They say that three is a crowd. Well, when you are a National Hockey League team, this happens not to be the case with goaltenders.

Each NHL team should at least have three goalies, but it seems like two goalies are actually all teams can afford under their salary cap.

Three goalies should be a requirement for each team in the NHL. Why? Life happens. Someone could get sick, injured or need a break. If there is one back up available, the team ends up recalling a goalie from the American Hockey League.

There are situations, too, where the two goalies get injured and the goalie coach has to dress up as an emergency goalie. According to the NHL Rule Book: “Each team shall have on its bench, or on a chair immediately beside the bench, a substitute goalkeeper who shall, at all times, be fully dressed and equipped ready to play… that team shall be entitled to dress and play any available goalkeeper who is eligible. This goalkeeper is eligible to sit on the player’s bench, in uniform.”

The Minnesota Wild had that issue last year with only two goalies on their team. Both of these goalies kept getting injured or had to miss time because of illness. One game the Wild had one of the goalies the team brought up from its AHL team start, while one of their original two goalies was sitting on a bench riding out an illness.

The Wild found itself not doing so well during the first part of the season, primarily due to having just two goalies on their roster. In December, they acquired Devan Dubynk as their third goalie from the Arizona Coyotes and found themselves much better off.

One player on the Wild mentioned that with this new goalie on their team they were playing with more confidence because they were in a comfortable goalie situation.

With this NHL season just starting, it is the prefect time to see how each goalie is doing on one team by playing them.

This is not what the Calgary Flames have been doing. They have three goalies, and it seems like they cannot juggle them. Two are getting the majority of the spotlight while one is getting shoved into the shadows and just played in his first game this past month.

The Flames have been choosing their starting goalie based on who won the last game.

But this practice makes it tough for all three goalies to get valuable playing time early in the season and may hurt the team later in the year.

Having three goalies is a balancing act. But it can lead to the team’s success. The coaches just need to figure out how to juggle between three goalies. If you have three goalies you should use all three of them. Letting one spend all his time on the bench could end up benching your hopes for a successful season.