Eastside's Hockey Elite Collide

Guys, a bit of a heads up before we get too late in the season: no goalie may have more than 67 starts, so your backup needs to start at least 15 games. Looking across the league, there are a few teams whose backups have played 10 or fewer times so far:

LA -- 7
MIN -- 9
PIT -- 8
STL -- 3
WSH -- 10

I haven't counted to see how many of these games are starts, but just wanted to give everyone fair warning. Once your Number 1 has hit 67 starts, the backup will be put in automatically for the rest of the season.

Bumping this topic.

Remember that both NHL and AHL starting goalies can have a maximum of 67 starts. Since everyone's down to 20-22 games left, that means some teams are closing in on that max with not much season left. Such as:

NHL
LA -- Steve Mason, 56 starts (11 left)
STL -- Kari Lehtonen, 51 starts (16 left)

AHL
ANA -- Igor Bobkov, 58 starts (9 left)
BUF -- Michael Guigovaz, 57 starts (10 left)
CHI -- Michael Morrison, 58 starts (9 left)
COL -- Juuse Saros, 61 starts (6 left)
FLA -- Richard Bachman, 61 starts (6 left)
MIN -- Anton Khudobin, 62 starts (5 left)
NYI -- Sami Aittokallio, 55 starts (12 left)
NYR -- Marek Schwarz, 53 starts (14 left)
NJ -- Jeff Frazee, 62 starts (5 left)
PHI -- Jeremy Duchesne, 56 starts (11 left)
PIT -- Patrik Bartosak, 54 starts (13 left)

Next game will be the final one for:

Riku Helenius (NJ)
Niklas Backstrom (COL)
Simeon Varlamov (WSH)
Chet Pickard (NSH)
Steve Mason (LA)
Samu Perhonen (MTL)

Only two games remain for:
Carey Price (EDM)
Kari Lehtonen (STL)
Tuukka Rask (BOS)

Only three games remain for:
Andrei Vasilevski (SJ)
Ondrej Pavelec (CHI)
Rick DiPietro (CGY)
Marc-Andre Fleury (TOR)
Pascal Leclaire (OTT)

As we near the 25% mark of the regular season, it's probably good for me to remind you that the maximum number of starts any single goalie -- both pro and farm -- can have is 67.

It doesn't matter when you play your backup: do it the final 15 games of the season if you like. But there are teams that have not used their backup at all this season, pro and farm.

Since everyone's over or well over the 50-game mark, this is a good time to remind everyone about goalie starts, from the rulebook:

Goaltenders, both at the NHL and the AHL level, will not be permitted to start more than 67 games.
When the backup goalie starts a game, then gets pulled, this game does not count against the main
goalie’s number. If a team’s main goaltender reaches 67 games started, his backup will start all
remaining games.

So is it GP or W + L + T?

MartyFromOTTAWA wrote:So is it GP or W + L + T?

The rulebook states it is "games started," and that replacing the backup G in a game doesn't count against the games limit. But...we've never tracked goalie starts, and neither does EHM nor GMO. It might therefore make more sense to use W/L/T rather than GP.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Commish Bub(NYR) wrote:

MartyFromOTTAWA wrote:So is it GP or W + L + T?

The rulebook states it is "games started," and that replacing the backup G in a game doesn't count against the games limit. But...we've never tracked goalie starts, and neither does EHM nor GMO. It might therefore make more sense to use W/L/T rather than GP.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I was always under the impression it was appearances (GP).

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3193&p=25855&hilit= ... lie#p25855

Tampa Bay GM wrote: I was always under the impression it was appearances (GP).

Yah it's definitely GP.

More evidence...

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2378&p=17940&hilit= ... led#p17940

Please remember that the goalie games played maximum is 67. Not starts, but appearances. EHM doesn't keep track of just starts. Make sure you leave yourself a cushion in case your backup gets pulled in a game.

Ah, okay.

Official decree: It's Appearances. Appearances Matter.

Everyone needs to watch their starting goalies games played from here on. Remember: max 67 games played.

Some teams starters are well over 50 games played. Not a problem yet, but your backup is going to see a lot of net from here on in: LA, MIN, NAS, NJ, VAN

Farm teams as well: CHI, EDM, FLA, MIN, STL, TOR are all getting close to the limit.

EDM, MIN, and STL farm backup goalies start for the rest of the season.

Malcolm Subban already has 70 GP for MIN.

I'm pretty sure LA and WPG were over the cap one game each at least (if not 2 for WPG) so Lehtonen and Campbell are near their limits too. I'll double-check later today.

