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Step 1
Learn the rules of the particular fantasy hockey league that you're participating in. Each league has its own system for assigning points, drafting players, making trades and other aspects. Find out in particular which goalie stats will be counted, as in some leagues goaltending is more heavily weighted than stats for other positions.
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Step 2
Research the stats of current goalies based on the league scoring. Often, stats like wins, shut outs, save percentage and goals against average will be included. Ideally, you'd want a player who plays a lot, wins a lot and faces a number of shots that he stops. Realistically, you'll generally have to compromise on several of the categories.
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Step 3
Make sure that the goalies you're interested in are signed and expected to start the season. Although this seems like common sense, somebody will always get burned because they don't do their research and end up drafting a player with a long term injury or contract issues. You may also want to avoid a goalie with chronic injury problems.
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Step 4
Look for a starting goalie who will play a lot of his team's games. A goalie who is not getting starts won't be helping you in the categories so you want someone who can handle the bulk of the games. In some cases a platoon situation can work, but in most cases, your team will suffer.
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Step 5
Pay attention to the rest of the goalie's NHL teams and recognize how the team affects the goalie's stats. Although past stats can give you an idea about how valuable a particular goalie will be for you, their team will change from year to year so you need to look at what it will be like this year. A poor defense can mean more shots on goal but it can also mean more losses over the season.
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Step 6
Draft your goalies after the first round or two unless goalies will make up the majority of your points in a particular league. Goalies can be a tricky choice and although they are an important part of your team, it's a risk to take one in the first round. Consistent goalies, such as Kipprusoff and Brodeur, can be drafted higher than less consistent or often-injured goaltenders.
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Step 7
Create a list of the goalies that you want. You can refer to fantasy goalie rankings, but you'll need a guide for choosing goalies during a live draft. You may not always have a long time to choose and it's a good idea to not only have an overall draft list but one for goalies as well to keep track of who's available.
