Toronto's Three Headed Goalie Monster

Rookie James Reimer has been the most consistent goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs this season.

        The Toronto Maple Leafs have had several issues this season. A number of players have performed inconsistently, their powerplay has struggled and the goaltending has been poor for the most part. With rookie James Reimer playing quite well as of late, this has left coach Ron Wilson in a dilemma. I think the Leafs have to continue to roll with the 'hot hand', which in this case is James Reimer.

        A team carrying three goaltenders always creates an awkward situation. The most evident situation came a few years ago when Curtis Joseph, Dominik Hasek and Manny Legace were the goalies for the Detroit Red Wings. Joseph and Hasek were two obvious superstars and wouldn't even speak to each other. As a result, they both started to struggle mightily which caused the Wings to have a poor season. As a former goaltender, having three netminders practicing at the same time is very difficult. There are only two nets on the ice, so one goalie is always going to be sitting out at some point. This of course also leads to the fact that one goalie has to sit out and be a healthy scratch for games, which is always a bad situation to be in.

        It appears that Ron Wilson has neglected to play Reimer as often because both Jonas Gustavsson and J.S Giguere are older and more experienced. If both of them were performing well, this would make sense. Since the duo hasn't played to their expectations so far, it doesn't make sense to play either of them. The stats don't lie. Giguere sports a 9-9-3 record with a 2.82 goals against average and a .896 save percentage. Gustavsson has a 6-13-2 record with a 3.29 goals against average and a 890 save percentage. On the other hand, Reimer has a 4-3-0 record with a 2.24 goals against average and a .933 save percentage.

        The move that makes the most sense would be to try to trade Giguere. He may be 35 years old and on the back nine of his career, but he does have both a Conn Smythe Trophy and Stanley Cup championship on his resume. Some team that needs a goalie may want to take a chance on him. Besides, Toronto may be able to acquire a much needed draft pick or prospect in return for Giguere. If this occurred, Reimer would have ample opportunity to prove to the squad that he is a legitamate NHL goaltender. If he plays well, great. If he doesn't, this will allow Brian Burke to pursue a top-end free agent goaltender during the off season. Some examples include Ilya Bryzgalov, Jimmy Howard and Tomas Vokun.

        Since the Maple Leafs don't have a first round draft pick, they might as well continue rolling with the players that are playing the best. In between the pipes, that player is James Reimer.