It’s that time of year again; Christmas parties, strolls through the snow, egg nog spiked with rum, irresponsible spending of money. And it’s that time of the week again; time for First Star, Worst Star: GOALIES EDITION!

Increasing scoring has been talked about ad nauseam for what seems like the entire NHL season so far, and while there’s been a mix of good and bad ideas none of them will really matter as long as goalies continue to use cheats/black magic. 

Mike Condon is the latest in what seems like a string of success stories involving undrafted goalies working their way up from the minorest of the minor leagues to eventually land a starting NHL gig. And with moves like this you almost wonder what took him so long! Incredible presence of mind from the 25 year old rookie to follow the puck and just CALMLY bat it away from behind his back! It won’t matter how big you make the nets; if goalies are making these kind of saves on the regular we may never see another 100 point player in the NHL ever again. 

And now a counter point from Mike Smith on why he feels the NHL should make the nets EVEN SMALLER!

That’s bad, even for Mike Smith! Now, this isn’t nearly as bad as Vesa Toskola’s 200ft classic, nor is it even the most embarrassing goal Mike Smith has let in during his career, but for an Arizona team that is quietly exceeding the small expectations placed on them this season, this type of goal could be the difference between having a rare Good Mike Smith season or a traditional Mediocre Mike Smith season. Only time will tell (but it’s definitely going to be a Medicore Mike Smith season).