Same Goalies, New Places
By: Kevin Dolan
Ryan Miller
Ryan Miller’s 2013-2014 campaign was highlighted by a trade that sent him to the St. Louis Blues, who looked poised for a deep Stanley Cup Playoff run. After going up 2-0 in their first round series with the Chicago Blackhawks, the Blues went on to drop four straight games. The Blues cut ties with Miller and decided to extend backup Brian Elliott for three years to hopefully mentor their next franchise goalie, Jake Allen. At 34-years-old, Miller’s best days are most likely behind him. He can still hold his own between the pipes, but can he be the same goalie he was at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics? We’ll soon find out since he inked a three year contract with the Vancouver Canucks!
After a forgettable season that saw the Canucks finish in fifth place in the Pacific division, miss the playoffs, and the departure of first year coach, John Tortorella. Over the past few seasons, there was a goalie controversy that cast an unnecessary shadow over the franchise. Roberto Luongo was the prey of the historically blunt and brutal Vancouver hockey media (see Pavel Bure). Luongo’s name always swirled in the trade rumors as Schneider was poised to take the starting role. But after Schneider was traded at the 2013 draft, it seemed as though Luongo would finally be the unchallenged number one goalie. However, the Canucks traded Luongo to the Panthers where he started his career to dump his salary. Eddie Lack held down the fort for the rest of the season.
Miller now stands as the number one goalie looking to calm the waters in Vancouver and take the Canucks back into elite status.
Jonas Hiller
Jonas Hiller began his career on an Anaheim team fresh off a Stanley Cup in 2007. Hiller platooned with Jean-Sebastian Giguere that season and got his first starts at the NHL level. When Hiller was given the starting role in 2009-2010, he posted a 30 win season with a save percentage of .918. The following season he posted another solid stat line with 26 wins and a save percentage of .924 despite missing over twenty games for dizziness and vertigo. Yet, the following season Hiller played in a whopping 73 games! It was a dismal year for the Ducks as they finished under .500 and out of the playoffs. Hiller posted the lowest save percentage of his career at .909 but still turned in 29 wins. Unfortunately, Hiller has never seemed to regain the same edge to his game. And with a plethora of solid goalie prospects by the names of Viktor Fasth, Frederik Andersen, and John Gibson, the injury-prone Hiller was used in a limited role. The Ducks cut ties with Hiller opting to go with their prospects.
Hiller signed a seemingly generous 2-year/$9M deal with the Calgary Flames. Kari Ramo who started 40 games for the Flames is still on the team. The Flames have been a doormat for the rest of the NHL since the 2004-2005 lockout. But things seem to be turning around for the franchise. Veterans Jiri Hudler and Mark Giordano led the team in scoring with 54 and 47 points respectively. Sean Monahan made a successful leap into the NHL scoring 22 goals and 12 assists for 34 points in 75 regular season games. And Hobey Baker winner Johnny Gaudreau and his Boston College linemate, Bill Arnold seem ready to take their games to the NHL level.
This will still be a rebuild year for the Flames, but Hiller will be a better option between the pipes. He can offer more consistency than Ramo and play between 50 and 60 games for this young Calgary team.
Jaroslav Halak
By now, most hockey fans are familiar with Jaroslav Halak in some way. Perhaps you first heard about him as he led the 8th seeded Montreal Canadiens in 2010 passed both the powerhouse Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins, the reigning Stanley Cup champions. Halak held his team in tight games as the Montreal offense scrimped together enough goals to advance them to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they were ousted by the Flyers in five games. The Canadiens opted to go with their younger goalie, Carey Price, and sell high on Halak’s herculean effort.
Halak went to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Ian Schultz and coveted prospect, Lars Eller. St. Louis was looking for Halak to anchor their defense to bring them deep in the playoffs. Halak and the Blues, however, never made it past round two. Halak has always put up solid regular season numbers, but injuries have always held him back. Seeing the chance to grab Ryan Miller, the Blues swapped goalies with the Buffalo Sabres this season. Halak never suited up for the Sabres as he was traded just days later to the Washington Capitals. In 12 games with the Caps, Halak went 5-4-3 with a shutout and a .930 save percentage. With a franchise goalie in Braden Holtby, the Capitals looked to get some value before Halak’s contract expired on July 1st. They sent him to the New York Islanders for a mere 4th round pick. Garth Snow and the Islanders then promptly signed the 29-year-old netminder to a four year contract extension.
The Islanders have had a difficult time finding a consistent goalie since the days of Rick DiPietro. The position has been a revolving door with much uncertainty in who would lead the team on a regular basis. Evgeni Nabokov was solid option for a few years, but his best years were already behind him when he first went to Long Island. With both goalie prospects Kevin Poulin and Kenny Reiter several years away from being NHL ready, the Islanders locked up Halak and backup Chad Johnson will serve as a reliable goalie tandem for a couple of years. It is proven that Halak will have an impact no matter whose net he’s defending. The Islanders now hope that they can let their young guns have more freedom to create instead of worrying about how much rubber gets to their net. Last year, the Islanders were dead last in team save percentage at .897. Halak and Johnson will now add some teeth to a defense that relies heavily on their keepers to make big saves.
