Silos Suffer From Bad Goaltending -- Great White Rumour Mill

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Subject: Silos Suffer From Bad Goaltending

Author:
Saskatoon Sun

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Date Posted: 17:49:49 02/16/03 Sun

Going into the 2003, the one area of the Saskatoon Silos' lineup that seemed secure was their goaltending. The tandem of Nik Khabibulin and Jocelyn Thibault, while having some shaky moments last season, were seen by most to be a good 1-2 combination.

Instead, the '04 season has so far been a nightmare for the duo, and for Silos coach Bob Hartley, as well. That nightmare continued against division rival Edmonton, with the Eagles pulling out a wild 8-6 victory with two unanswered goals in the 3rd period. Khabibulin was the starter, but saw his night end early after giving up 5 goals on 19 shots. Thibault replaced Khabibulin late in the 2nd period, and proceeded to give up another goal on the first shot that he faced. All told, the Saskatoon backup goalie gave up 3 goals on 8 shots.

Another area of concern for Saskatoon is the team's penalty killing, with that unit being tied for the worst percentage in the GWHL. The unit continued their poor play against Edmonton, giving up 3 goals on 5 power play opportunities.

An obviously exasperated coach Hartley didn't mince words following the loss.

"Nik and Jocelyn need to show up for work," growled Hartley. "For the most part, the players in front of them have been doing a good job of keeping the shots against down, but the goaltenders are not keeping their part of the bargain."

Things don't get any easier for the Silos, with the Edmonton game being the first in a stretch of 6 games on consecutive days. Khabibulin is expected to get the start, so he'll need to be sharp against a surging Yellowknife team that features several scorers.

Silo Siftings: Saskatoon GM Ken McKenna completed two deals on Saturday, which brought 3 new defensemen into the fold. Coming to "Paris of the Prairies" from Victoria are Stanislav Neckar and Marc Bergevin, in exchange for prospect Alexei Smirnov. McKenna later acquired Richard Pilon, plus LW Denis Hamel, from B.C., with Janne Laukkanen and Lubomir Visnovsky going to the Huskies. "The 3 defenseman we acquired are better defensively than they are on offense, which is depth we needed to add," said the GM. "Hamel has been hampered by knee problems the past couple of seasons, but he could be useful to us down the road if he can shake off the effects of the injury."

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