At the end of last season, the Dallas Stars realized that they couldn’t run with both Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen after trading for Ben Bishop. The 34-year-old was bought out by the team and after a series of waiver claims ended up with the Montreal Canadiens. Call it irony or poetic justice, but the fact that Niemi stepped up and had another good game for the Habs to beat the Stars is funny when you consider they’re still paying him $1.5 million.
However, that’s beside the point. The point is that Niemi has been incredible when there was originally worry and doubt about whether he had what it takes to be an NHL goaltender.