Top 10 Vezina candidates at this point in the season

[Jasmine]

According to the Hockey News.. See how they explain their choices here:

http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/top-1 ... nne-rules/

10. Craig Anderson, Ottawa Senators
9. Antti Niemi, San Jose Sharks
8. Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks
7. Roberto Luongo, Florida Panthers
6. Jaroslav Halak, New York Islanders
5. Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings
4. Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
3. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings
2. Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins
1. Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators


Agree? Disagree? Who would you ad/remove?

[Josh]

Re: Top 10 Vezina candidates at this point in the season

I'm starting to see goaltending differently than I used to. It's, in my opinion, the toughest position in hockey to judge, and the most susceptible to hot and cold streaks. I'm starting to value goaltenders more based on their ability to take control of games than their raw statistics. Shutouts and wins are potentially more important than save percentages and goals against averages. A shutout indicates that the goalie was on fire that night, and from watching games we see that usually truly is the case when a goaltender register a SO. More importantly, wins indicate something that SV% and GAA may betray; we've all seen high-flying games where teams play to a 7-5 outcome. On those nights, the goalies often face 40+ shots, both play well, and neither are pulled. This is because those games are usually victim to atrocious defensive play from both sides in favour of keeping the offensive tone of the match going. The ability to face all that traffic and still allow fewer goals than your opponent is probably a better measure of your goaltending value than your save percentage that night when compared to another goalie in a different game that happens to have been played defensively sound.

For this reason, I would remove Jimmy Howard, Corey Crawford, and Antti Niemi, replacing them with Henrik Lundqvist, Ryan Miller, and Darcy Kuemper.

[Matt the Aussie]

Re: Top 10 Vezina candidates at this point in the season

I think you raise an interesting argument, but there is always going to be a bias towards goalies with good teams in front of them when you look just at wins or shutouts.

It's not really a stat, but when I look at quality goaltending I expect:
- more performances that give the team a chance to win, even if the team doesn't always win, and
- less performances that potentially lose the game single-handedly, even if the team comes back or wins after the goalie is pulled

Craig Anderson is a perfect example of this. How many times can you honestly say Craig Anderson has LOST the Senators a game just on his poor play? Compare to, say, Pavelec?

[Dean Ambrose]

Re: Top 10 Vezina candidates at this point in the season

To judge a goalie you actually have to watch them play, imo.

It's why I'll always laugh at people who say Price is overrated by looking at his numbers, especially nowadays.

[Josh]

Re: Top 10 Vezina candidates at this point in the season

So what do you guys think of replacing Howard, Crawford, and Niemi with Lundqvist, Miller, and Kuemper?

[Dean Ambrose]

Re: Top 10 Vezina candidates at this point in the season

I haven't watched them enough. Miller hasn't been all that great from what Canucks fans have said. Not horrible, but not great. Crawford has been consistently good/great, but has had some injuries this year.

Kuemper started strong.

I don't know HOW Niemi made their list, though. Stalock was about to steal his job just before he was put on the IR.

[Alfie11]

Re: Top 10 Vezina candidates at this point in the season

I, personally, use numbers a lot when evaluating a goalie. Of course you need to look at the team in front of them, but a lot of the time you see a goalie make "spectacular" saves is because they were out of position to begin with. Goalies such as Lundqvist and Rinne get the job done because of athletics and positional play. Instead of robbing you they'll give you nothing to shoot at, and it's a lot more efficient than the spectral saves that happen every five percent of the time you give them the chance.

I find it hard to rank goalies because it changes so much, but the top five (in no order), IMO, are probably: Lundqvist, Rinne, Rask, Price, Quick.