Niemi will be a bargain for another NHL team
With Carey Price on board for the next eight seasons and Charlie Lindgren signed to a one-way deal for three seasons, there’s no room for Antti Niemi next season.
But Niemi’s play since he joined the Canadiens after being waived by Pittsburgh and Florida is proof that the 34-year-old Finn has something left in the tank.
The latest evidence came Saturday in Boston when Niemi made 48 saves, including 20 during Boston power plays, in the Canadiens’ 2-1 overtime loss to the Bruins. Niemi was the only reason an exhausted Montreal managed to salvage a point. The Canadiens managed only 28 shots with five of those on their four power plays.
Niemi’s record is 4-2-3 since joining Montreal, which is decent for a backup goaltender, but a closer look at his record shows that Saturday wasn’t the only time this season he has deserved a better result. In his five losses, the Canadiens have scored only seven goals. He has a 2.38 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. Those are top-10 numbers.
There are two other reasons why teams looking for a backup goaltender should consider Niemi. His salary this season is a mere $700,000 — he’s also picking up $1.5 million from a buyout from Dallas — which makes him affordable. And he’s a great teammate. While he has a Stanley Cup ring from his 2010 run with the Chicago Blackhawks, he understands the role of a backup and his hard work in practice serves as an example to his teammates.
Delayed homecoming: Claude Julien’s family stays in Boston during the season and this weekend provided an opportunity for a homecoming. But after Saturday’s loss to the Bruins, Julien said there was a hitch.
“I haven’t seen them yet because my wife is out of town with my daughter at a hockey tournament,” he said. “I won’t see them until tomorrow.”
Gio comes back strong: There were a few raised eyebrows when the Boston Bruins signed Brian Gionta for the playoff run and again Saturday night when Bruce Cassidy sent the former Canadiens captain out in the 3-on-3 overtime.
But Gionta didn’t look out of place as he picked up an assist on Brad Marchand’s winning goal. He was on the ice for 15:43 and won his only two faceoffs. He has
three assists in two games since he joined the Bruins after representing the United States at the Winter Olympics. Prior to the Olympics, his only game experience this season was a single American Hockey League game with the Rochester Americans. Poehling provides a highlight:
Ryan Poehling, the Canadiens’ first-round draft pick last June, had quite a weekend for St. Cloud State, the top-ranked team in U.S. college hockey.
On Friday night, Poehling scored the two goals and the overtime winner as St. Cloud defeated No. 13 North Dakota 4-3 and his power-play goal Saturday
launched a comeback as
St. Cloud rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie North Dakota 2-2.
It was Poehling ’s first goal Friday that had people talking. The 19-year-old was on a breakaway when he put the puck back between his legs and then lifted the puck over goaltender Cam Johnson’s blocker.
Poehling has 12 goals and 17 assists in 30 games this season; he had seven goals and six assists in 35 games in his first season.
Showdown in CWHL: The battle for first place in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League is coming down to the final weekend.
For the first time since the beginning of the season, Les Canadiennes have slipped out of the top spot after going 1-2-1 on their trip to China last week. Les Canadiennes and the Chinabased Kunlun Red Star each have 42 points, but Red Star has three more regulation wins. The Calgary Inferno is third with 38 points after being swept by fourth-place Markham over the weekend.
Les Canadiennes are home to the Inferno next weekend with games Saturday and Sunday at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard. While the two Canadian powers clash in a rematch of last year’s Clarkson Cup game, Red Star has the inside track for the regular-season title. Next weekend, Red Star is matched against the other Chinese team, the fifth-place Vanke Rays. Kunlun beat Vanke 5-1 Sunday and has outscored its Chinese rival 11-1 in their two meetings. They will meet twice in the Boston area because all of the playoff games will be in North America.