lehtonen or fleury.?

[gocanada]

whos the better golie.?

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[Puckhead]

Both have tremendous upside, are extremely athletic and have what it takes to make it as a no. 1 goalie. I think that Lehtonen is ahead of Fleury just because of his positioning. Fleury relies heavily on his reflexes, whereas Lehtonen is always in the right spot to make a save. Both have had some real highlight reel saves in junior and the A. Fleury had a great start to last season before the wheels fell off. But he can't be blamed for what was an awful team in Pittsburgh. I like Lehtonen's situation in Atlanta a little better too. This is a team with a definite plan and has drafted extremely well. They have put the right pieces in place and if they can add the right veterans, they will be a very inproved team. Atlanta is young, well coached and on a mission. Lehtonen would be my choice.

 

[psycho_dad*]

There are polls and discussions about this already so why create another. General concensus seems to be Lehtonen has the advantage but both are gonna be franchise goalies.

 

[JT8888]

i haven't seen Lehtonen play that much (or Fleury for that matter), but i remember Fleury first NHL game which was against the Kings and he was more than amazing. I think he let up 2 goals but the kings should have had about 10 (seriously). Fleury's going to be really good, i'd put money on it

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

i think they're both going to be amazing. lehtonen's in a better situation as far as how far into building a winner each team is, but pittsburgh will be solid in a couple years as well. lehtonen had a great start in the nhl, but so did fleury in winning october's rookie of the month. i just hope there's a season so we can see both of them along with ovechkin battle for the calder.

 

[Paxon]

Right now they are pretty close. Fleury has more NHL experience and "wowed" people in his short stay in Pittsburg playing for a horrible team (they didn't turn it up until much later in the season). Lehtonen played very, very well in his meager 4 games last season, posting a shutout and going undefeated. Lehtonen is much further ahead in his development and is considerably older, so by that I'd pick Lehtonen as being the better of the two at the moment.

As far as future success, Lehtonen's team is in a better position so I think it bodes well for him.

Team factors aside, I think Lehtonen will be the better goalie, anyhow. Both have extremely bright futures. How many Fleury vs. Lehtonen threads is this, now?

 

[Big McLargehuge]

The only thing I can say is that I'd be ecstatic to have either in my organization.

*is ecstatic*

 

[Amen evil king]

While I used to think they were dead even, Fleury's WJC, AHL and QMJHL playoff performances and his bad end to his NHL season all make this a pretty easy decision for me, Atlanta fan or not. Not to say Fleury won't 'bounce back' per se, but as of right now I think most people would take Lehtonen.

 

[Jeff Goldblum]

I think both of these guys will be at the same level. They will be the two that are just above and beyond anyone else. I also think that they will tradeoff years where one is a bit better, but each will have his years. Pick one, you can't go wrong.

 

[Parrish]

Being a huge Pens fan.Gotta be honest I'd trade Fleury for Lehtnen in a second.I may even throw in a pick.

 

[Puckhead]

i think they're both going to be amazing. lehtonen's in a better situation as far as how far into building a winner each team is, but pittsburgh will be solid in a couple years as well. lehtonen had a great start in the nhl, but so did fleury in winning october's rookie of the month. i just hope there's a season so we can see both of them along with ovechkin battle for the calder.

AMEN to that DM.

 

[Puckhead]

Right now they are pretty close. Fleury has more NHL experience and "wowed" people in his short stay in Pittsburg playing for a horrible team (they didn't turn it up until much later in the season). Lehtonen played very, very well in his meager 4 games last season, posting a shutout and going undefeated. Lehtonen is much further ahead in his development and is considerably older, so by that I'd pick Lehtonen as being the better of the two at the moment.

As far as future success, Lehtonen's team is in a better position so I think it bodes well for him.

Team factors aside, I think Lehtonen will be the better goalie, anyhow. Both have extremely bright futures. How many Fleury vs. Lehtonen threads is this, now?

