[wvuguy]

I'm trying to figure out which teams among the Cup favorites can MOST rely on their goaltending to win.

For the purposes of this discussion, let's assume the Top 8 teams in the League.....4 per conference.....are (in no particular order) the Rangers, Bruins, Flyers, and Penguins in the East, and the Wings, Canucks, Blues, and Preds (though some would presumably put-in the Hawks instead) in the West. How would you rate the goaltending from 1-8 among these eight ?? For me, it'd be:

Bruins
Rangers
Blues
Preds
Penguins
Canucks
Flyers
Wings
(Hawks)

I consider the Bruins and Rangers in a class by themselves; and I can surely understand why some would put the Rangers first. I really love BOTH the Blues and Preds goaltending, but neither group has proven anything even remotely deep in the playoffs. Like a lot of Penguins fans, I blow hot and cold on Fleury; but he's still only one of two Cup-winning goalies on the list (and the Pens could be as high as 3rd for that reason alone).

Luongo remains the League's biggest goaltending head-case.....with the possible exception, I suppose, of Bryzgalov......and I admit I probably like Bobrovsky more than most. But, I still won't be sold on ANY Detroit goaltender until one wins an important series without Nick Lidstrom there to bail him out (for me, Chicago is at the bottom of this list regardless).

OK everyone else; GO..................

[Holliday]

Hmm... Good question. I think the Rangers are #1, Bruins are #2. The Hawks and Flyers are #7 and #8 in some order. I don't know about the rest.

[addulous]

Lundqvist has been pretty average in his career in the post season. He's always had spectacular regular seasons, but his playoff numbers aren't a mirror image. Maybe this years different but I wouldn't put the same stock into him.

I'd have to take Fluery from that list.

[ogre1kanobe]

Bruins, Rangers, Pens, Blues.
I can't even believe the Flyers would be on that list, or any list with the words "goalie" and "rely on" in the title . If the Flyers had a goalie they could depend on to steal games, they would have won at least one Cup in recent years.

[MavericKings]

I think we could rely on Quickie if we had to, but we're apparently not Cup contenders. :blue:

[Avsfreak18]

MavericKings, on 13 February 2012 - 11:49 PM, said:

I think we could rely on Quickie if we had to, but we're apparently not Cup contenders. :blue:

haha, The Kings are one of the scariest teams in the league IMO....

[52G228PIM1996-97]

MavericKings, on 13 February 2012 - 11:49 PM, said:

I think we could rely on Quickie if we had to, but we're apparently not Cup contenders. :blue:

Everyone knows only "traditional" markets win cups..

[manovrboard]

If I was to rank...

Bruins - easily the best tandem in the league, if one falters you have a solid fallback
Rangers - Lundqvist is the top goalie in the league IMO
Predators - Rinne is a workhorse and I think Lindback will be something special one day soon
Penguins - Fleury is reliable and seems to save his best hockey for big game situations
Red Wings - Jimmy Howard was underrated until this season; he has really come into his own
Canucks - I am not a Luongo fan; if Schneider was the starter the Canucks might be higher on this list
Blues - Halak has stumbled at times & I'm still not sold on Brian Elliott, despite his performance this season
Flyers - I said it was a mistake when they signed Bryzgalov and he has proven me and many others right
Hawks - Corey Crawford baffles me and Ray Emery isn't the fallback guy I want sitting on the bench

This point has been edited by manovrboard: 14 February 2012 - 03:36 AM

[BigZombieMonkey]

I'd like to say Fleury is number 1 but his usual great keeping seems to waver from time to time so his reliability is not something that's consistent.

The thing with the Lundqvist is whilst his stats look awesome he's only currently 10th in shots against which makes me wonder if the Rangers defence wasn't doing so well then how well would he be in the standings if he had a lot more shots against him?

I suppose if we're asking who can most rely on their goal tender and goal tender alone then I wouldn't be able to pick because the D makes a massive difference and unless you could line up the goal tenders and put them all in the same situations then you're not going to have to ask the question, who has the most reliable defence and goal tender.

[MavericKings]

52G228PIM1996-97, on 14 February 2012 - 03:33 AM, said:

Everyone knows only "traditional" markets win cups..

I love how a Phoenix fan is telling me this.

[52G228PIM1996-97]

MavericKings, on 15 February 2012 - 01:54 AM, said:

I love how a Phoenix fan is telling me this.

My sarcasm is lost, would it help were I from Tampa or Anaheim..

[kmart890]

I'd say the Rangers and Bruins are up there for most reliable goaltenders. The Wings would be a close third, IMO.