Goalie Announcements (Mar 28)

Plenty of good races in the weekly scoring for Week Twenty-Six, as teams are vying for both the Mover & Shaker and the Basement Dweller in tied up fashions.

Stacey M. and Neil lead the way in the top half of the standings, up with 19 points a piece.  Three more teams are within a shutout in that race, which is awfully exciting.

Wes and Troy are down at the bottom with 3 points each, through three nights of action and there are six more teams within 4 points of those two, so there's plenty of movement to be had down near the bottom.

The overall race is seems to be locking in though.  Stuart has been locked in at the top for a while now and with Stacey M. having her big week, 2nd place appears to be a lock for her team.  3rd place, however... we've finally seen a little bit of movement, as Kristy & Don have slid up in the standings, overtaking Grant, and now leading by 3 points.  Jesse and Tony are now slouching either, they are both looking to make moves this week and they're both having good weeks.  This is the race to watch!

Jimmy Howard (Tony) versus Linus Ullmark (Steve)
A couple of dud teams in the NHL playoff race doesn't mean that there isn't a little bit of meaning in the hockey pool, as we know that Tony's team is chasing the money and has the first of two potential starts tonight with Jimmy Howard going for the Red Wings in Buffalo.  Tony's team has the 16th ranked goaltending in the pool this year, but it isn't for a lack of trying, his team has the 8th most minutes played in the pool this season.

Braden Holtby (Stacey C.) versus Curtis McElhinney (N/A)
Stacey C. has his team in the hunt for a Mover & Shaker for this current week, as his team is only 1 point back of the lead and is now looking to lock down a top 10 spot this season.  His team will have Braden Holtby, the only pool goalie going in the Caps/Canes game in Carolina tonight.  Talking about the rankings of goalies in the pool, Stacey's team ranks 4th with 114 points this year.

Carey Price (Stacey M.) versus Sergei Bobrovsky (Kristy & Don)
A few weeks ago, this could have been a contender for hockey pool game of the night, but Stacey M. has seen her team pretty well lock up 2nd place, so there isn't a whole lot of intrigue in this match-up, per se, but Kristy & Don still have a lot of interest in their placement this year and they need the points to help lock down 3rd place, where Stacey's goalie can now play the role of spoiler. 

Oh yeah, Montreal and Columbus... huge playoff implications in the east!  Carey Price and Sergei Bobrovsky... tune in!  It'll be a good one.

Roberto Luongo (John P.) versus Anders Nilsson (Stuart)
Both the Panthers and Senators are out of the playoff picture down the stretch, Stuart has 1st place locked up and John P. has a 17th place team, well clear of the basement to start play tonight, so there isn't a whole lot of meaning to this game tonight.  Roberto Luongo and Anders Nilsson are your goalies here, 2 points is 2 points.

Robin Lehner (Chelsea) versus Connor Hellebuyck (Jeremy)
Maybe a little bit more meaning the NHL playoff race than the hockey pool in Winnipeg, as the Islanders visit the Jets.  The Isles are fishing for home-ice advantage in the opening round, while the Jets are vying for the Central Division title, so the teams themselves have something to play for.  Chelsea gets a start from the visitors, in the 4-point range of the basement, while Jeremy gets a start from the home side, smack dab in the middle of the weekly scoring, neither team in the top half of the standings.

Anton Khudobin (Grant) versus Mikko Koskinen (Tony)
Assuming that this is the goaltending match-up tonight, Edmonton had yet to confirm, but this is the hockey pool game of the night, as Grant's 4th place team is trying to fend off Tony's 6th place team and both teams are eyeing up 3rd place, so when Anton Khudobin takes to the ice on back-to-back nights, coming in for injury relief last night, he should be getting Mikko Koskinen at the other end and it will make for some interesting watching in the hockey pool standings.

Jonathan Quick (Brenda & Seward) versus Thatcher Demko (Clayton)
The Kings had yet to confirm, but the Canucks did confirm that rookie keeper Thatcher Demko would be getting a start tonight against the lowly Kings, as both teams cruise to the end of the regular season schedule with a game tonight.  Neither (potential) pool team has any merit in the money conversation in the pool, but both the duo and Clayton are into double-digits in the weekly scoring, so there might be a little something there, but not really.

Corey Crawford (N/A) versus Martin Jones (Brenda & Seward)
The duo get their second start of the night in the other late game, so maybe, just maybe, Brenda & Seward could be in the Mover & Shaker conversation when we head to the weekend, if all things go well for their goalies, assuming both of them play.  Martin Jones has been tapped to play against the Blackhawks at home tonight, as they try and get their playoff seeding sorted out.