It's fairly well-known to readers of this humble site, as well as listeners of the PUCKCAST, that I don't drink.

The Chicago Blackhawks' goaltending may force me to rethink that decision.

Last season, the Hawks rode a Nikolai Khabibulin contract drive to the Western Conference Finals before falling to the Detroit Red Wings. This season, it's Cristobal Huet's net.

Yay?

As Huet himself might say, Merde!

Seriously, if you look at the numbers, they really aren't that bad. He started 40 games, and had a goals-against of 2.53...Considering the Hawks should average over 3 goals a game, that's good, right?

Well...

Huet can give you a strong game. He can give you two strong games. He can give you two strong games and one where the offense might steal a win. He can also give you two strong games, one where the offense might steal a win, and one where the 1985 Oilers couldn't outscore the goalfest Huet would allow.

In other words, his expiration date is pretty much three straight games. Not that big a deal, considering the days of the iron-man goaltender are pretty much a thing of the past, now that Martin Brodeur has proven himself to be merely mortal. Hell, the Hawks themselves lit up an exhausted Mikka Kiprusoff, who was overextended during the regular season and was useless to Calgary come playoff time.

So Huet shouldn't hurt the Hawks too terribly, as long as he's used properly. He's actually an above-average goaltender. An elite one? Not on your life. Of course, all the "elite" goaltenders had the opportunity to watch the Hawks and Red Wings play in the Western Conference Finals, if they weren't watching non-elites Cam Ward and Marc-Andre Fleury in the East.

So Huet probably will never see a Vezina Trophy. Does that matter? Chris Osgood has never won one, and has 3 Stanley Cup rings. The Hawks' offense, if it's functioning properly, serves as a defense by keeping the puck 200 feet away from Huet. Huet will see, on average, less than 30 shots a night. If he keeps his save percentage around his career .917, he should be fine. Of course, the Huet apologists last season said his lackluster performances were due to the fact that he never knew where he stood with the Hawks. A fragile psyche shouldn't be too big a deal, since goalies are all batshit anyway.

Will he give up too damn many rebounds? Yep. Commit to the butterfly too soon? CT will have no stomach lining by season's end, as he loves butterfly goalies almost as much as he loves the neutral-zone trap. Still, the Hawks could do a lot worse.

The issue, of course, will be the other 20 games. Anti Niemi (18-14, .913 SPCT, 2.43 GAA in Rockford) and Corey Crawford (22-20, .917 SPCT, 2.59 GAA in Rockford) will be duking it out for the #2 spot. There is no guarantee that one of them will even win it coming out of training camp. There's the possibility that Joel Quenneville might just decide to shuttle them back and forth to the minros and keep the hot hand in Chicago.  Also, they can play in Rockford and stay sharp. Niemi has looked sharper and more confident than Crawford in their brief Hawks appearances. But not by an overwhelming margin.

Whichever of them backs up Huet will probably get one game of  back-to-backs, against whichever foe is weaker. They'll get 20 opportunities between them, which is a chance to shine. Any injury to Huet, and one of them can really emerge, if he's got it in him. Or the whole season can pretty much go down in flames, as GM Stan Bowman will have to pluck a veteran goalie off the NHL (s)crap heap.

So, there really is no place on this team with more "if"s.

If...Quenneville uses Huet judiciously, not letting him start more than 3 in a row, and...

If...Niemi and/or Crawford prove themselves NHL-ready, and

If...the skaters in front of whomever is in net each night press offensively, and keep the number and quality of shots down, then the Hawks should be fine.

In the meantime, pass the bottle.