Who's The Best Young Back Up Goalie in the NHL?

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Not many teams in recent memory have had the type of goalie platoon that the Edmonton Oilers had during their hay day. Grant Fuhr and Andy Moog were #1 goaltenders on all the teams they played on other then Edmonton and they shared the distinction in Edmonton. Fuhr did get most of the playoffs starts, but it was even if not slanted slightly towards Moog during the regular season.

That doesn't happen anymore. Teams use journey men or youngsters to caddy for the starter. Some get in more action then others depending on who that starter is. Tuesday night on TPS we discussed who the top young back ups are in the NHL. It was the topic of our poll question on the main site, and we welcomed Justin Goldman from The Goalie Guild to chat about it.

Canucks Prospect Snap Shot

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The Vancouver Canucks joined the NHL in 1970, increasing the Canadian content in the league to three teams at the time. Despite their 40-year existence, the Canucks have never won the Stanley Cup and in fact have only been to the Finals twice in that time. The closest the team has come to winning it all was back in 1994 when they took the New York Rangers to a 7-game series.

While the team is Western Canada's oldest NHL franchise, the Canucks have largely been overshadowed by the success of the two Alberta clubs which have won 6 Stanley Cups between them since joining the league much later. Since Calgary and Edmonton joined the league, Vancouver has claimed the division title only 5 times but, 3 of those years have been in the last 5 seasons played.

Notable players drafted by the Canucks who have gone on to have a significant impact of the team's performance have included Trevor Linden, Stan Smyl, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Don Lever and Pavel Bure.

Here is a look at the top prospect Coming Down the Pipe for the Vancouver Canucks...

Wednesday Re-Set

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On yesterday's edition of The Pipeline Show we wrapped up the Memorial Cup, interviewed another top prospect for the 2009 NHL Draft, covered the AHL playoffs in Manitoba, spoke with a player who has suited up for new Oiler head coach Pat Quinn twice in the last year and we also raised $900 for charity.

We got things started with some discussion on the topics of the day including the news that Edmonton double dipped into the free agent coach pool signing both Quinn and Tom Renney. We announced the charity auction for the last two spots in the annual TEAM 1260 golf tournament and immediately bids went from $150 to $200 t0 $500!

Interesting question posed by Dean last night: If Jordan Eberle doesn't scored with 4 seconds left in the WJC game against Russia and Canada goes on to lose that game (and doesn't win gold)... does Pat Quinn still get hired yesterday? If he fails to win gold with Canada at the WJC in Ottawa, does he get saddled as a guy who is too old and couldn't lead a favorite to a gold medal? Definitely an interesting question.

We also talked a bit about the possibility of Medicine Hat Tigers head coach Willie Desjardins as being the final piece to Edmonton's coaching puzzle. Pat Quinn mentioned yesterday that they might still be adding someone but he would have to be someone who has less experience and maybe comes from a lower level of hockey. Certainly the fact that Desjardins ran the defence for Quinn at the WJC lends credibility to the theory.

We also mentioned that TPS Guest Player blogger Mike Lee of the Fargo Force was named as the top junior goalie in the United States. Congrats to Mike from The Pipeline Show... I'm sure we'll hear about his thoughts on the award in his next blog entry here at Coming Down the Pipe!


In Segment #2 we spoke with Peter Loubardias of Rogers Sportsnet who called the Memorial Cup. Peter is a regular on our show and his passion for junior hockey is obvious to anyone who ever listens to him call a CHL game. Peter explained why he felt this past tournament was his favorite in memory. We also talked about individual performances of note, we disagreed about the quality of goaltending in the event but agreed on the disappointing performances of Mikael Backlund and Keven Veilleux in particular. Always a great time speaking with Peter about the CHL.

We played some Bad Ass Trivia to end hour #1.

The second hour of the show began with Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun guiding us through the AHL playoffs from the perspective of the Manitoba Moose. We talked about who was helping the Moose get it done including goalie Cory Schneider. The city of Winnipeg breathed a sigh of relief when the Oilers announced their new coaches because they left Scott Arniel alone - for now. We suspect Arniel will be snapped up by someone this summer. A lot of people are watching the scenario play out in Phoenix with great interest as well and Mr. Wiebe commented on all of that as well.

