J.S. Giguere: Giggy was ranked pretty highly in most fantasy hockey services out there, including an O-Rank of 21 in Yahoo! He ended up faltering this season, though, considering his rank and expectations going into the season on a pretty good team that had just won the Cup a couple years ago. At the moment, Giggy’s job for the 09-10 season looks to be in jeopardy, as the emergence of young Jonas Hiller in this year’s post-season (and over the course of the regular season) has Giggy owners out there pretty worried. Giggy did have some personal problems, with a death in the family, so naturally his mind was elsewhere this season, and this is an impact that should not be underestimated. Giguere has been an extremely solid goalie for the past several years, so do not be surprised if he rebounds strongly next season, whether it’s in Anaheim or elsewhere. JS was likely drafted in the first few rounds, depending on the league categories, and his rather weak performance in relation to his high draft pick make him effectively a bust for the 08-09 regular season.

Marty Turco: Ah, Marty Turco, an interesting example of a player who can be so good sometimes but so terrible at others. When choosing a #1 goalie for a fantasy team, dealing with inconsistency is just not worth it. Marty Turco had seemingly exorcised his playoff demons last season, as the Stars finally played through more than just one round, with Turco playing very well. Coming into this season, Turco had always been at least a pretty good goalie in the regular season, and with the Stars adding more quality pieces to their team, it seemed like they would be at least in the top quarter or so of the Western Conference standings but it was not to be. Turco’s individual inconsistent play to start the season was just the beginning. The Stars were absolutely decimated by injuries to many of their key players, and for extended periods of time. The Stars season really hit the precipice and dove off when Sean Avery was suspended indefinitely. On top of all this, Turco continued to play poorly basically the entire season. Those that drafted him as their #1 goalie, especially in the first few rounds, were basically screwed over unless they pulled off some shrewdly timed trades or were wise and/or lucky enough to grab a young stud like Steve Mason or Pekka Rinne from free agency before they really took off. Those who kept up with the weekly goalie outlook know that at one point, the overall strategy concerning Turco was to simply STOP starting him. Though Turco can still be considered a solid keeper goalie, it would be best to use caution with him going forward.

Dan Ellis: Nashville has been a revolving door of backup goalies coming in and showing up the starters and eventually stealing the job outright as the season progressed. This has happened 3 years in a row now, counting 08-09. Vokoun was ousted by Mason, then Mason was ousted by Ellis, and now Rinne has seemingly ousted Ellis going into next season. Pekka Rinne, in the running for Rookie of the Year, was somewhat of a surprise for most fantasy managers out there. He jumped in for the Preds and didn’t look back. Due to Ellis’ play last season, going 23-10 with a fantastic .924 save percentage, he came into 08-09 looking pretty solid. Once Mason was gone, it looked like Ellis’ team and thus, a lot of managers out there drafted Ellis with confidence. Obviously this did not work out as planned, as the Predators have a bit of lost strength the past couple years, especially with Radulov not honoring his contract. Ellis ended up starting 33 games but was a very disappointing 11-19 this time around. His future looks uncertain with Rinne in the mix now. Ellis is a questionable goalie option for those playing in keeper/dynasty leagues, so be wary of his situation. Will the past repeat itself again for the Nashville goalies? It is very possible.

Mathieu Garon: Mathieu Garon was looking like the Oilers’ #1 goalie coming into 2008-2009 and was drafted accordingly. He had a decent start, winning his first 3 starts, but then dropped his next 5. Garon only started 13 games for the Oil and then ended up on the Penguins to be Fleury’s backup. It was unlikely that Garon was drafted too highly, depending on the league and settings, but many did peg him to be the starter for Edmonton, which makes him automatically valuable since true starting goalies are tough to come by. Things started getting sketchy for the Oilers goalie situation though when Drouin-Deslauriers was kept on for the whole season and could not be sent down due to fears that he would be snatched off waivers by another team, thus creating a three-headed goalie monster for the Oilers. As the season went on, Dwayne Roloson again proved to be the best choice for moment, and Garon and JDD’s starts were cut back significantly. Garon’s situation for next season is uncertain but look for JDD to challenge Rolo for the #1 spot in Edmonton.

Pascal Leclaire: Leclaire had 9 shutouts and solid numbers across the board playing for a young and scrappy but still immature Jackets team in 07-08. A lot of managers likely drafted Leclaire going into 08-09 to see if he could duplicate his success from the previous season but were left disappointed after another injury plagued season. The Jackets were aiming to make the playoffs this season for the first time in their franchise’s history, and Leclaire’s situation really rattled the outlook at the time. However, young goalie Steve Mason, who was highly touted coming in, stepped in for Leclaire and was lights out almost all season long. Mason did have some struggles with mono, which definitely affected him for the second half of the season and also their brief playoff stint, but overall, Mason played extremely well. He played well enough that the Jackets were confident in Mason being the team’s future and thus traded Leclaire to the Senators, who have had goalie problems for what seems like forever. Perhaps Leclaire will help solve the Sens’ woes in net, but for this past season, he was a bust.

Manny Legace: Legace was the backup in Detroit for a few seasons until he got his shot to finally be the starter in the first post-lockout season of 05-06 where he had a really good record of 37-8. Of course, his shortcomings were perhaps masked by the fact that the team in front of him was so consistently strong; this did not hold up when the playoffs rolled around and the Red Wings were once again upset early. Manny Legace was quickly driven out of Detroit when it was evident he could not bring them to another Cup. The one time 8th round draft pick still drove forward and ended up with the division rival St. Louis Blues squad. The last couple seasons Legace wasn’t terrible, but he wasn’t that great either. It all fell apart on him in 08-09 and he was eventually sent down to the AHL. Legace’s future in the NHL is very cloudy. Hopefully those burned by drafting him this season will certainly stay away from him in the future.

Honorable mentions: Toskala, DiPietro, Osgood