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Thanks to Niemi signing, Lehtonen won’t have to play ‘tired, hurt, or whatever’

Anaheim Ducks v Dallas Stars - Game Three

Kari Lehtonen

Getty Images

The importance of having two reliable goalies was perfectly demonstrated by the 2014-15 Dallas Stars.

Unfortunately for the Stars, it was demonstrated in a bad way.

This year, with Antti Niemi joining Kari Lehtonen, they’re hoping to show it in a good way.

“We’ve got two No. 1 goalies,” GM Jim Nill told The Dallas Morning News. “If there’s an injury or one of them is struggling, we’ve got time to get it corrected. We know when we go into a back-to-back situation, we have a fresh goalie that will be able to come in and win a game for us. I’m excited. We’ve had some good talks with both goalies and they’re excited. Kari went into a lot of games last year knowing he had to play even though he was tired, hurt, or whatever. He knows now that he has a comfort level.”

Nill had better hope his plan works, because based on combined cap hit, no team is spending as much on goaltending as Dallas.

Goalie caps

Above figures from war-on-ice.com.