How is two years "considerably older"? Lehtonen does have some experience, but Fleury has played the North American style for much longer. Two years after factoring in Lehtonen having to adapt in the AHL is really not that much at all.

 

[Vincent_TheGreat]

Fleury!

 

[Steve Latin*]

Lehtonen's resume is far more impressive. He's dominated in the FEL, AHL, and had a very impressive stint in the NHL. I say you have to go with him, and I'm a Pens fan.

S L

 

[Steve Latin*]

i haven't seen Lehtonen play that much (or Fleury for that matter), but i remember Fleury first NHL game which was against the Kings and he was more than amazing. I think he let up 2 goals but the kings should have had about 10 (seriously). Fleury's going to be really good, i'd put money on it

He was phenomonal at times, but towards the end of his time in Pittsburgh his positioning really suffered, and he started to fall into bad habits resulting from a lack of defensive support.

I really hope he can rebound.

S L

 

[Kaiped Krusader]

How is two years "considerably older"?

Not even two years -- Lehtonen is one year and 12 days older.

 

[Moskau]

Both will be great.

I will say this though. Fleury has always bothered me, he looks like he'd rather be getting laid by the hot chick in section 126 than playing Hockey.

 

[Puckhead]

Both will be great.

I will say this though. Fleury has always bothered me, he looks like he'd rather be getting laid by the hot chick in section 126 than playing Hockey.

Hey for my money, I could care less about what he's thinking as long as he makes those saves. For the record, most goalies, especially the really special ones, all have their quirks. Ken Dryden who is one of the greatest of all time would get beat by some shots from outside the blueline, because he would be counting the people in last row of the Forum. He said he would zone out and be bored out there. Sounds funny, but it is true.

 

[Naoned]

Lehtonen, but it's a close call.

 

[moosefan]

Fleury IMO has the talent to be better than Lehtonen. Right now I would take Lehtoen as the guy of my choice. If Fleury could fix his style just a little, I find he kicks out too many rebounds and tries to make saves look harder than what they really are at times...if he could fix those two things I really don't see a better goalie prospect on this planet.

 

[McThome]

IMO Lehtonen has Patrick Roy potential, Fleury has CuJo potential...... you know who's infinitly better. Lehtonen has shown to be a big game goalie - Fleury has been out played by a fat Russian in one WJ championships and has pretty much blown the game by himself in the next one (which he ddn't deserve to be at, he was riding on past success).

 

[DownFromNJ]

Fleury has a higher ceiling, but Lehtonen is better now.

 

[montreal]

To me Lehtonen is the best prospect out there, and Fleury isn't in the same league. Both should be very good or great, but Lehtonen came up big in the sm-liiga playoffs (against Hab goalie prospect Puurula a few years back) and hasn't looked out of place in North America. I hate to think how good this guy will be, as the Habs will have a tough time scoring on him in the future. Fleury on the other hand has been a disappointment in some games I've seen him. The last wjc's he seemed out of focus, but perhaps the fact that the team didn't face much comp until later in the tournament. I'm not saying he's a bad goalie or it's his fault that Canada doesn't have 2 gold medals from the last wjc's, but I am saying he hasn't been that impressive in some of the games I've seen. There's no doubt he's a great prospect, but I'd take Lehtonen hands down, so far.

 

[User571]

IMO Lehtonen has Patrick Roy potential, Fleury has CuJo potential...... you know who's infinitly better. Lehtonen has shown to be a big game goalie - Fleury has been out played by a fat Russian in one WJ championships and has pretty much blown the game by himself in the next one (which he ddn't deserve to be at, he was riding on past success).

That is ridiculous. First of all Fleury plays nothing like CuJo. As CuJo, stays in crappy position so that he has fun making highlight real saves. Fleury has outstanding Position in and rarely has to make a difficult save.

Second, the only reason that Canada was in that game against the fat Russian, was because of Fleury, and Medvedev did not outplay him-Canadians were out shot 31-24.

 

[User571]

Lehtonen, but it's a close call.

Who's that in your avatar?