Rick DiPietro or Kari Lehtonen

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nally

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Granted, Lehtonen has developed much more quickly then DiPietro. But DiPietro showed signs of why he was the first overall pick...not that it matters, Kari was 2nd orverall...big difference. I think the next year DiPietro plays, he is going to have a standout year.

Lehtonen is dominating every league he has been in and didn't stop there with his 4 games in the NHL. Doesn't hurt playing on a Bob Hartley team. Who is going to have a better overall career...considering teams, style of play, attitude etc.

I have DiPietro in a keeper pool and would like to say that he will be better...but if I'm going to be as objective as I can, I'm going to have to go with Lehtonen. 6'3" compared to 5'11" doesn't hurt as well
 
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Lessy

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I'd take Lehtonen by a mile, I think Dipietro is ok, not much better not much worse while I think Lehtonen may be one of the top goalies in the NHL for a long time.
 

Levitate

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dipietro could be a perinneal all-star goalie...he still has to settle down sometimes, occasionally he goes nuts and tries to play the puck all the and makes huge mistakes. but when he's on, he's very solid and is great about keeping rebounds from getting away from him.

is lehtonen better? :dunno: i'd like to see lehtonen play a year in the NHL before making a real judgement...but i guess i'd say i think lehtonen has the potential to be a better goalie than dipietro...but at this point i think potential is the key word. 4 games isn't enough to judge a goalie on in the NHL (for good or for bad) so i think dipietro is the better NHL goalie at the moment. i think lehtonen is very likely to reach his potential or come close to it, but i just hate trying to compare NHL players to non NHL players and say who's better
 

roast

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Kaiped Krusader said:
So Steve McKenna and Jason Strudwick are better hockey players than Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin? Interesting. Personally, I would disagree.


Did you see the 11 Goal explosion McKenna went on in 02-03?
 

CJHF13

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Kaiped Krusader said:
So Steve McKenna and Jason Strudwick are better hockey players than Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin? Interesting. Personally, I would disagree.


Alright. I had it right in my mind when I said it but, it came out wrong. In fact, I guess it's just flat out wrong.
 

Seph

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nally said:
Granted, Lehtonen has developed much more quickly then DiPietro. But DiPietro showed signs of why he was the first overall pick...not that it matters, Kari was 2nd orverall...big difference. I think the next year DiPietro plays, he is going to have a standout year.

Lehtonen is dominating every league he has been in and didn't stop there with his 4 games in the NHL. Doesn't hurt playing on a Bob Hartley team. Who is going to have a better overall career...considering teams, style of play, attitude etc.

Keeping in mind that Dipietro was drafted 2 years prior to Lehtonen, here are the two of them at the only point in their respective careers where the level of competition and their relative experience was comparable: the next season after their draft year, both were 20 and 21 years old for these two seasons.

Dipietro
2001-02 Bridgeport AHL 59GP 2.32GAA 30-22-7 0.913SV% 3Assts
2002-03 Bridgeport AHL 34GP 2.14GAA 16-10-8 0.924SV% 4Assts

Lehtonen
2003-04 Chicago AHL 39GP 2.41GAA 20-14-2 0.926SV% 3Assts
2004-05 Chicago AHL 27GP 2.12GAA 18-8-1 0.935SV% 0Assts

While I feel that either answer that people want to give is valid, and arguments can certainly made for either (and I certainly don't expect this little portion of stats to sway anyone as we all know how much stats mean) I disagree that Lehtonen has either developed faster or that he has dominated every league he's played any more than Dipietro. The biggest difference between the two's career so far IMO was that Atlanta did not rush Lehtonen into the NHL immediately after drafting him. But considering how goaltenders develop and the high potential of both, it's impossible to gauge who will be better at this point. That's my opinion anyway.
 

bruins4777*

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Dipietro will be more exciting, but not as dependable as Lehtonen. I'll take lehtonen. Dipietro will be great, but not as good as lehts.

Atlanta could have made them their immediate starter out of the finnish league, but they made a good desicion in not rushing him.
 

Patty Ice

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I view both as two of the top 3 young goaltenders who will be the top dogs in the coming years. I'd take DiPietro just because he is one of my favorites.
 

pelts35.com

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Tough decision, but I'll take DiPietro just for the simple reason that he has already demonstrated that he can put up good numbers in the NHL where Lehtonen has yet to do so.
 

Levitate

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pfft, get back to me when luongo wins a playoff game, a cup, whatever!

(just kidding, I actually think Luongo is probably top 5 in the league in terms of pure talent and goaltending ability...every time I watch him I'm freakin amazed)
 

Habsfan 32

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Aug 18, 2004
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I'd take Lethonen just because of his higher ceilling and he is more fundamentaly sound then DiPietro.But both of them have lots of talent and they should be awesome goalies for the futur along with Fleury.
 

Russian_fanatic

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Jan 19, 2004
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Lehtonen=VERY, VERY, VERY overhyped, but he still wins this one. Personally I feel no goalie in the NHL posses HOF talent except Brodeur :p: Lehtonen will not be a HOF.
 

Bruins4Ever

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Make this more interesting, throw Andrew Raycroft in there, and see where the thread ends up. I'd say Lehtonen has more potential, but may not be a better goalie, so I'll still give him the edge.
 
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