The Chicago Blackhawks need alternatives in goal, and they have since the start of the season.
Shortly after they were done celebrating their Stanley Cup victory last June, it was clear that backup goalie Ray Emery was going to cash in on the sensational season that he had just enjoyed in 2013.
That was expected. When No. 2 goalies excel and have a chance to cash in, they do just that. Emery signed a one-year, $1.65 million contract with the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Blackhawks had to bring in a new No. 2 goalie.
Their choice of Nikolai Khabibulin was a strange one. While Khabibulin, 40, was a Stanley Cup-winning goalie in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightning, he had been laboring in Edmonton for a non-contending team, and he no longer had the skills that made him an imposing presence.
The Blackhawks learned this every time they gave Khabibulin a chance to play. While he has appeared in just four games, he has a 5.00 goals against average and an .811 save percentage.
Khabibulin would eventually go on the injured list with a lower-body injury, and the Blackhawks called up Antti Raanta, 24, who has be ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Steve Silverman
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