Goalie Announcements (Dec 17)

We're going to rush through the probable, expected and confirmed goalies for today and tonight's action, as we have some Noon MT starts today and we'll see how much of a pool spin we can put on it all.

An early game in the Big D this afternoon will see the Flyers take on the Stars.  It has been confirmed that the Flyers will go with Brenda & Seward's number one keeper, Steve Mason.  The goaltending carousel that is the Dallas crease will surprise some, as they have opted to go with Antti Niemi today, giving Wilton a surprise start, after Niemi dropped a decision to the Rangers in their last game on Thursday night.

The second of two early games on the schedule will see the Coyotes take on the Wild in St. Paul and the confirmed goalies for this one will be Marcie's Mike Smith taking on the non-pool goalie, Darcy Kuemper. Marcie's team has continued to struggle, but hopefully taking advantage of a back-up for 2 points will get her team back on the straight and narrow, back up the standings.

The Anaheim Ducks will go with Jonathan Bernier for their game in Detroit, while the Red Wings will go with Petr Mrazek in their net for the tilt.  For pool purposes, this will be a match-up between Eric and Stacey C., in what could be a swing game, as these two sides are only separated by 2 points.  Both teams are a hot streak away from the money and that could begin as early as tonight.

Brian's team has been hanging on to 2nd place, by the tips of his fingers, and he gets a key start from Cam Ward and the Hurricanes, as they host the Buffalo Sabres tonight.  The opposition tonight will be a rare start for Anders Nilsson, which has to put a slight smile on Ryan's struggling team.  The Hurricanes have been playing well, so this could bode well for the money team, instead of the struggling one.

It wasn't supposed to be a start for Carey Price tonight, but since he was shelled and yanked against the San Jose Sharks last night, he will get the start in Washington, making for a battle of top goalies in D.C..  At the other end, it will be Braden Holtby, last year's top goalie, yet not quite having the same kind of season.  Benson will get another start from his top pick, while Jeremy gets a start from the 1st overall pick tonight.  Yeah, this could be a great goalie battle.

Stacey C. gets a second start on Saturday night, when he gets a start from Ottawa's Mike Condon.  As mentioned before, his team isn't too far away from the money talks, so getting the bonus of a non-pool match-up on the other end, could surely help.  Condon will face Keith Kinkaid and the Devils, which isn't a walk in the park, but no one had much faith in the back-up for Jersey and when you ask the collective, it usually pays off.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are another one of those teams that played last night, so it would seem logical that Marc-Andre Fleury would get the start for the Penguins, since he didn't play last night, and that's what Cam's crossing his fingers for, since it hasn't been confirmed yet.  Brian, on the other hand, gets his second 5pm MT start with the Leafs, as they go with Frederik Andersen tonight.  His team opens the night 10 points back of 1st place, but with two big starts.

In a big Central Division clash, the Chicago Blackhawks are in St. Louis to take on the Blues. Scott's team is now defending 3rd place and chasing down 2nd place and he gets another start from Scott Darling tonight, but there's no cake walk here, as Mike's number one goalie, Jake Allen, will go for the Blues. Mike has been riding his goaltending hard this season and his team is now 8th, 14 points back of Scott's team and he's hoping that what got him this high continues to do its best work.

After a number of missed starts for Henrik Lundqvist, Grant gets the benefit of back-to-back starts for his number one goalie, as the King will suit up in Nashville for a clash against the Predators. The Preds will opt for Juuse Saros for a rare start, without back-to-back nights being played. That mean's Grant's 21st place team will get a non-pool match-up tonight, which may help his struggling pool team.

The Tampa Bay Lightning dropped a decision in Vancouver on Friday night and will have the chance to bounce back in Edmonton, with a date against the Oilers.  Given the schedule circumstances, we're expecting to see Ben Bishop in net for the Bolts tonight, while Cam Talbot has been confirmed as the starter for the Oilers.  Dale C. gets his only start of the night in this game, while Marcie gets her second start, but this game doesn't have much feeling in the pool standings today.