There is nothing that sets my blood to a boil more than glorifying the effects of the "win" category in a team sport. Pitchers, Quarterbacks, Goalies, even coaches are all subject to this "wins" stat and yet so much happens on the field or in the rink that has nothing to do with how well they're playing.
Last season Martin Brodeur set the all-time wins record for a goalie. Congratulations. It is a testament to his longevity, never sitting more than 15 games (and usually no more than 10) in any season for 12 straight. Add in that Don Cherry ran a Brodeur highlight reel (typically Martin standing tall to stop an ice worm-burner) every Saturday night he wasn't calling your mom eurotrash (and some of the nights that he was) and I'm ready to crown Brodeur "Worst Person".
But let's be fair and take a look at the numbers. Or at least the best available numbers. Save Percentage is from-here-to-former-planet-Pluto perfect but it's the best we've.
Let us judge within Brodeur's era or how he fared compared to his peers!
Name - times in the top 10/total full seasons - highest - just for shits and laughs and shit Vezinas
Brodeur - 6/15 - 3rd - 4 (ha!)
Roy - 15/18 - 1st (4x) - 3
Hasek - 11/13 - 1st (6x) - 6
Luongo - 7/8 - 3rd - 0 (I don't think he's ever been NOMINATED, PATHETIC! Someone please say they can correct me.)
Giguere - 4/8 - 3rd - 0
Barrasso - 6/14 - 2nd - 0
Belfour - 6/16 - 1st - 2
Up against the best of the best, Brodeur falls well short. Even against a few 2nd tier players (Giguere, Barrasso) Brodeur is even at best.
So let's all get over this Brodeur as best-goalie-ever stuff. He isn't. Not really all that close either. 432-year-old men vote for trophies and they are so caught up in the nonsense that their word has to be taken with a salt mine.
Brodeur and Wins: two overrated peas in a decaying pod.
http://www.hockeyfights.com/forums/f14/nhl-2006-07-award-vezina-trophy-77783/
ReplyDelete2006-07 season:
VEZINA TROPHY
The Vezina Trophy is awarded annually "to the goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at his position," as voted by League General Managers.
MARTIN BRODEUR - New Jersey Devils
· Earned his seventh career nomination as a Vezina finalist; captured the award in 2003 and 2004, finished second in 1997, 1998 and 2006, was third in 2001.
· Won an NHL-record 48 games, surpassing Bernie Parent's 47 in 1973-74; led the NHL in shutouts (12), ranked third in goals-against average (2.18) and save percentage (.922).
MIIKKA KIPRUSOFF - Calgary Flames
· A Vezina Trophy finalist for the third consecutive season; captured the award in 2006 and finished second in 2004.
· Posted a 40-24-9 record in 74 games; tied for third overall in shutouts (seven).
HENRIK LUNDQVIST - New York Rangers
· A Vezina Trophy finalist for the second consecutive season; finished third in 2006.
· Posted a 37-22-8 record in 70 games; tied for third overall in shutouts (seven)
· Finished the season with a 16-4-5 record, 1.72 GAA and .936 save percentage in 27 games.
ROBERTO LUONGO - Vancouver Canucks
· A Vezina Trophy finalist for the first time; also a finalist for the Hart, Pearson awards.
· Compiled a 47-22-6 record in 76 games, including a 26-7-5 mark when facing 30+ shots; matched the NHL single-season victories record entering the season (Bernie Parent, 1973-74).
"A third-place tie in balloting for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the League's top goaltender as voted by NHL General Managers, has resulted in invitations to four finalists for that honor."
I'm assuming that Luongo and Lundqvist were the two to tie for third place, since they're numbers 3 and 4 on the list of nominees, but I don't know for sure. This was Luongo's only nomination.
Look at that information regarding how well the nominees did that season! What was Kiprusoff's GAA? Save percentage? Oh, that's not important. What is important is that "he" was 40-24-9. Ok well then I choose him!
Oh, wait. Brodeur had 48 wins? And that's a record? Well then I choose him because he set a record. Nevermind the fact that just two years prior the NHL made a rule to eliminate ties, which obviously will cause goalies to earn more wins. It was only a matter of time before somebody broke the "coveted" wins record after eliminating ties, and he got his Vezina trophy to support it.
Also, assuming that the entire thing should be decided simply because of wins(which isn't completely true, but it should have nothing to do with wins), it should be considered that Brodeur also led the league in games played, at 78. Luongo, who played in 76 games, had 47 wins. If wins are the main thing, then Luongo should have won based on his win percentage being higher than Brodeur's(61.84% to 61.53% Yeah, I'm nitpicking, because if wins are the most important stat then win percentage should also matter).
Brodeur did have pretty solid stats that season, posting better stats than any of the other candidates. But if you want to look at raw stats, I think Niklas Backstrom should have at least been considered, considering the fact that he led the NHL in GAA(1.97) AND Save Percentage(.929), and though these stats aren't perfect, they're the best we have until AYGG is invented.
I don't know how to edit posts yet, but I'd like to dwell on one more thing that I forgot to add in my lengthy comment above. Look at the pathetic information given to the finalists. Who cares how many times they've been nominated for the Vezina trophy in the past?! This isn't a trophy given out to the goalie who has been nominated the most times, this is a trophy awarded to the best goalie in a given season. Prior nominations have NOTHING to do with who the best goalie was in the 2006-07 season. Who are they trying to fool?
ReplyDeleteI guess that's what you expect from a website called hockeyfights.com
For a few more laughs, read some of the responses to that post. Other than "Plateworker", nobody else had anything decent to say, backing up our argument that "wins are all that matters." I'm not going to get into the responses, since I've spent plenty of time on this already, but I'll leave you with a couple quotes:
"I don't see how anyone other than Brodeur can get it. He played in an amazing 78 games and won an NHL record 48 of them. How can you argue with those stats."
This post was a response to somebody saying Brodeur was overrated:
"You're right. Brodeur is way overrated. Here's some stats to back you up. Currently, Brodeur is on pace to surpass Patrick Roy's career records for wins, games played and minutes played, as well as Terry Sawchuk's record for career shutouts, and Patrick Roy's record for career playoff shutouts. Also, he's won at least 35 games each of the last ten seasons as well as being the only goalie in NHL history with six 40 win seasons. He's won two Vezina's, and oh yeah, THREE STANLEY CUPS. Well there's the definition of overrated for ya folks."