As previously mentioned, starting goalie Kari Lehtonen went down on October 18 with what was a muscle strain, somewhere near the groin area. Fire Wagon Hockey might as well be "Kari Central" and they have an informative post on the extent of the injury which has him out until probably mid-December.
In the time being, though, the goaltending situation has become very interesting. "Moose" Hedberg played the first few games after Kari went down and did an OK job - not game-saving, but just OK. Granted, Hedberg was facing probably somewhere around 35 shots per game (at least, put I'm just throwing numbers out there with zero research) and his defense didn't help him out that much in his little run of a few games that he started. With that said, Moose did just OK.
The first game of the road trip, Moose got pulled after letting in five-too-many goals and Mr. Ondrej Pavelec took over and performed just OK... but, considering he's pretty much a rookie without any real professional experience (only a couple of games with the Chicago Wolves doesn't cut it), I'd say that OND-REDGE did just fine, considering he was up against Gnat St. Louis, Lecavalier, Richards, and Prospal.
Then, after a couple of days off, Moose was chased out of the net (or given a rest) to sit against where it all started, Tampa Bay. OND-REDGE came in, let in a few goals, then was rock solid. Keep in mind that this guy is basically coming directly from the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles to the Atlanta Thrashers. He collected his first NHL win on the road, in the division rivals' 'hood. He followed that performance with a great game on Tuesday, almost posting a shutout against another division rival, the Washington Caps. The ONE goal he let by wasn't even a softie or anything that would be considered as such. He kept bringing quality save after quality save and endured the ridiculous first period that yielded 16 Caps shots, compared to the six that the Thrash brought on.
Surely, as things are when hot, they are "ridded" (or is that "ridden"?) for a while. Case in point with OND-REDGE. He did a good job in his first stint against Tampa, certainly held his own the second time around against the 'ning, and was phenomenal versus the Caps. Odds are that he will get the start on Friday against the Panthers in a nice duel with Tomas Vokoun. It should be a pretty good matchup.
And now the "problem" stands as this: when Kari returns, and if Pavelec keeps up his current level of play, which goalie gets the shaft? We all know that Kari has some serious talent in him, but ever since the playoffs from last season, he's been off. Hedberg can play the role of starter, but he's definitely reliable enough to be a good backup. And then there's his whippersnapper in Pavelec. The easy move is to bring Pavelec back down to Chicago to develop a bit more, but what if he's going well enough to gain the NHL experience? Or with our lacking in defensemen (or quality defensemen, that is) or a true number one center, do we attempt to deal Kari out to someone who can fill our needs or Moose and someone else? It's certainly an odd predicament to be in if you're part of Blueland Nation. But, in reality, it's not that bad of a spot to be in.
2007/11/08
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2 comments:
Re: "Kari Central" ....
I'm not sure whether to be flattered or appalled. But whatever, I'll take it!
As for Kari not being so hot. Keep in mind - the game he was hurt in was the first game post-Hartley. Kari played magnificently the whole, what was it? 27 minutes or something? I honestly think that once he's back in top form, he will play the way he's been billed, now that Hartley's no longer riding his ass and making his life miserable.
That said, I'm not sure if Pavelec will get sent back to Chicago for more big-league conditioning, or Moose will .... uh, something. Seriously, waiver wire? If they decide to keep Pavelec, I honestly hope they give Moose the dignity of either a trade-for-picks (Toronto is in need of a good netminder!) or to buy out his contract.
Well this whole thing, RE: Pavelec, is eerily familiar to Kari's entrance into the league. When he started NHL play at the end of I think it was '03-'04, he went 4-0 with an outstanding GAA and SV% and even a shutout. Let's see how this pans out. I'm very intrigued! And excited!
Yeah, in that game against the Rangers, he played something like nine minutes, looked good, then got hurt. I think it's incredibly difficult to label Kari's play "magnificent" after a mere nine minutes. After that, anything could've happened. I just find it so odd that so many people came out after that game as, "This seemed like Kari's return to form... and then he got hurt!" I just don't buy it. To me, he looked just as good, if not better, in the opener against the Caps. But whatever, he's hurt and we're in the current situation that we are.
They're definitely gonna hang onto Pavelec for the long-run, considering his play as of late. He'll probably get sent back down when Kari gets back and that's fine, unless Kari completely flops (which I don't expect to happen). I do see some kind of goalie transactions happening in the off-season (or sooner, but hopefully not) with Pavelec in the wings, Kari as the "supposed" number one, and Moose as a "qualified" backup. Hell, Moose might stick around for the position, Pavs will become the go-to guy, and Kari might get dealt for something we really need, like a center or a quality defenseman.
And don't get too bent out of shape about the "Kari Central" comment... I mean it in the nicest way possible! My fiancee is a crazed Kari fan, so I have to hear about it all the time when he's playing! So I definitely know the Kari-love y'all have over there!
Thanks for reading, especially this novella of a response comment!
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