Monday, 5. July 2010 8:48
The odds of the san jose sharks against the sports books NHL odds in NHL hockey betting improved on Thursday as they signed goalie Antero Niittymaki to a 2-year $4 million package.
The San Jose Sharks wasted no time in gaining one of the top free agent goalies on the market since they had already decided they were not going to re-sign longtime goalie Evgeni Nabokov. Nabokov got a lot of the blame when the sharks consistently underperformed against the sports books online odds in the playoffs.
The San Jose Sharks ended last season with the best record in the NHL but in the playoffs they bombed yet again. Acquiring Niittymaki is the first step for San Jose to correct some of their problems. He spent last season with a bad Tampa Bay squad but was still very good. The San Jose Sharks are learning that a high priced goalie is no better in the modern day NHL than a more cost effective one like Chicago’s Antti Niemi or Philadelphia’s Michael Leighton. The Sharks additionally have some young goalkeepers they like in Thomas Greiss and Alex Stalock but Niiittymaki goes into the season as the starter. Last season Niittymaki went 21-18-5 with a 2.87 goals-against average. He’s 83-79-28 in six NHL seasons, a lot of which were with average or below average squads.
Niittymaki started out his career in his native Finland. He then played for an AHL squad, the Philadelphia Phantoms, from 2002-2005 as well as for their NHL affiliate, the flyers. He aided to get the Calder Cup in 2005 and was granted the Butterfield Trophy for being the MVP in the process, making a name for himself in the league. The Philadelphia Flyers signed him as a backup goalie for the 2005-06 season. He competed with them until he was signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning as a backup goalie in July 2009. For the 2009-10 season, he lead the league in both saving percent and goal against average. Until July 1, when he became an unrestricted free agent, he competed quite effectively for the Lightning from that point on. He immediately agreed upon the 2-year deal with the Sharks.
Though they did lose free agent forward Manny Malhotra, San Jose already re-signed forwards Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski. After a lot of playoff failures, the sharks are attempting to remake their image. In that way, San Jose nonetheless has some work to do. Joe Thornton is a remarkable passer and one of the top scorers in the NHL but in the playoffs he is consistently a bust. Perhaps he might be put on the trade market this summer.
Just how good was San Jose in the regular season a year ago? They were 51-20-5-6. That was good for the top record in the league. But that record didn’t mean much as they lost in the playoffs again, sadly for the sharks. Thornton led them in points with 89 and overall the offense was 4th in the league, scoring 3.1 goals per competition. The defense granted just 2.5 goals per competition, placing them at a reliable 8th in the league. That defense might be improved next season with Niittymaki in net.
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