King Henrik

Henrik Lundqvist (March 21, 2011 - Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images North America)

Henrik Lundqvist is going to have a lot of pressure to get the Rangers past the Caps in the first round.  He has been a pretty solid goalie so far in his career, he’s had six straight 30 plus win seasons and received Vezina nominations his first three years in the NHL, but he has yet to prove himself in the postseason.  As much as I hate the Rangers, I have a lot of respect for Lundqvist and his abilities as a great goalie, but he has only helped the Rangers make it to the second round of the playoffs twice in four trips to the postseason and has failed to make it any further.  Also, he has only been able to win 3 games in the second round…

King Henrik is a franchise goalie and has the ability to get the Rangers past the Capitals.  I can see this first round series going 7 games as it did in 2009 against the Caps.  Lundqvist can make the series outcome different this year.  Henrik has 2 shutouts and has stopped 85 of 89 shots this season against the Capitals.  If Lundqvist plays his game and receives help from his teammates, as much as it pains me to write this, I can see them beating the Caps in the first round.    It will have to be a long series though.  I give the Rangers the advantage because of Lundqvist and since they won the season series 3-1 and outscored the Caps 18 to 5.   If they beat Washington, I can see the Rangers making a run for the Cup.

How to Draft an NHL Goalie

Drafting goalies is definitely like roulette in my mind.  I came across this Hockey News article on draft eligible goalies and it made me think about it for a bit.  Drafting a goalie at 17 or 18 is something really hard to do.  There are big risks in drafting them, you don’t know if they will mature properly, burnout, or actually make it to the NHL.  A promising goalie might get stuck in a teams system behind other goalies and never get the shot to play.  Also if a guy isn’t drafted it’s really not the end of the world for a goalie, most goalies don’t hit their prime until their mid to late 20’s.  Below are some goalies that have been drafted high, low or not at all and where they are now.

March 23, 2011 - Photo by Christopher Pasatieri/Getty Images North America

Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (Drafted 7^th round #205 overall by NYR 2000, 210-134-49 [NHL Career], .918 save percentage, 2.31 GAA)

-Lundqvist was drafted in the 7^th round and is definitely a great find for the Rangers.  They probably didn’t expect him to end up being their franchise goalie (He came around the Dan Blackburn era).  He spent 5 years in the SEL after being drafted and that’s probably what helped him do so well in his first year in the NHL.  He’s an example of drafting a goalie late and it turning out unbelievable for a team.

March 9, 2011 - Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images North America

Henrik Karlsson, Calgary Flames (Undrafted, 4-5-5, .906 save percentage, 2.55 GAA)

-Karlsson went undrafted and has been playing in Sweden for a number of years, only two in the SEL, before drawing attention of the Calgary Flames and signing with them last summer. Karlsson is now playing his first year in the NHL at 27. This is not something usually happens for an undrafted goalie, but is starting to trend with teams the past couple of years.

                                                         February 22, 2011 - Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images North America

Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins (Drafted in the 1^st round 1^st overall by the Penguins 2003, 182-124-2-35, .909 save percentage, 2.73 GAA)

-There was a lot expected of Fleury being drafted first overall.  Fleury took a little bit of time to develop, but he has become Pittsburgh’s franchise goalie and into a great return for the high risk move they took on drafting a goalie first overall. See Rick Dipietro for a not too great result in drafting a goalie 1^st overall.

© Daniel Levi Cfir www.daniellevi.fi

Ari Ahonen, KalPa (SM-Liiga) (Drafted in the 1^st round 27^th overall by the Devils 1999, no NHL games played)

-You might be saying Ari who? He was a promising prospect the Devils drafted.  Ari is a case where he got stuck behind a franchise goalie (Martin Brodeur) and the few times he was called up from the AHL he was never given a shot to play.  When he became a UFA he jumped back over to Europe to play in the top league in Sweden (SEL) and now Finland.  He is an example of the hazards of not knowing what you will get when drafting a goalie.

As you can see it really is like reaching into a bag blindfolded and not knowing what you are going to grab when you draft a goalie.



Shuttle Service?

Are the Rangers going to have that shuttle they had running last year between Hartford and NYC again this year?  So, far it looks like that might be a possibility due to the unfortunate injury to Marty Biron.  Cam Talbot was recalled from the ECHL that day to be the back-up in his place.  Two days later he was sent to the minors and Chad Johnson was recalled from the AHL.  Have the Rangers started the shuttle service up again where Johnson and former Rangers prospect Matt Zaba were basically shuttled back and forth between the two cities on game days and days off when the Rangers lost faith in Steve Valiquette and waived him to the minor?  I thought it was absurd last year, but it kinda makes sense this season since there are 17 games left and the Rangers are going to have Henrik Lundqvist play the remaining games to try to keep the Rangers in the playoffs.  The shuttle bus will allow for Chad Johnson to have more exposure in the NHL as well as give him the opportunity to still play games and develop down playing for the Whale.  Let's see if this really happens....

                                                Chad Johnson (January 29, 2010 - Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images North America)