Quote:
Originally Posted by Caged Great
The best bet is to avoid teams with good goaltenders.
So I don't want the Wild, Sharks, or Oilers...
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Yes and no. An important caveat to your point is that the best bet is to avoid teams with good,
and well rested goaltenders. Here is a breakdown of the last ten Stanley Cup finals, and the workload of goalies who played in each of these series:
2005–06
Cam Ward: Regular season – 25 GS, 28 GP; Playoffs – 21 GS, 23 GP
Dwayne Roloson: Reg – 42 GS, 43 GP; Playoffs – 18 GS, 18 GP
2006–07
Jean-Sebastian Giguere: Reg – 53 GS, 56 GP; Playoffs – 17 GS, 18 GP
Ray Emery: Reg – 56 GS, 58 GP; Playoffs – 20 GS, 20 GP
2007–08
Chris Osgood: Reg – 40 GS, 43 GP; Playoffs – 18 GS, 19 GP
Marc-Andre Fleury: Reg – 33 GS, 35 GP; Playoffs – 20 GS, 20 GP
2008–09
Marc-Andre Fleury: Reg – 61 GS, 62 GP; Playoffs – 24 GS, 24 GP
Chris Osgood: Reg – 44 GS, 46 GP; Playoffs – 24 GS, 24 GP
2009–10
Antti Niemi: Reg – 35 GS, 39 GP; Playoffs – 22 GS, 22 GP
Brian Boucher: Reg – 26 GS, 33 GP; Playoffs – 10 GS, 12 GP
2010–11
Tim Thomas: Reg – 55 GS, 57 GP; Playoffs – 25 GS, 25 GP
Roberto Luongo: Reg – 60 GS, 60 GP; Playoffs – 24 GS, 25 GP
2011–12
Jonathan Quick: Reg – 69 GS, 69 GP; Playoffs – 20 GS, 20 GP
Martin Brodeur: Reg – 59 GS, 59 GP; Playoffs – 24 GS, 24 GP
2012–13 *lockout shortened season
2013–14
Jonathan Quick: Reg – 49 GS, 49 GP; Playoffs – 26 GS, 26 GP
Henrik Lundqvist: Reg – 64 GS, 65 GP; Playoffs – 25 GS, 25 GP
2014–15
Corey Crawford: Reg – 57 GS, 57 GP; Playoffs – 19 GS, 20 GP
Ben Bishop: Reg – 60 GS, 62 GP; Playoffs – 25 GS, 25 GP
2015–16
Matt Murray: Reg – 13 GS, 13 GP (+ AHL – 31 GP); Playoffs – 21 GS, 21 GP
Martin Jones: Reg – 65 GS, 65 GP; Playoffs – 24 GS, 24 GP
The reason the Flames were never able to get over the hump in the mid part of the first decade was that by the time Kiprusoff was playing in the first round, he was already cresting on 80 games. You will notice from this list that overwhelmingly the thing that all of these players have in common is that they have all played under 90 games in a year.
Devan Dubnyk is on pace to play 65 reg. season games, and Martin Jones will play around 68 games, although I expect the number for both of them to be a couple games under these numbers given that the Sharks and Wild will likely have a two or three game buffer of meaningless games in April. Cam Talbot is on pace to play
73 reg. season games. He could play more games given that there is no relief in Edmonton where they will likely be fighting tooth-and-nail to hold a division spot, and their backup goalie is a raw rookie. By the time the first round begins Talbot is likely approaching the brink of his season, and the Oilers should be an easy out.