Blackhawks' Huet certainly not alone in his struggles
The Blackhawks' Cristobal Huet is not the only high-profile goaltender off to a slow start.
Vancouver's Roberto Luongo comes to the United Center with a 3-5 record and .879 save percentage while Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas has a .896 save percentage in Boston.
Detroit's Chris Osgood has a .886 save percentage, as did Montreal's Carey Price going into Tuesday's game against Atlanta.
"When you look at all the teams right now and you look at the save percentages of the goalies, that's the one common denominator," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault told Sun Media.
But the Canucks and Hawks are different from teams getting top-notch goaltending at this point. Prior to Tuesday's games, Colorado's Craig Anderson, who hails from Barrington, had a .935 save percentage while Buffalo's Ryan Miller was at .938, Anaheim's Jonas Hiller at .921, Columbus' Steve Mason at .925, Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury at .822, the Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist at .927 and Phoenix's Ilya Bryzgalov at a whopping .953.
Perhaps Vigneault was referring to the relatively low save percentages of Martin Brodeur (.903), Miikka Kiprusoff (.902) and Tomas Vokoun (.903).
"I think production this year is a little higher, and it's hard to say why," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "I always find that goaltenders improve their play over the course of the year, and they get on a roll where you can't get anything by them.
"But every goaltender is a different situation. Every team has their own issues and their own affairs. I can't worry too much about what's going on around the league, but if you look at Luongo's start and Huet's start, I think they'd like to be better, but it's all part of it."
Just thinking:
If - and this is a big if - the Hawks feel the need to upgrade their goaltending somewhere along the way this season, who might be available?
How about this foursome: J-S Giguere in Anaheim, Washington's Jose Theodore, the Islanders' Martin Biron or Florida's Tomas Vokoun?
Do anything for you?
Giguere apparently is available, and there has been talk of the struggling Maple Leafs showing interest.
The problem the Hawks would have with Giguere is his $6 million cap hit and a contract that runs through next season.
Giguere has been to the Stanley Cup Finals twice and delivered the Ducks a Stanley Cup.
Around the rinks
• Maybe it's time Toronto GM Brian Burke shifts his focus to scouting for the U.S. Olympic team because the Maple Leafs are a mess.
Off to a 0-6-1 start and with just 14 goals in in seven games, Burke told ESPN.com that there will be "numerous, multiple player changes" before he would even consider firing coach Ron Wilson.
"The players are at fault here," Burke said. "We're not getting it done. It's not the coaching staff. It's the players not executing."
At least the Maple Leafs would get a lottery pick in the draft, right? Wrong. Burke traded his first-round draft pick to Boston to get Phil Kessel, who has yet to play because of a shoulder injury.
• Washington continues to make Michael Nylander a healthy scratch and finding little interest from anyone wanting to trade for the veteran center with the $4.87 million cap hit and contract that runs through next year.
• Hats off to the Coyotes and coach Dave Tippett for the 5-2 start amid all the financial trouble for the franchise and talk of relocation next year.
The Coyotes are getting spectacular goaltending from Ilya Bryzgalov, who is 5-1 with a 1.14 goals-against average and .953 save percentage.
"We're getting some results, which is a good thing," Tippett told the Arizona Republic. "It just continues to build the belief that if we do the right thing the right way we're going to be a very good hockey team."
• Minnesota's Martin Havlat has missed the last two games with a groin injury and is questionable for Wednesday's game against Colorado.
The list
Five rookies few people talked about in the preseason who are looking good so far:
1. Michael Del Zotto, Rangers: The 18-year-old defenseman has 9 points in nine games.
2. Ryan O'Reilly, Colorado: Third-round pick has 6 points in eight games at 18.
3. Jamie Benn, Dallas: Fitting right in with new-look Stars.
4. Tyler Myers, Buffalo: Playing 20 minutes on defense.
5. Jason Demers, San Jose: Defenseman already with 7 assists.
Ex-Hawk of the week
What's the best free agent signing of last summer? So far it's goalie Craig Anderson, who is off to a 6-1-1 start with a 2.09 goals-against average and .935 save percentage in Colorado.
The Avs signed the 28-year-old Park Ridge native and Barrington High School grad for $1.8 million.
"All you can ask of your goaltender is for him to give you a chance to win," Avs coach Joe Sacco said. "Over the course of the first eight games, he's done that and more."
tsassone@dailyherald.com