Sleeper Watch

By Thomas Allen

The Chicago Blackhawks expected Cristobal Huet to be their starting goalie this season, but things seem to be playing out otherwise. While the season is young, the statistics of the starter Huet and his backup, Antti Niemi, are worth comparing.

Goaltending	GP	GS	Min	W	L	OTL	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
Cristobal Huet	6	6	314	2	2	1	0	17	3.25	109	92	.840	0
Antti Niemi	4	3	232	3	1	0	0	8	2.07	88	80	.910	1

Huet is clearly being outplayed. While he is being paid well in Chicago, it seems that GMs are aware of his inconsistency. In Washington (’07-08) he went on one of the best runs in franchise history but was mediocre against Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs and wasn’t re-signed. In Montreal, Huet had a remarkable stretch over which he recorded many shutouts, but they too let him leave easily.

Keeping that in mind, and that Chicago is a very talented team with hopes for the Cup (sitting at third in the West currently), they cannot neither afford nor excuse keeping Niemi on the bench if he outplays Huet for much longer. Every season has its Pekka Rinnes, Steve Masons, and even Cristobal Huets, and Niemi looks like one of those out-of-nowhere surprises this season.

<i>Thomas is a big-time DC sports fan. You can find him in the forums posting as</i> skinsfan.