Antti Niemi, San Jose Sharks
After winning the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks two years ago, Niemi was cut loose as an expendable piece. He signed a deal with the San Jose Sharks, but struggled on-and-off his first season. Just like the Sharks as a whole, Niemi won a lot of games, but could not perform in the pressure situations. He has won 69 games in the last two seasons, so the continuing success was not surprising. In the lockout shortened season, Niemi started 43 games, and posted a 24-12-6 record with 4 shutouts. Production numbers were much better, with him producing a 2.16 goals against (down 0.26 from last season) and a .923 save percentage (up .010 from last year). The usually offensive minded Sharks team leaned on Niemi this season to carry them to the playoffs, which he did.