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Displaying pretext
It seems that just about every year during the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, one or two backup goaltenders shine in relief or steal the headlines with a surprise start. This year's playoffs saw Mike Smith and Cory Schneider get starting nods and Brian Boucher steal a game in relief. While they may get their chance to shine come late April, backup goalies go mostly unnoticed during the regular season. Most coaches hold their breath as backups start out–of–conference games on the road against sub–.500 teams—but teams who have the luxury of confidence in their backup goaltender can give regular rest to starters and even feel confident in the event of injury.
There are a select few teams with backups who could easily be NHL starters next season—and may be at the trade deadline—but conversely, there are some backups who have coaches crossing their fingers. While things still can change, it appears most NHL rosters are set for 2011–12. So with that preamble, we look at the 10 backup goaltenders who won't be giving much relief to their team.
The criteria is simple: Goals Versus Threshold, Quality Start Percentage and the backup's projected use. If a netminder is not projected to be used often because of a star goalie, his total possible damage to the team goes down. But if a quality goaltender has to be used in excess because of how bad the backup is, he is rated lower.
Worst backup goaltenders
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The Blue Line (08/02)
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