by Susan SlusserFiled under: Sharks
What gets the Sharks over this seemingly impossible hump of the Western Conference finals?Well, San Jose's many attempts to get to the Stanley Cup Final over the past decade did feature two constants: forward Patrick Marleau and goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, and now Nabokov, the top goalie in franchise history, is gone.
In his place, a man coming off a Stanley Cup win. Antti Niemi will be in net for San Jose, and the team also has a capable No. 2 in a second Finnish goaltender, Antero Niittymaki, signed before the Sharks knew that Niemi would be available.
During the exhibition season, the goalie situation was presented as a competition, but there is little doubt that Niemi will be the top guy -- he's one of the main reasons that San Jose failed again last year to get to the Final. You'd think that might make for strange bedfellows, especially when Niemi showed up with a red goalie mask on the first day of camp, but the Sharks are really just happy to have him on their side rather than in the opposite net.
Coach Todd McLellan told FanHouse that he's using the preseason to try to gauge which of the two goalies might be used best in which situation -- is one better or worse going back-to-back? Are some opponents better suited to Niemi or Niittymaki? Obviously, Niemi will be more familiar with Western Conference opponents after being Chicago's top goaltender last season, while Niittymaki's experiences with Philadelphia and Tampa Bay make him more acquainted with the Eastern Conference clubs.
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