[powderjunkie]

It seems to me this year that there is very little between the best and worst goaltenders in the playoffs...this probably has more to do with the fact that the most elite goaltenders have struggled at various points this season, and that the very good goaltenders have really stepped up in the first few games.


Elite:
Lundqvist
Quick (cup)
Price

Very Good:
Anderson
Crawford
Elliott / Halak
Fleury (cup) - question marks are appearing again...
Holtby
Howard
Hiller/Fasth
Niemi (cup)
Luongo/Schneider
Rask
Reimer

Good, but playing very well:
Harding/Backstrom (Backstrom would probably be in the next category)
Nabokov

I don't think I'd feel that much more comfortable with one of the guys at the top of the list than at the bottom this year...

I suppose it isn't terribly different than last year (Nabokov, Harding, Reimer, Rask, Hiller and Price out --> Theodore/Clemmenson, Brodeur, Bryzgalov, Rinne, and Smith in), but the Philly, Florida, Pittsburgh and Washington goalie situations seemed a lot more questionable than any teams this year...