Labarbera vs Leclaire

[primeau25]

repenttokyo wrote:

primeau25 wrote:

anyone whos a backup to cloutier sucks.

cloutier is a journeyman who isnt young enough to show a great deal of potential worth holding onto. 2003-4 with the rangers he had a .824 save percentage and almost 5 GAA in 4 games. last year he had a bump up hovering around the .900 mark. in real life, hes an acceptable backup. in the world of fantasy hockey, he sucks.

dude, labarbera spent last season in the ahl bc he would have had to pass through entry waivers if he had been called up. your simplistic explanation leaves a lot to be desired. cloutier didn\'t even make the cut for the kings. man.

dude it\'s my opinion, leave me be.

labarbra has not earned a placement on a FANTASY team. sure, great backup, but we\'re talking a FANTASY team!! does he suck for a fantasy team to have? YES!

you go with proven players or prospects full of potential. Labarbra is NEITHER, he hasn\'t proven himself, he has no potential (or very little as a journeyman backup) and hes worthless on the bench. why even wast time, if you want him get him FROM FREE AGENCY! he\'s not going to be taken.

by cloutier being dropped to make way for bernier it means that labarbra will have a very difficult time holding onto that starting role. bernier will have the nod simply because hes the young guy that the franchise will sooner or later build on. not to mention the fact that the organization will want to revamp the franchise by putting a goalie in that is NEW and FRESH and could potentially do very well. in this scenario, labarbra sits back where he belongs, in the backup role while bernier plays. if it\'s the other way around, bernier will STILL get a fair share of games, maybe even 40 or so as backup which makes Labarbra split time with Bernier and get crappy numbers.

leclaire has a greater chance of earning the starting role in columbus this year and will have a better year numbers-wise with hitch coaching. the team itself will improve.

denis will fight tooth and nail for his position in TB and i believe he will earn it. really, holmqvist is not that great and the folks in TB know it and will be MORE than willing to give denis a fair shot. i think he\'ll emerge as the #1 guy and play more games than either leclaire or labarbra.

[Shoeless]

Short memories boys?

Labarbera\'s 2005 stats in the bigs on a team that really sucked.

2005-06 LA 29 21 1433 11 9 0 2 5 69 2.89 688 619 .900

If LA screws up Bernier by making him the starter this year - I will never forgive them

[primeau25]

the most games he has EVER played in a season is 29 and people question if BIRON can be a #1 goalie? dude labarbera can possibly end up wearing out from pressure if he\'s the starter, or simply not be able to carry the load as a STARTER. he is UNNNNPPPPRRRRROOOOOVVVVEEEEENNNNN!!!! go with denis, at least you know what you\'re getting.

[Orrfan]

repenter
Your right and I did know that. Similar situation existed in Van. with Flaherty. Often when players get their first stint in the nhl they play above their normal level and as a result look good. But when the fairey dust wears off there better be some real ability or they flop. This was the case with Labarbera I believe and this is only my humble opinion. But if the Kings are lookin outside the Org. there\'s prolly a good reason for that. Like the 4 goals Labarbera gave up the other nite in half a game might be an indicator. Show me a decent season at the nhl level and we are havin a different conversation.
As for Clouts I watched his act for too long up close an personal and never did a goalie do so little with so much. His wins were a hell of a lot more about the fire power backin him up... not his goal tending ability.
Want to see a goalie that can make chicken soup outa chicken bleep...Tim Thomas. Thats what I\'m talkin about.

[Shoeless]

I\'d take D Brown and Aubin and the cap relief for Gerber - Aubin saved my fantasy ass two years ago when Vokoun got the clots - I owe him one.:P

[duke23]

The one thing I find with fantasy leagues, is that, to use this example to explain, if you take Bernier off waivers, the rest of the league will stay away from LaBarbera and Aubin (unless they are super desparate for a goalie because it seems you\'ve done the research and are convinced bernier is LA\'s man. Therefore no point getting LaBarbera if your another guy in your league. You\'d look stupid. But where this advantages you is that if all of a sudden, Bernier isn\'t the man, you jump on LaBarbera coz you know he\'ll be left alone. Personally I think LaBarbera will end up being the guy. Bernier will start in LA, and every league will grab him, but LaBarbera will come into his own late November and be....serviceable. No Lundqvist or Fleury, but in the leage of Khabibulin and Fernandez maybe. Ignoring goaltending, don\'t forget the team is fine for skaters, so wins will be there. That said, Bernier \'may\' be this year\'s Jordan Staal. But Bernier more than likely is the man for 08-09.

[Shoeless]

Nice post Duke and an interesting perspective with some real merit.

[repenttokyo]

Shoeless wrote:

Short memories boys?

Labarbera\'s 2005 stats in the bigs on a team that really sucked.

2005-06 LA 29 21 1433 11 9 0 2 5 69 2.89 688 619 .900

If LA screws up Bernier by making him the starter this year - I will never forgive them

yeah i agree, he\'s on my fantasy squad as my 3rd goaltender. if primeau has a personal problem with labarbera then so be it, but his opinion doesn\'t affect my decision to have him on my team. I had him on my team for a time in 2005 when I won my league as well.

[repenttokyo]

primeau25 wrote:

the most games he has EVER played in a season is 29 and people question if BIRON can be a #1 goalie? dude labarbera can possibly end up wearing out from pressure if he\'s the starter, or simply not be able to carry the load as a STARTER. he is UNNNNPPPPRRRRROOOOOVVVVEEEEENNNNN!!!! go with denis, at least you know what you\'re getting.

i certainly do know what i am getting with Denis - someone who couldn\'t keep his job when his only competition with Holmqvuist! I don\'t know what happened to Denis but he really seems to have lost his confidence / edge.

[primeau25]

i think he\'ll make a come back. 50 saves in the last pre-season game i believe. hes hot hot hot in the pre-season, apparently. there was some post in the goalies thread, you should check it out.