I've gone through and checked how many times teams were over the cap this season *on a game day*, here's the list:

ANA: 2 (16/02/02; 16/02/04)
CGY: 1 (16/01/25)
CHI: 5 (16/01/26; 02/02,11,15,21)
DAL: 8 (15/10/17; 15/11/10,12,14,17,19,21,24)
DET: 3 (15/12/03; 16/02/20,23)
EDM: 5 (15/11/08,11,12; 16/02/13,16)
FLA: 6 (15/10/10,30,31; 15/11/10,12,14)
LA: 1 (16/02/27)
NAS: 4 (15/10/13,22,24; 15/12/03)
NJ: 1 (15/12/21)
PIT: 5 (15/10/08,10,13,15,17)
STL: 5 (15/12/01,04,05; 16/02/04,05)
VAN: 4 (15/10/07,10,12; 15/12/17)
WPG: 5 (15/10/08,09,12,16,18)
WSH: 3 (15/10/10,15; 16/03/20)

What this means for goalie starts:

ANA: Rinne has 4 starts left
CHI: Price cannot start any more games (in fact, should not dress at all in case the other goalie is pulled)
DET: Pickard has 1 start left
EDM: Montoya has 4 starts left (just play DP...)
FLA: Bachmann has 1 start left (just play Gibson...)
LA: Lehtonen has 1 start left
PIT: Bryzgalov has 5 starts left
STL: Mason cannot start anymore
VAN: Vasilevski has 3 starts left
WPG: Campbell cannot start anymore

Other teams are also close to the limit without having been over the cap (BOS/Rask, OTT/Fleury, BUF/Bernier, ARZ/Hellberg).

I dont believe the 11,15 I was over as my trades got me over but got back under before my next game.

BlackHawk Down (Seb) wrote:I dont believe the 11,15 I was over as my trades got me over but got back under before my next game.

Price is at 64 GP so the other 3 games put him at the limit anyway.

SharksGM wrote:I've gone through and checked how many times teams were over the cap this season *on a game day*, here's the list:

ANA: 2 (16/02/02; 16/02/04)
CGY: 1 (16/01/25)
CHI: 5 (16/01/26; 02/02,11,15,21)
DAL: 8 (15/10/17; 15/11/10,12,14,17,19,21,24)
DET: 3 (15/12/03; 16/02/20,23)
EDM: 5 (15/11/08,11,12; 16/02/13,16)
FLA: 6 (15/10/10,30,31; 15/11/10,12,14)
LA: 1 (16/02/27)
NAS: 4 (15/10/13,22,24; 15/12/03)
NJ: 1 (15/12/21)
PIT: 5 (15/10/08,10,13,15,17)
STL: 5 (15/12/01,04,05; 16/02/04,05)
VAN: 4 (15/10/07,10,12; 15/12/17)
WPG: 5 (15/10/08,09,12,16,18)
WSH: 3 (15/10/10,15; 16/03/20)

What this means for goalie starts:

ANA: Rinne has 4 starts left
CHI: Price cannot start any more games (in fact, should not dress at all in case the other goalie is pulled)
DET: Pickard has 1 start left
EDM: Montoya has 4 starts left (just play DP...)
FLA: Bachmann has 1 start left (just play Gibson...)
LA: Lehtonen has 1 start left
PIT: Bryzgalov has 5 starts left
STL: Mason cannot start anymore
VAN: Vasilevski has 3 starts left
WPG: Campbell cannot start anymore

Other teams are also close to the limit without having been over the cap (BOS/Rask, OTT/Fleury, BUF/Bernier, ARZ/Hellberg).

Dubnyk has played the 2 games i was over the cap this season. He played the 16/02/04 and 16/02/05 games.

Per Vik, I was over on March 26. Just being transparent.

AnaheimGM wrote:Dubnyk has played the 2 games i was over the cap this season. He played the 16/02/04 and 16/02/05 games.

That doesn't really matter. The main punishment for being over the cap is to get fewer starts for your starter. Yes we're supposed to bench your starter for the next game (which doesn't always happen), but that's just a nuisance if you still get 67 starts at the end of the season.

Admittedly this punishment doesn't work so well for teams that have two equally good goalies, so we'll look into a different system for next season. Then again, most teams stayed under all season along, so maybe the threat of endless nagging, blocked trades and eventually forced roster changes is enough.

Virtual Jarmo (CBJ) wrote:Per Vik, I was over on March 26. Just being transparent.

You were fine, actually.

SharksGM wrote:

AnaheimGM wrote:Dubnyk has played the 2 games i was over the cap this season. He played the 16/02/04 and 16/02/05 games.

That doesn't really matter. The main punishment for being over the cap is to get fewer starts for your starter. Yes we're supposed to bench your starter for the next game (which doesn't always happen), but that's just a nuisance if you still get 67 starts at the end of the season.

Admittedly this punishment doesn't work so well for teams that have two equally good goalies, so we'll look into a different system for next season. Then again, most teams stayed under all season along, so maybe the threat of endless nagging, blocked trades and eventually forced roster changes is enough.

Virtual Jarmo (CBJ) wrote:Per Vik, I was over on March 26. Just being transparent.

You were fine, actually.

Good, thanks for the precision!