Goalie Announcements (Dec 17)

It's a brand new week and hopes are starting anew for something good to happen for your hockey pool team and why not? Why not your team?

The busy week of hockey starts with only five games on the schedule, as we draw closer and closer to the holiday week.  Everyone is going to try and get their points in while they can, seeking those wins in the standings and hockey pool teams trying to cash in on those as well.

John Gibson (Kristy & Don) versus Casey DeSmith (Benson)
There's a rumbling out in hockey land that the Anaheim Ducks have been cleared to use their alternate jersey tonight in Pittsburgh, as the trend of visiting teams wearing their colours is really catching on.  John Gibson is going to look sharp tonight, taking on Casey DeSmith... look good, play good, right?

The duo opens up the week in 5th, 10 points out of 3rd, while Benson is down to one healthy goalie in 20th place, but is at least getting some starts.

Malcolm Subban (N/A) versus Sergei Bobrovsky (Kristy & Don)
The Columbus Blue Jackets will also be donning their alternates tonight, but they will be doing so at home.  The duo get their second start of the night with Sergei Bobrovsky getting the call for the visiting Vegas Golden Knights.  With Vegas playing last night, it seems somewhat reasonable that they would go with their backup tonight, but I'm not 100% sure how much faith they have in Malcolm Subban, given that Marc-Andre Fleury has played 13 straight starts. 

Jaroslav Halak (Stacey M.) versus Carey Price (Stacey M.)
Stacey has one of the teams still in the goalie survivor pool and it will have to take some horrible luck to not get a win in Montreal tonight, since both of her keepers are going for this rivalry game.  Stacey's team also fell out of the money ranks over the weekend, so a couple of points from one of her goalies should help her team get right back in there again before the end of the night.

Pekka Rinne (John P.) versus Craig Anderson (Mike)
If only Mike's goalies could have posted that one win in Week Eight, he would be right there in the mix for the survival game, but alas, the chips didn't fall that way for him, posting wins in the three weeks since his elimination.  Craig Anderson gets another call for him tonight, when the Senators host the Predators, a tough team to play against, especially when they are turning back to Pekka Rinne tonight.  John's team would have been in the mix as well, since his team hasn't posted a zero in the win column since Week Four, as his team is tied for 6th in wins this year.

Thomas Greiss (Stuart) versus Semyon Varlamov (Wilton)
Islanders and Avalanche tonight in Denver and it is going to be two goalies with 11 wins and 24 points each going head-to-head in this contest, as Varlamov and Greiss are 19th and 20th in the goalie rankings at the start of play in Week Twelve, Varlamov getting the edge because of a couple more starts already in the bag this season.  I value how much each of these guys play as much as anything.  Unfortunately for Wilton, his team hasn't been quite as deep and ranks 13th, compared to Stuart's 2nd place team.