Nicky, Jason Labarbera is a Great Goalie!

[VegasDave]

davey, just to let you know.. your 3 LA goalies have exact same save pct.. they are all within decimal pts of each other.. all 3 at exactly 90%... also, all 3 goalies have GAA of right near 2.5... davey, today's NHL goalies are all great.. there is hardly any difference at all.. this is not the 1970's where there are shit goalies and great goalies..all goalies are great today..

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=ApgwpcML53gsyVaercWv11ZivLYF?slug=ap-kings-canuckstrade&prov=ap&type=lgns

Like I said, numbers don't always tell the whole story. And if you still want to bet that this guy who is "great" will still be in the NHL when the 2010 - 2011 season rolls around, my offer to bet still stands

[betplom]

Jason Labarbera is a Great Goalie!

I distinctly remembering you touting Labarbera when the season started, now it has become clear to you (and me) he is a pile of shit.

[VegasDave]

I distinctly remembering you touting Labarbera when the season started, now it has become clear to you (and me) he is a pile of shit.

I never touted the guy so much as I tried to be optimistic with him, and can you blame me? The Kings traded Cristobal Huet for Mathieu Garon a few years back, and then played a season with Garon/LaBarbera (among others when they were injured)... I prefered Garon. When Lombardi came in, he brought Cloutier in, which was a miserably failed experiment, and we couldn't call Labarbera up due to a snag in his contract, so he spent the whole year doing great in the AHL while Cloutier/Garon floundered (I don't blame Garon, we had an abysmal defense).

I'd hoped they would get rid of Cloutier, but they let Garon go and we went into the next year with Cloutier/Labarbera. Both were awful, but Labarbera at least showed signs of hope while Cloutier was just miserable very single night he played. Garon went on to be the league's best shootout goaltender, while Huet has been outstanding in Montreal, Washington, and now Chicago.

So seeing as Lombardi let Garon (my last reminder of letting Huet get away) go, I hoped it was because LaBarbera was really ready. But after Ersberg's stretch at the end of last year, I wanted Ersberg to be named starter heading into this season. When it was Labarbera, I tried to be cautiously optimistic that Coach Murray and Dean Lombardi knew something I didn't.

After about 5 to 10 games, it was clear they didn't. They have since realized the err of their ways, and have let the sack of garbage go.