2010-2011 NHL Season: The Reinders Reader: The Month of the Goalie

One month into the season and it's almost as if hockey had never been on its yearly break.

What about those goalies? I realize its only one month since the start of the 2010-11 season but the position is a little nuts right now. 16 goalies have a GAA of under 2.40—that's a high volume; five of those goalies with a sub 2.00 GAA? That's crazy.

All of them playing in six or more games makes it even more unlikely.

But the craziest part of all is Tim Thomas. 0.50 GAA, 0.984 SVP and completely unbeaten. He's let in three goals on a 185 shots. Three goals! That's inhuman considering he was basically given no shot at the starting position.

The tandem in Boston has to make people a little jealous. Future Vezina winner in Rask and present inhuman beast in Thomas.

What about Steven Stamkos? 19 points in 10 games? Far cry from the player Melrose wouldn't play and people were starting to call a bust (very prematurely). The way Stamkos is playing, he could be the next player to join the talk of who is the best player in the game, taking on Crosby and Malkin. The kid has been unreal. Yzerman has to work out a way to get him into the fold long term. Its a shame Vinny Lecavalier's contract presents a barrier.

What about Chris Stewart? Did anyone see this guy scoring nine goals in 11 games? He and Paul Stastny have had great chemistry and represent a dangerous duo. Add Duchenne and you have a center tandem that will one day be comparable to some of the best in the league. With a dangerous Hedjuk, the top six is quite deadly.

It's too bad Anderson went down with injury; Colorado had the potential to be dangerous.

After going for no points and -5 in his first three games, Ryan Getzlaf has been a force. Only being held off the score sheet for two of his next nine games, Getzlaf is now tied for the third best point total. Of those nine games, six were two or more point games.

Does anyone still think that New Jersey is going to compete for the cup this year? Not to brag, but I wasn't a New Jersey believer at the beginning of the year.

Kovalchuk hasn't done much besides a few goals and being scratched for a game. Brodeur hasn't been great and the team hasn't been able to ice a full roster at times. Now with Parise being out indefinitely, do they even have a chance to make a comeback? The mess may only be beginning though.

How do you think Parise feels right now? He basically had his team taken away from him and by all accounts, they are the worst in the league. Could this possibly lead to his departure through a trade demand or offer sheet next summer?

Questions are starting to pop up on the future of Jarome Iginla in Calgary. Rumors of a rift between him and Sutter surely don't help. Could this year mark the second departure of a star player?

One thing is for sure, Iginla deserves a shot at the cup and it might be time for the Flames and Iginla to part ways for the best interest of both.

Trading Iginla would bring in a nice package to help the team and it would give Iginla that shot at a cup for not one, but three years.

Mike Brophy seems to think LA would make a push. That would be a good fit, but I wonder if St. Louis would push mighty hard to get him. They have the assets to get him and the young talented team to compete for a cup. All they lack is star power, and Iginla would bring that.

So, clearly, I was wrong about Cam Fowler being the big bust from this year's draft, utterly wrong.

The kid has been one of the Ducks' best defenseman before being injured and was just a stunning player to watch play. News is coming out that he will stay with them for the year. Other rookies joining him will be Jeff Skinner, Tyler Seguin and the Edmonton troika.