We don't know a lot about Patrick Lalime so I asked our resident Chicago Blackhawks blogger to write a little bit about him. We all remember Lalime from his days in Ottawa but that is far in the past and it will be good to get to know what type of player he is today. SCH from Second City Hockey was kind enough to share a few words with us.
You're getting a quality backup in Lalime. I was happy with his 2007-08 season for the Hawks. He ended up starting 30 games while Nikolai Khabibulin was injured (or at one point just not playing well), and there was many games where he had to make up for a shoddy defense and make some big stops, and more often than not he came through, although the numbers might not indicate that at first look. He really stepped up for the Hawks as a starter when they needed him last season and kept them in a lot of games when they were depleted with injuries. I doubt if he'll ever become a starter again, but as a backup he's a solid goalie and I think you'll end up fairly happy with him.
If SCH is right than we may have finally found someone that can relieve the pressure on Ryan Miller and hopefully allow him to play at 100 percent every time he's on the ice.