Can you explain how Huet carried the team for approximately the first 60 games of the season, when he played under 50 games and had save % of under 90.0? To me, on a team that was, what top 3 in goals against (?), those stats suggest that the goalie blows (forget the fact that 10 or so times that I've watched him, he's been poor).
You can use the fact that they were "far above everyone in the league with points" as a factor in this discussion - however, it's a not a positive for Huet. That just shows that he played poorly, was replaced, and then Niemi couldn't make up for it, eventually finishing 2nd in the conference, and double digits in points behind the Caps. Hell, by your standards, Theodore must be an awesome goalie, right?
Rinne is an excellent goalie, who gives his team a chance to win every night. I think his GAA is more in the 2.50 range, but at any rate, you are making the assumption that GAA is solely based on the goalie, and ranking the goalies based on that, when in fact GAA tends to be highly correlated with team defense - funny how that goes, isn't it?
Huet's body language after allowing goals shows that he can't handle pressure and if a goalie can't handle pressure, he's worthless. He showed he couldn't handle it in Montreal, and he sure as hell isn't showing he can handle it in Chicago. The only places he's been able to handle the pressure is lesser hockey markets - LA and Washington. Sure, Washington is pressure packed now, due to the high expectations after winning the President's trophy, but not back when Huet was there. Neither Crawford or Pickard have demonstrated an ability to handle the big time, but neither of them have shown the incapability to deal with pressure like Huet has.
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