[Cali Panthers Fan]

All this talk of acquiring a veteran backup, but let's look at the list of available free agents, shall we?

I'll start by actually entertaining this idea and suggest that Kari Lehtonen wouldn't be the worst choice ever. He put up a .911 Sv% and a 2.58 GAA in Dallas last year. He can also play more games than the average backup as he played in 36 last year and is a former starter. But is Kari Lehtonen really the long term answer in net for Calgary? I'll let you guys decide, but I'd sooner give the time to young goalies that still have potential over a 34 year old washed up starter.

Here's the rest of the list, but I have to warn you, buyer beware. This is no longer a group of gently used cars that could be serviceable for a few years. This is a list of lemons that were made in countries that no longer exist. I would strongly urge to stick with the guys we have.

Steve Mason
Ondrej Pavelec
Michael Leighton (37)
Dustin Tokarski
Anders Lindback
Adam Carlson
Sean Maguire
Matt O'Connor
Jeff Glass
Tom McCollum
Jason Kasdorf

Decisions, decisions...so many good options to choose from!

Nah, Rittich showed last year that he was better than a replacement level goaltender as the back up, and Gillies was no slouch either, although he did have some rough moments here and there.

People forget this, but before Smith went down to injury, Rittich had 7 starts. His lowest save percentage in any of those games was .919, and he was regularly hovering around .940. He played exceptionally well as the backup, but struggled as the de facto starter. Not surprising for a rookie NHL goaltender.

Rittich is my man unless someone steals the job from him.