The most recognizable player in hockey is that guy in between the pipes -- the goalie. He is like the quarterback in football or the ace of a pitching staff in baseball. It's only fitting then that goalies are the class of Fantasy Hockey as well.

At least one goalie is needed in all Fantasy formats, but many of them have also gone the way of starting two netminders. Heck, even some leagues go with team units, so no matter who is in net, you draft based on how successful you think a certain team will be during the upcoming season.

There are only 30 teams in the NHL and at least half of the teams have a reliable No. 1 goalie. Most teams carry just two goalies while on a given night they can have 12 forwards and six defensemen. The player pools for defensemen and forwards are much deeper, so nabbing a high-end Fantasy goalie early in drafts is essential.

Last season, six goalies topped 400 Fantasy points and 19 topped 300 in standard formats. Only three forwards topped 300 points and no defenseman reached that plateau. Dion Phaneuf was the closest with 292.5 Fantasy points.

You can easily make the argument that Fantasy Football is the same way. Quarterbacks are among the top scorers every season, but a closer look at the stats and there are only an elite few that are worthy of being drafted in the first round. Not the case in Fantasy Hockey. It's easy to make the argument for the first round to be littered with goalies since they have the greatest chance of being your top scorers every week.

Also, what happens in the event your No. 1 goalie going down with a serious injury? Usually in competitive leagues, the waivers are scarce with reliable netminders, so making sure you are set that position for the worst-case scenario is always a plus.

You can likely skate -- pardon the pun -- by with a waiver-wire addition at either defenseman or forward until your injured player returns, but using that strategy with a goalies is a tougher proposition.

The Elite

It's hard to believe, but Devils goalie Martin Brodeur is about to embark on his 16th NHL season. And it might even be harder to believe for some that at the ripe age of 36, the Quebec native is still among the top goalies in the NHL.

Brodeur walked away with his fourth Vezina Trophy (top NHL goalie) in five seasons after winning 44 games in 2007-08. He has won 40-plus games for three straight seasons and six times in his career. He has a 2.20 career GAA and 96 shutouts. The Devils are a defensive-minded team and that's why Brodeur continues to post Fantasy-friendly numbers many years after his debut in 1991-92.

It's no surprise that we feel Brodeur should be considered the top Fantasy goalie heading into 2008-09. Other names we feel that are among the elite options are Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff, Roberto Luongo of the Canucks, Montreal's Carey Price, Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers, Florida's Tomas Vokoun, Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury, Ryan Miller of the Sabres, San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov, Anaheim's Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Chris Osgood of the Red Wings.

Most of these goalies play every night and for some of the best teams in the NHL. They are reliable when healthy and you can definitely build a Fantasy team around them.

The Second Tier

Hopefully by now in the draft, as late as Round 2 in smaller formats, you nabbed one of the top goalies mentioned above. Now, you are in the market for a backup option or second starting goalie depending on the scoring system.

Here comes the crop of talent where guys are borderline No. 1 Fantasy goalies for those moments when they are on a ridiculous hot streak and worth the start in Fantasy.

Consider Philadelphia's Martin Biron, Niklas Backstrom of the Wild, Carolina's Cam Ward, Rick DiPietro of the Islanders, Ilya Bryzgalov of the Coyotes, Manny Legace in St. Louis, Nashville's Dan Ellis, Ottawa's Martin Gerber, Toronto's Vesa Toskala, Tampa Bay's Mike Smith, Pascal Leclaire of the Blue Jackets, Chicago's Cristobal Huet, Washington's Jose Theodore and Marty Turco of the Stars among the top second-tier goalies.

The Low-End Buys

We have all been down the road where for whatever reasons our draft strategies didn't pan out and we are left holding the bag looking for a decent backup Fantasy goalie. No need to fear. There are always some good low-end buys that might end up panning out in the long run.

This year's bumper crop of low-end buys include Atlanta's Kari Lehtonen, Edmonton's Mathieu Garon, Manny Fernandez and Tim Thomas of the Bruins, Los Angeles' Jason LaBarbera, Colorado's Andrew Raycroft and Peter Budaj, Nikolai Khabibulin of the Blackhawks and Tampa Bay's Olaf Kolzig.

Waiver Wire Collection

Unlike a backup quarterback in football, most reserve goalies in hockey actually see a decent amount of ice time. Whether it's because the starter needs a night off, the starter has a bad night and is pulled or the coach just wants to ride the hot hand, the guy second on the depth chart typically gets his fair share of starts.

Regardless, part-time goalies can often be passed on Draft Day and be added later down the road off waivers. Among the names that could make their way onto Fantasy rosters at some point in '08-09 are Washington's Brent Johnson, Fredrik Norrena of the Blue Jackets, Philly's Antero Niittymaki, Ottawa's Alex Auld, Minnesota's Josh Harding, Anaheim's Jonas Hiller, Chris Mason in St. Louis, Detroit's Ty Conklin, Montreal's Jaroslav Halak, Florida's Craig Anderson, Mikael Tellqvist in Phoenix, Atlanta's Johan Hedberg, Pittsburgh's Dany Sabourin, Carolina's Michael Leighton and Dwayne Roloson of the Oilers.

Rookie Mania

Like any sport, the fans are always keeping an eye on the rookie/prospect pool to see who might be the next great player. Hockey sure has their long list of promising young players and there are a few rookie netminders, not necessarily to draft, but for Fantasy owners to keep an eye on.

The names on that list include Tobias Stephan of the Stars, Nashville's Pekka Rinne, Edmonton's Jeff Drouin-Deslaurie, Los Angeles' Jonathan Bernier and the Yann Danis of the Islanders.

The Goalie Graveyard

Unfortunately there are a few hockey souls that rarely see time on the ice because they play behind a goalie that hardly takes a night off. They don't offer much in the way of Fantasy help outside of being a handcuff option for those owners who draft a guy like Evgeni Nabokov and need his backup -- Brian Boucher -- in the event Nabokov is injured.

Outside of Boucher, Steve Valiquette of the Rangers, Buffalo's Patrick Lalime, Toronto's Curtis Joseph, Vancouver's Curtis Sanford, Curtis McElhinney of the Flames and New Jersey's Kevin Weekes fit the role of seldom-used backups.

Hockey teams spend immense amount of resources looking for franchise-type goalies. Fantasy owners should expend the same amount of effort to make sure you are not left on the outside looking in come playoff time because of an inadequate goalie situation.

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