Know your enemy: Josh Harding

It seems as though Minnesota Wild management was so confident in the 23-year-old goaltender's abilities, that Manny Fernandez became expendable this past year. The native of Regina Saskatchewan has amazing NHL numbers in such a short time. Especially last season. He saw limited time behind Fernandez and Niklas Backstrom, but in 7 games and 361 minutes played, Harding went 3-2-1, with 1 shutout, a 1.16 GAA and a .960 save percentage.
Sure, he plays behind a solid Minnesota team, but those numbers are impressive regardless.

Harding feats

2002-2003 WHL Player of the Month (December)
2002-2003 WHL Most Valuable Player of the Year
2002-2003 WHL Goaltender of the Year
2004 World Junior Championships (silver medal)

Was drafted 39th overall by the wild in 2002.

Minnesota will stick to their 2-tier goalie system this season, so watch for Harding to continually impress with increased playing time (and possibly be a thorn in the Canucks' side).

Everything Harding at NHL.com.

Harding operated a Fund The Fight campaign which raised funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. $21,355 was raised through selling NHL memorabilia through Ebay.

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