Chicago Blackhawks Say No To Antti Niemi

August 4th, 2010 by Michael Gibbons Leave a reply »
Remember at the end of The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy is saying goodbye to everyone and turns to the Scarecrow and says I think I'll miss you most of all?

Well, I think I'll miss Antti Niemi most of all.

The Chicago Blackhawks have said goodbye to a lot of players that helped win Lord Stanley's Cup nearly two months ago but perhaps none were as key to so many victories as goalie Antti Niemi.

After coming up during the 2008-2009 season for a brief three-game stint, Niemi was able to beat out Cory Crawford for the backup job heading into the 2009-2010 season.

Niemi performed very well backing up Huet and as the season went on, he earned more and more starts and eventually the starting job coming down the stretch. Niemi appeared in 39 games while starting 35 of them and going 26-7 with seven shutouts, 91.2 save percentage, and 2.25 goals allowed per game.

Then the playoffs started and Niemi stepped up. He went 16-6 with two shutouts, a 9.10 save percentage, and 2.63 goals allowed average. His real standout performance was in Game One of the conference finals against the San Jose Sharks where he stopped 44 of 45 ...

Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
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