Paging Mr. Huet! I Have a Dr. Jekyll For a Mr. Huet!

Going into this 2009-10 season, many concerns about this Blackhawks team were centered around the goaltending. We knew they could score, and we knew the defense is solid through all three pairings; and with the return of players such as Ben Eager and Marian Hossa to the lineup, both of whom had been injured since the early stages of the season, this Hawks lineup looks not only to be one of the best Chicago has seen since the early to mid 90's, but also one of the best in the league this season. The big question mark was and still is whether or not the Blackhawks can get solid and consistent goaltending. On the heels of three shutouts in their previous four games, the Hawks entered the contest tonight at the UC against the Sharks confident in their netminders. The key word that still concerns me between the pipes however is that ugly 'c' word which not only Blackhawks fans, but Chicago sports fans as a whole dread: consistency.

There is no doubt, no matter how much we love him, that Antti Niemi, likely the Hawks' goalie of the future, is not the goalie of the present. The fact is that we just simply don't know what kind of production he can provide night in and night out, and with a solid season so far, ending tonight second in the conference (though two games behind the conference leading Sharks in games played), they aren't exactly in a position to play around and experiment. Yes they are winning, and moreover Huet is winning night in and night out...sort of. The tale of Cristobal Huet in Chicago has been of consistent inconsistency.

When he is on, much like Khabibulin before him, Huet is a fabulous netminder. I doubt he will be winning any Vezina Trophies in the rest of his career, but both late in last season and so far this season he is winning games. However, how he has played in the close games and in the losses concerns me. Being named the #1 Star of the week for the NHL this week, which he earned for his back to back shutouts, is great, but I remember attending a game in October against the Stars where he lost 4 – 3. To refresh your memory, that was the game where, among two other extremely soft goals, he allowed Stephane Robidas to score off a routine dump-in that happened to take some funny hops. Argue if you will that football is the game of inches and that baseball is the game of fundamentals, but hockey is a close second in both categories, and these seem to be the categories he lack proficiency in the most.

The concern is that when he is off, Huet is flat out terrible. On off nights, Huet is the type of goalie AHL players hope to face. And therein lies the problem: what happens if and when he starts having more off nights than on nights as we've seen from him in the past?

Let's break it down to brass tacks: Huet has posted a 16-8-2 record with a .913% save percentage and a goals against average of 2.05. Niemi, for comparison, has posted a 7-1-1 record with a .927% save percentage and a goals against average of 1.76. For all intents and purposes, those are the same goaltenders, and here's why. For one, a goalie's record is not an ideal indicator of his performance compared to his backup since, one could argue, that backups are fresher when they play, backups tend to be pitted against weaker opponents, or that they are even more motivated to win because each game is a chance to prove their worth to the team. Secondly, for the same reasons, their stats are within tolerance of being considered to be similar performances in the games they have played.

Here's where the problem lies. In games that Huet has won, he has averaged 1.50 GA on 23 shots faced, giving a save percentage of .933%. Not too shabby, and it looks great by itself:

Oct 10 '09   COL @ CHI	W	3	19	0.842
Oct 15 '09   CHI @ NSH	W	1	13	0.923
Oct 24 '09   NSH @ CHI	W	0	27	1.000
Oct 26 '09   MIN @ CHI	W	1	21	0.952
Oct 30 '09   MTL @ CHI	W	2	22	0.909
Nov 09 '09   LAK @ CHI	W	1	18	0.944
Nov 11 '09   COL @ CHI	W	2	27	0.926
Nov 13 '09   TOR @ CHI	W	2	31	0.935
Nov 15 '09   SJS @ CHI	W	3	23	0.870
Nov 19 '09   CHI @ CGY	W	1	28	0.964
Nov 21 '09   CHI @ EDM	W	2	27	0.926
Nov 25 '09   CHI @ SJS	W	2	24	0.917
Dec 01 '09   CBJ @ CHI	W	3	23	0.870
Dec 09 '09   NYR @ CHI	W	1	18	0.944
Dec 16 '09   STL @ CHI	W	0	27	1.000
Dec 20 '09   DET @ CHI	W	0	20	1.000
Averages		1.5	23	0.933

However, in games that Huet has lost, he has averaged 2.73 GA, also on 23 shots faced, giving a save percentage of .840%. Also not terrible, but not particularly great when you consider that he is giving up over a goal per game more in losses on the same number of shots:

Game	W/L/OT	GA	Shots Faced	Save Percentage
Oct 02 '09   FLA @ CHI	O	3	24	0.875
Oct 08 '09   CHI @ DET	L	3	23	0.870
Oct 12 '09   CGY @ CHI		3	5	0.400
Oct 17 '09   DAL @ CHI	L	4	25	0.840
Oct 29 '09   CHI @ NSH	L	1	27	0.963
Nov 05 '09   CHI @ PHX	L	3	23	0.870
Nov 27 '09   CHI @ ANA	L	3	34	0.912
Nov 28 '09   CHI @ LAK	O	1	22	0.955
Dec 04 '09   NSH @ CHI	L	4	23	0.826
Dec 11 '09   CHI @ BUF	L	2	33	0.939
Dec 22 '09   SJS @ CHI	L	3	14	0.786
Averages		2.73	23	0.840

Keep in mind that these numbers also include that terrible Dallas game, and an October 12^th game in which he lasted a whopping seven minutes in goal and was yanked after allowing three goals on five shots. That, we all remember was the game where the Hawks stormed back in front of Niemi to win 6 – 5 in the shootout against the Calgary Flames.

Now, many of you may be thinking, “So what? They're winning, aren't they?” While that is true, here is the troubling side to these bipolar numbers. When Huet has lost games in regulation, the Hawks have lost by an average margin of 1.75 goals. That's not a good number for one major reason. If that number is or is close to one, that sounds like games are being lost because the offense just couldn't get it together to tie the game up and force overtime or to win the game outright. However, that number being closer to two suggests games where the offense isn't failing to win games, but where the goaltender is giving the games away. The Hawks are averaging, after tonight's 3 – 2 loss to the Sharks, 3 goals per game. That's a healthy offense in today's NHL. But when your goaltender is giving up nearly that many tallies in each of his bad games, it doesn't sound likely that you will continue to win games if he starts having more bad games than good which is something that can happen to any player in today's NHL, and something we have seen happen to Huet in the past.

The other worrying thing is his demeanor in those losing games. When he is on, you can tell, even when he allows goals. When he allows goals on his good nights, he is downright pissed off, and is more fired up because of it. But his expression upon allowing goals on those bad nights is akin to Lovie Smith on the Bears' sideline: complete apathy. He remains 'calm,' has a drink of water, and stands right back in there making the same mistakes, just like tonight. Tonight he allowed the first two goals on fundamental mistakes. He went down to the ice, his gloves were down, and all Heatley and Thornton had to do was raise the puck and the net was wide open.

All this being said, I like Huet. I think he is one of the better goaltenders to stand between the pipes in Chicago in my lifetime, surely sharing top honors with Khabibulin since the days of Eddie Belfour. He is big, he stands tall in goal, he protects himself and his crease, and when he is on, he plays with the same fire and passion that not only the rest of the team plays with, but the same fire and passion that any great, championship caliber netminder in the past has played with. The only concern about him isn't a propensity for injuries or physical ability, it is all mental, and what could happen to this great team the Blackhawks have this season if we start seeing more of Dr. Jekyll and less of Cristobal Huet.