in Game 2 and he played great, but, I'm going with Lehtonen for Game 3.

He was going through with one of those high-risk decisions, kind of like Guy Carbonneau putting Cristobal Huet in net after missing 2 months for the most important game of the season, so if the gamble was pulled-off succesfully, he would be praised, and if not, end up like Carbonneau.

This Cristobal Huet move backfired and Carbonneau's been getting burned by many ignorant fans, and Hartley is almost certainly being seen the same way.

And I can tell you one thing, if the Thrashers want to salvage that last ray of sunshine, Johan Hedberg better play, otherwise, you know Hartley's just being plain stubborn.

And on top of it all, it's a back-to-back situation, with the Thrashers playing tonight at the MSG after playing 24 hours earlier.

Lehtonen is 0-2 these playoffs with a 7.11 GAA and a .849 SPCT%, kind of worse than last season's version of Marty Turco.
Hedberg is also winless but with a 2.04 GAA and a .949 SPCT%.

Is it really that hard to decide who will play?

Just a few quick notes...

Before I watch the Preds and Sharks on TSN, here's a few headlines that made way in the last few hours:

-Ray Whitney has signed a 3-year $10.5 million contract extension with the Hurricanes.
Whitney's having a good season and he was set to be a UFA this summer.
-Johan Hedberg will start for the Thrashers in Game Two of the Thrash-Rangers series tomorrow, he will replace Kari Lehtonen who allowed 4 goals on 38 shots in a 4-3 loss to the Rangers in Game 1 and the 4th goal the Rangers scored won't be forgotten, and it wasn't by his coach, Bob Hartley.
Hedberg has playoff experiece and he is apparently very respected in the dressing room.

Just about to go...check out the Sharks and Predators on TSN, should be a good game and if you can, Anaheim vs. Minny much later on TSN (10:30 PM).
Vancouver's playing at 9:00 PM instead of 10:00 tonight against the Dallas Stars at General Motors Place.
Brent Sopel, after hurting his back while trying to pick up a cracker, will play; Matt Cooke won't.
Jeff Cowan will play with Markus Naslund and Yannick Hansen will make his NHL debut.
These guys have already played 7 periods in total, man they must be tired, it's like as if they played 2 games in one day.