Dobber, you mentioned that this guy could be ahead of Holmqvist and Denis, in Tampa. What can you tell me about him? From a draft perspective would you consider his \'starting\' position to be ahead of Greiss, Schwarz, Tordjman?
I consider that Greiss could end up being the \'back up\' to Nabakov or Toskala. Tordjman could be the \'backup\' to whomever in Phoenix. Schwarz could be the back up in St. Louis (I think we disagree on that point).

Is this a goaltender that you would draft considering there is no agreement with the Russian Ice Hockey Federation? How soon do you expect to see him in the NHL?

Funny you ask, because he\'s coming over as of this week. He\'s going to be great. Big, extremely athletic, great glovehand. Think Sean Burke in his prime.

Agree with you Bugg on everything but Koschechkin\'s glovehand, which may be slightly above average, but is far from great. On the other hand, he\'s so big (6\'6\", 225 lbs to those who aren\'t familiar) and plays the angles so well that there\'s not much corner to cover, so he gets away with it. He also takes away the five-hole incredibly quickly for such a tall goaltender.

I wouldn\'t necessarily expect to see him make the team right out of training camp, but (unless Holmqvist/Denis really step things up) he\'ll get some starts by mid-season. Assuming his skating and recovery time continue to improve, I think at that point he\'ll likely stay, or be back on the roster by next season.

Great 8th-round pick for the Lightning.

Post edited by: Thieving Giraffe, at: 2007/05/28 15:02

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T.G.

Keep an eye on him, the coach would love for someone to seize the starting role, and Denis and Holmqvist (and Rammo for that matter) have not done that.
It will be wide open in camp. Would I take him? only if I had two or three other solid goalies on my team so that I can afford to take a risk like that.

Tjordman and Schwarz don\'t have a shot this year. Tjordman maybe could steal the backup job. Maybe.
I think Griess will be the backup in SJ.

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DobberHockey Rules
14 Team Keeper, points only, best 12 skaters 2 dman 2 G count. Playoffs count.
F - Crosby, C.Smith, Wheeler, Parenteau, Hudler, Clowe, Grabovski, Atkinson, Frolik, S. Kostitsyn, Marchand, Peverley, Tavares, Read, Brouwer, Bickell, Gionta, Setoguchi
G - Anderson, Hiller, Markstrom, Brodeur
D - Letang, Del Zotto, I. White, Kronwall, Brodin, Nikitin