As the NHL lockout trudges clumsily forward, not unlike a guy who may or may not have had too much turkey and wine at Thanksgiving dinner and was then asked to go Black Friday shopping, where was I? Oh yes, hockey, specifically the dumpster fire that is the NHL labor negotiations.

With another proposal swept effortlessly off the table hockey continues overseas. Overseas you say? Yes overseas, specifically in the KHL, DEL, SEL-Elite Serien, and other leagues that incorporate unpronounceable words and punctuation that I’ve never seen.
The exodus of our NHL heroes to the rinks of an unfamiliar, and sometimes familiar land, means that there is hockey somewhere. There is hockey being played at an extraordinarily high level too, and in some cases (I’m talking to you Columbus and Montreal) higher than what we are used to seeing in the NHL.

Though there are obvious adjustments to be made, I’ve always thought that the transition to the international style of play would be more difficult for the goalies. The fundamental premise is still the same: stop puck from going in goal. However, the surface is a little wider and the rules are tweaked just enough to make life a little more difficult than it might be for the position players.

Here’s a look at some top NHL goalies and how they are faring abroad:

Pekka Rinne-The Nashville Predator’s Vezina Trophy candidate has struggled at times playing for Dinamo Minsk. He has played in 15 games so far, posting a record of 7-8 with a save percentage of .906 and a goals against average of 2.69 with one shutout.
Semyon Varlamov- With 12 games played, the Colorado Avalanche goalie has posted some amazing stats from Lokomotiv of the KHL. He has a record of 7-2 with a .951 save percentage and goals against average of 1.63 with three shutouts.

Sergei Bobrovsky- The new Columbus Blue Jacket net-minder has returned to Mother Russia and the club SKA St, Petersburg. So far the young Russian has been pretty impressive with a 9-1 record, .923 save percentage and a 2.22 goals against average.

Ilya Bryzgalov-The Philadelphia Flyers multi-million dollar man has struggled since he joined CSKA in the KHL. Through only seven games he has been below average with a 2-5 record 2.83 goals against average and a lowly .894 save percentage.