After some time, former Chicago Blackhawk goaltender Antti Niemi finally found a new home, and it’s San Jose.
It’s hard not to say that this deal will somehow affect the Blackhawks, now that they have a very good chance of competing against Niemi, given he wins the number one spot against Antero Niittymaki.
San Jose is, no doubt, trying to bolster their roster to make that deep run into the playoffs that always seems to just barely escape from their grasp. Very few teams look as good as the Sharks during the regular season. However, once postseason starts, they become an underachieving  mess.
So will Niemi be that piece that puts San Jose on track to beat other playoff favorites, such as Detroit and Chicago?
I wouldn’t get too excited.
Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
It’s hard to have total confidence in this team when, for a couple of years now, it’s been the same story, but last year was an improvement compared to the few years before so it would also be a mistake to totally count San Jose out.
If Antti Niemi is as good as he and a his agent think, than Niemi could have a huge impact on this team. San Jose is gambling that he is as good as some people are making him out to be, and, with the way he played in the playoffs last season, there is good reason to suspect that Niemi will only get better.
On the other hand, while Niemi did play well in the postseason, he wasn’t totally spectacular. Playing on a team with a rock solid defense and a potent offense definitely helped, and it’s questionable whether Niemi can play without the stellar defense of Chicago.
It’s really a sink or swim deal for the Sharks, and there’s always the chance that Niemi might not even play if he loses the battle for the number one spot to Niittymaki.
So, as of right now, I’d be skeptical about the effect Niemi will have against the Western Conference and teams like Detroit and Chicago.
It’s a move that could benefit the Sharks a lot. There’s just now way of knowing this early. We’ll have to wait till hockey season begins.
About Tyler Juranovich