Every week we interview a prospect available for the 2009 NHL Draft and this week it was Drew Shore's turn. The center has committed to Denver next year but we had an emailer want to know if he'd consider going to Chilliwack, the WHL team that owns his CHL rights. Shore talked about his season, looked ahead to the combine and to next season as well.

Finally, Jordan Eberle joined us to talk about his experience playing for Pat Quinn at the Ivan Hlinka U18 tournament and also at the 2009 WJC in Ottawa. It was interesting to hear a player's perspective on what it was like to play for a veteran NHL coach at such a young age. Eberle also commented on the current situation in Regina with Dale Derkatch being replaced by the same coach that he had stepped in for a year ago... Curtis Hunt.

The show wrapped up with a back-and-forth bidding war that saw the golf tournament bid jump from $500 to $600, then to $650 and up to $800 before finally settling at $900! We were thrilled to bring in that much cash for the charity tournament.

Notes: The month of June will be pretty much 100% dedicated to the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Our projected guest list is rapidly coming together and will, quite frankly, blow your socks off... Follow us of Facebook and on Twitter... our daily team-by-team draft previews started coming out last Sunday so keep checking back here first thing every morning to see who we think your favorite team will select on June 26th...

Top 5 Tuesdays: Prospects Who Need to Move

The NHL trade deadline can be a stressful time for most players as they worry about having to uproot their families and head to a different city. For some though... a trade might be just what the doctor ordered to get a new lease on their hockey life.

Here's 5 guys we think would benefit from a trade because the future doesn't look bright where they are:

5. Benoit Pouliot - 4th overall, 2004

Taken 4th overall by Minnesota back in the Crosby Lottery draft of 2005, Pouliot was considered to be a bit rough around the edges but just scratching the surface of incredible potential. So far he's been a disappointment with the Wild and only pretty good on the farm. In the three seasons since leaving Sudbury for the pro game, Pouliot has appeared in 51 NHL games and has 14 points to his credit. At 6'3 and nearly 200 lbs he's got good size and the skills are obviosuly there but perhaps he'd benefit from moving to a team that is more willing to live with mistakes defensively as long as the offensive creativity is present. No one has ever confused Minnesota with being anything but a defence-first organization.

4. Cory Schneider - 26th overall, 2004

His brief 8-game NHL stint this year was a disaster but with only 5 losses in 28 AHL games, the former Boston College keeper is proving that he's a goalie to watch for. Schneider's biggest problem is that he's got one of the best goalies in the NHL ahead of him in Vancouver. It's a great problem to have if you're the Canucks but it's got to suck for the almost 23-year-old who knows he'll never get to play as long as Roberto Luongo is around. It might not be the best thing for the Canucks to trade him but for Schneider and his NHL career... clearly it would.

3. Alex Picard - 8th overall, 2004

2004 was one of the first drafts where I was able to really view a lot of the players in person during the season leading up to that June and Picard was a guy I liked from the first time I saw him. It was at Canada's summer WJC camp in Calgary and the first thing that stood out was his hunched over skating stride that was an exact replica of Ryan Smyth. Picard looked pretty much like a can't miss kid and I wasn't surprised at all when the Blue Jackets took him inside the top 10. Since then it's been crazy for the former Lewiston Maineiac. Really average numbers on the farm in Syracuse and only 2 points in 58 NHL games, it's not hard to imagine Columbus being willing to toss him into any sort of package at the deadline.

2. Kenndal McArdle - 20th overall, 2005

Like I said on Monday, this is a guy that it's very hard not to cheer for. I actually think he'd be an interesting fit here in Edmonton where there are obviously holes on the left wing. McArdle has speed, size, toughness and at the junior level he could carry his own weight offensively. He's also best friends with Gilbert Brule so there is some instant chemistry there too. As a pro he's really struggled with injuries; a broken jaw and ankle last year kept him to just 36 games. He appears to have been passed by others in Rochester so the Panthers might find him to be expendable now.

1. Rob Schremp - 25th overall, 2004

No doubt about it, the most hotly debated prospect in Edmonton over the last five years is losing ground to others in the system. The Oilers have a number of players his size that aren't hampered by the lack of the one trait the organization covets -speed. He's produced well in the AHL, enough that another NHL team might be willing to give him a chance that the Oilers don't seem to be either willing or able to do. Moving him to another organization might be healthy for Oilers coach Craig MacTavish too who earlier this season revealed that he was obviously fed up with the questions and the attention that Schremp generates.