According to the official Blackhawks Twitter, Joel Quenneville will start Antti Niemi in goal Wednesday night at home vs. the Los Angeles Kings.
Does this mean Niemi has another shot to take the #1 job? Is it simply a break for Huet heading into a weekend that includes back to back games?
Regarding his decision to start Niemi, Quenneville said "I just think Antti gets a chance to grab the net. We have back to back games over the weekend. We have a lot of tough opponents as well, and we have a condensed schedule. So they'll both see some time here, and we're looking for both of them to take charge."
The fact is, time is running out on the Hawks to make their selection. At some point, they need to decide who "the guy" is, and play him the rest of the way.
Last season, the Hawks picked Nikolai Khabibulin as their playoff goaltender, and played him for roughly the final 10 games of the regular season. This year, it would be ideal for them to make their choice with about that many games remaining.
Former Hawks goaltender and current analyst Darren Pang was interviewed on 670 The Score this morning, and when asked if the Hawks could win the Stanley Cup with these goaltenders, he stated, "Not the way they they are playing right now."
Unfortunately, it'd be hard to disagree with Panger. The best team in the world would struggle if their goalies were saving pucks at an 85% clip. In the playoffs, the Hawks are gonna have to win games 3-2, 2-1, and 1-0. The neutral zone gets clogged up, checking gets tighter, and goals are at more of a premium than ever. One bad goal against can turn the momentum of a game, and often times, a series.
Ideally, Niemi will step up and have a good game tomorrow night. Joel Quenneville has a difficult decision to make over the next several weeks, but it would be nice if one of these two goaltenders helped him with his decision.
For comparison's sake, here are the numbers for each of the Hawks' goaltenders this season:
Cristobal Huet:
Games: 46
Record: 26-12-4
Save %: .898
GAA: 2.38
Antti Niemi:
Games: 24
Record: 17-5-1
Save %: .909
GAA: 2.25
Side-Notes:
-Adam Burish "could" play Wednesday night, according to Quenneville.
-Wednesday night is "Denis Savard Heritage Night" at the United Center. Tickets are still available at www.ChicagoBlackhawks.com.
-If you'd like, pay a visit to this clueless tool's blog entry regarding the "awful" national anthem tradition at Blackhawks games and share your thoughts in the comments page. I'm not sure I've ever seen such ignorance in my life.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Tags: 670 The Score, Adam Burish, Antti Niemi, Chicago Blackhawks, Cristobal Huet, Darren Pang, Denis Savard, Joel Quenneville, Los Angeles Kings
