He's got quite an act to follow -- his own. Can the AHL's goalie of the year for 2008-09, its leader in both average and save percentage, actually improve? It's key to Moose hopes that he'll be around in April so they can find out.

The unexpected happy story of most of 2008-09, [Guillaume Desbiens]' size, strength and now confidence figure to offset any trouble he'll encounter because he's no longer under anyone's radar.

"I won't tell you we've got a (Guillaume) Desbiens in that mix this year," GM Craig Heisinger said, referring to last fall's surprise story from camp. "But we're certainly seeing more depth in Vancouver's organization and we've had our eye on some other players and now's the time to find out what they're all about.