Goalie: You make the call

Ersberg does overplay the short-side (Hejduk's goal and one last night) but generally he's much better positioned than Santa Labarbara. He's just better.

I voted Ersberg but I'll add that the team has played better in front of him, which is expected since it can take a while for guys to get used to new system and gel.

So I would give LaBarbera the chance tonight and if he plays well then reward him w/ another game. Nothing wrong if they end up splitting the season 50/50.

Just ride whatever goalie seems hot at the moment. I'm guessing it will generally be Ersberg, though.

I would rather see some kind of REASONABLE rotation since neither Ersberg nor LaBarbera is anywhere near being 1A NHL goalie and therefore, ten straight starts seems hardly justifiable for an average goalie while the other guy of about the same caliber is getting rusty. At the present time, I give Ersberg a very small edge simply because Rich did not provide rotation as an option. My biggest gripes with Ersberg are his smallish stature and so so PK numbers. By now every assistant coach probably tells his forwards to go high on the blocker side or try to commit Ersberg down low and deke. As far as PK, I don't think that it's a coincidence that the team dropped from 1st to 11th with Ersberg. There is just something missing with him there...

Don't expect any miracles with the current AHL goalies. Just recently, their numbers looked absolutely atrocious, although they have both improved to a hair over .900 save percentage lately. If anything, I'd rather see Voynov and Purcell being called up to replace Calder and Preissing or Gauthier.

On another subject - a technical one - I tried to register twice, both times using my @@sbcglobal.net addresses. Never received any confirmation or any other communication. I don't use gmail or hotmail. Anyone has any ideas how to get around it? Thanks in advance!

This is the biggest no brainer in the world.
Ersberg has shown the ability to win a game on his own.
Beacball #2 has not.

I think Ersberg has played well for the most part and he has been an upgrade over Barbs, but the D has played very well in front of him and the oppositions chances have been limited.
I still would like to see Bernier get the chance to show us he is the stud goalie of the future. His numbers have improved 2.59 GAA .903 save% from where they were in the beginning. I still believe when the organization feels he's ready, he will be the goalie of the future.

Please don't force me to watch Labs struggle in net ever again. Check the stats - up until his dreadful performance last night, Ersberg was toeing the 2.00 GAA line.

Ersberg, Bernier, Zatkoff, Quick, or Taylor - any of these options are better than Labs.

I checked the goalie stats and guess what? Ersberg is 27 in the league (of 38 goalies) and Labarbera 33rd. I really don't think it matters much, they both suck.

This is, has, and always will be our biggest problem. We are nearly dead last in save pctg in the league. Again. No wonder we can't win.

The only reason why the defense is playing better in front of Ersberg is because they have a lot more confidence in him. For a defensman, confidence in your goaltender is HUGE.

IS THIS A TRICK QUESTION?

I guess guys like Statman, Mask0425LA, and Bring Back the Shield have never actually WATCHED a Kings game this year. Is Ersberg as good as Brodeur or Luongo? Of course not. But he's a LOT better then LaBarbara. Maybe he's 27th because he's only got 10 games while most of the starting goalies in the league have 17+? Just a thought. LaBarbara starts tonight. Edmonton wins 5-1.

Those 30 votes for Labarbera has got to be a joke. Who the hell is voting Labarbera? Unless...hmmm...hate to bring it up, Tavares or Hedman?

@ Paul,

Easy there or you may hurt yourself jumping to conclusions... I suggest you learn to read carefully before you rant and try to put other people down.

As far as Ersberg not having played as many games as some other goalies, have you considered the fact the his numbers (and his game) have been declining over the last few games? Have you considered that most smaller goalies are more prone to suffer fatigue and thus his numbers would probably continue worsening unless given a break? Do you even know that for a statistical sample to be valid, it has to be 30 or greater? Guess what, he has not played 30 games in the NHL yet but he did play 30 games with the Monarchs and those numbers are not exactly going to instill fear in Luongo or Brodeur.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/teams/players/bio/?id=6076&hubname=nhl-kings

For the record, I did vote for Ersberg, but that was simply choosing the lesser of the two evils. Remember this next time he covers about 2x2 out of 4x6 or fails to poke his stick on PK when another team makes a pass across his crease.