By: Kevin Dolan
Ryan Miller
Ryan Miller’s 2013-2014 campaign was highlighted by a trade that sent him to the St. Louis Blues, who looked poised for a deep Stanley Cup Playoff run. After going up 2-0 in their first round series with the Chicago Blackhawks, the Blues went on to drop four straight games. The Blues cut ties with Miller and decided to extend backup Brian Elliott for three years to hopefully mentor their next franchise goalie, Jake Allen. At 34-years-old, Miller’s best days are most likely behind him. He can still hold his own between the pipes, but can he be the same goalie he was at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics? We’ll soon find out since he inked a three year contract with the Vancouver Canucks!
After a forgettable season that saw the Canucks finish in fifth place in the Pacific division, miss the playoffs, and the departure of first year coach, John Tortorella. Over the past few seasons, there was a goalie controversy that cast an unnecessary shadow over the franchise. Roberto Luongo was the prey of the historically blunt and brutal Vancouver hockey media (see Pavel Bure). Luongo’s name always swirled in the trade rumors as Schneider was poised to take the starting role. But after Schneider was traded at the 2013 draft, it seemed as though Luongo would finally be the unchallenged number one goalie. However, the Canucks traded Luongo to the Panthers where he started his career to dump his salary. Eddie Lack held down the fort for the rest of the season.
Miller now stands as the number one goalie looking to calm the waters in Vancouver and take the Canucks back into elite status.
Jonas Hiller
Jonas Hiller began his career on an Anaheim team fresh off a Stanley Cup in 2007. Hiller platooned with Jean-Sebastian Giguere that season and got his first starts at the NHL level. When Hiller was given the starting role in 2009-2010, he posted a 30 win season with a save percentage of .918. The following season he posted another solid stat line with 26 wins and a save percentage of .924 despite missing over twenty games for dizziness and vertigo. Yet, the following season Hiller played in a whopping 73 games! It was a dismal year for the Ducks as they finished under .500 and out of the playoffs. Hiller posted the lowest save percentage of his career at .909 but still turned in 29 wins. Unfortunately, Hiller has never seemed to regain the same edge to his game. And with a plethora of solid goalie prospects by the names of Viktor Fasth, Frederik Andersen, and John Gibson, the injury-prone Hiller was used in a limited role. The Ducks cut ties with Hiller opting to go with their prospects.
Hiller signed a seemingly generous 2-year/$9M deal with the Calgary Flames. Kari Ramo who started 40 games for the Flames is still on the team. The Flames have been a doormat for the rest of the NHL since the 2004-2005 lockout. But things seem to be turning around for the franchise. Veterans Jiri Hudler and Mark Giordano led the team in scoring with 54 and 47 points respectively. Sean Monahan made a successful leap into the NHL scoring 22 goals and 12 assists for 34 points in 75 regular season games. And Hobey Baker winner Johnny Gaudreau and his Boston College linemate, Bill Arnold seem ready to take their games to the NHL level.
This will still be a rebuild year for the Flames, but Hiller will be a better option between the pipes. He can offer more consistency than Ramo and play between 50 and 60 games for this young Calgary team.
Jaroslav Halak
By now, most hockey fans are familiar with Jaroslav Halak in some way. Perhaps you first heard about him as he led the 8th seeded Montreal Canadiens in 2010 passed both the powerhouse Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins, the reigning Stanley Cup champions. Halak held his team in tight games as the Montreal offense scrimped together enough goals to advance them to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they were ousted by the Flyers in five games. The Canadiens opted to go with their younger goalie, Carey Price, and sell high on Halak’s herculean effort.
Halak went to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Ian Schultz and coveted prospect, Lars Eller. St. Louis was looking for Halak to anchor their defense to bring them deep in the playoffs. Halak and the Blues, however, never made it past round two. Halak has always put up solid regular season numbers, but injuries have always held him back. Seeing the chance to grab Ryan Miller, the Blues swapped goalies with the Buffalo Sabres this season. Halak never suited up for the Sabres as he was traded just days later to the Washington Capitals. In 12 games with the Caps, Halak went 5-4-3 with a shutout and a .930 save percentage. With a franchise goalie in Braden Holtby, the Capitals looked to get some value before Halak’s contract expired on July 1st. They sent him to the New York Islanders for a mere 4th round pick. Garth Snow and the Islanders then promptly signed the 29-year-old netminder to a four year contract extension.
The Islanders have had a difficult time finding a consistent goalie since the days of Rick DiPietro. The position has been a revolving door with much uncertainty in who would lead the team on a regular basis. Evgeni Nabokov was solid option for a few years, but his best years were already behind him when he first went to Long Island. With both goalie prospects Kevin Poulin and Kenny Reiter several years away from being NHL ready, the Islanders locked up Halak and backup Chad Johnson will serve as a reliable goalie tandem for a couple of years. It is proven that Halak will have an impact no matter whose net he’s defending. The Islanders now hope that they can let their young guns have more freedom to create instead of worrying about how much rubber gets to their net. Last year, the Islanders were dead last in team save percentage at .897. Halak and Johnson will now add some teeth to a defense that relies heavily on their keepers to make big saves.