Sharkey and the ManInBlack debate the contenders for the Vezina Trophy.

Sharkey Says:

I’m impressed the NHL General Managers were able to narrow this year’s group down to just three goaltenders. This was one of those seasons, in this new ‘wide-open’ NHL, where goaltenders ruled. An additional 3 or 4 men could have easily been nominated. The three names left off the list that immediately jump out to me were Evgani Nabakov, Roberto Luongo, and Jimmy Howard.

Everyone knows Nabakov & Luongo, but I think the majority of NHL fans see this Howard kid and assume he’s some new, not-so-good Detroit backstop.  The fact is, he was among the best goalies in the NHL this season.  His 37 wins were 8th among NHL goaltenders.  He posted a 2.26 GAA, which was 3rd among all goalies who started 50 games or more, and his .935 save percentage was 4th.

But, they didn’t make it.  And no point dwelling on that.  As much as those three could have been nominated, the three right guys were nominated.  You have, statistically, the greatest goaltender who ever played the game.  You have a man who lifted an entire nation during this season, and in doing so saw his stock rise to levels that no US-born hockey player has achieved in a generation.  And oh yeah, Bryzgalov wasn’t too bad, either.

Bryzgalov was actually waived by the Anaheim Ducks just a few short years ago.  To go from waived to Vezina candidate is an impressive feat.  To do so with the amount of spectacular goaltending we saw this year is even more incredible.  Bryzgalov won 42 games for a team that hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2001-2002, and hasn’t won a series since they were in Winnepeg.  I don’ t believe he’s in the same class as the other two finalists, but he 100% deserves the recognition this nomination is about to bring to him & his franchise.

Ryan Miller, some skeptics will tell you, only made this list because of his Olympic performance.  Those people are not hockey fans.  Miller may have the best numbers of any goalie in the NHL this year.  He posted a 41-18-8 record, and his goals-against average (2.22) and save percentage (.929) were both second in the NHL.  He won 30 games for the 5th time in a row, and established a new Sabres record for wins in a season – don’t forget, some goalie named Hasek called Buffalo home for a couple of years.

The last goalie nominated was Martin Brodeur.  Like it or not, Brodeur has reached that point in his career where as long as he’s among the Top 10 goalies in the league, he’s going to be nominated.  He’s earned that right.  And as long as he’s one of the 3 or 4 best goalies in the league (like this year), he’s going to win.  Can you make the case that Bryzgalov was better than Brodeur this year?  I’m sure you can.  Ryan Miller, you absolutely can make the case that he was better than Brodeur.  But the case isn’t that strong.  And Brodeur is a living legend, and doing things at 37 that most goalies can’t do at 27.  He’ll win this award again.

He’ll win it not only because of what he did this year, leading the league in games played (77), starts (76), wins (45), and shutouts (9), while finishing third in goals-against average (2.24), but also because of the milestones he’s reached lately.

Last year he passed Roy as the winningest goalie of all-time.  This year he hit 600 career wins, passed Sawchuk for most shutouts, and passed Roy for most games played.

Just like Dominik Hasek won a bunch of Vezina’s towards the end of his career even though he wasn’t the best goalie of those particular seasons, so will Martin Brodeur win this Vezina (#5 in his career).

ManInBlack says:

In a year in which five different goaltenders posted 40 or more wins for the 2nd time ever, the GMs of the league had a hard job this year.  Luongo, Nabokov, Kippersoff all could have made a case to be in the discussion this year.  But I think when the dust settled, they got it right this year.  Miller, Brodeur, and Bryzgalov have had moster years and all deserve to win.  Unfortunely, only one can.

Brodeur is probably the best goalie in NHL history.  He’s been around forever and he’s always in the Vezina discussion, for good reason; he’s consistantly one of the best goaltenders in the league.  I doesn’t hurt that, as Sharkey mentioned above, he has set a bunch of records the last few years.  But is he the best goaltender this year?  No, he’s not.   He plays behind a defensively-oriented team.  No one would argue he’s a product of the system; the guy still led the league in wins and shutouts.  His save percentage of .916, however, is the lowest of the three finalists.  And Ryan Miller has him beat in Goals Against Average, Save Percentage, Saves, and Shots Faced.

Except for when I have to spell his name, I love Ilya Bryzgalov.  He may have single-handedly won my fantasy hockey championship for me.  And I love that he took a down-and-out franchise and put them on his back.  In fact, he was going to be my choice just for that reason.  But in terms of his actual production, its obvious that he’s just not in the same category as the other two Vezina candidates.  While he was 2nd in the league in shutouts and 3rd in wins, his Save Percentage is below that of Miller, and his Goals Against Average is the worst of the three.  No doubt, all seven hockey fans in Phoenix think he should win the trophy, but unfortunely the criteria for the winner is “the goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at his position”, which this year at least, he just isn’t.

Which brings us to Ryan Miller, Olympic Hero and Pride of the United States.  The man who singlehandedly took a rag-tag bunch of American Hockey players against the Mighty and Evil Canadians.

Ok, that might be a bit much.

Miller’s Olympic exploits might have been what garnered him national attention, but hockey fans were aware of him long before that.  He’s had the kind of season that could lay the foundation for an outstanding (perhaps even hall-of-fame) career.

Miller was second in the league in Goals Against (2.22) and Save Percentage (.929), better than both Brodeur and Bryzgalov.  He saved 1948 shots, third in the league, and one hundred better than both Bryzgalov’s 1805 and Brodeur’s 1836.  This is all while facing the 4th most shots in the league.

Bryzgalov might be the sentimental favorite, and Brodeur might be the dependable vet with the big name, but when it comes down to it, there’s no questions:  Ryan Miller deserves to win the Vezina trophy.

Sharkey Says:

I always hated the save percentage argument.  Like you said, Brodeur plays for a great defensive team.  That means they limit the amount of shots, and block a lot of shots.  Limiting the amount of shots could mean that Buffalo & Phoenix gave up a lot more long-distance-no-chance-to-go-in shots, while a larger percentage of the shots Brodeur faced were legitimate scoring opportunities.

I agree Miller had the best season of the 3, but I don’t think its as hands-down, done-deal as you do.  One thing I think that will help Miller is that this is during his great Olympic year, so he’s on everyones radar, and is the feel good story.  If this happened in 2011, I think it’s a lock Brodeur wins, because he is Martin Brodeur.

As it stands, I still think Brodeur gets it.  The fact that he’s set every record imaginable the last few years, and continues to be elite (he just won another Jennings Trophy), to me means he’s reached that “Sentimental Favorite” status that guys in hockey seem to reach a lot.  As I said, fair or not, as long as Brodeur continues to be Top 3 or 4 goalies in the NHL, he’s going to win the Vezina – unless the #1 guy is so far ahead of him.  Miller is not that far ahead of Brodeur, and therefore won’t beat him.

ManInBlack says:

You are correct that great defensive teams limit the amount of shots.  Which means that the goaltenders for those teams don’t have to make as many saves throughout the course of a game.  I don’t think a goaltender playing behind a good defense would face more legitimate scoring opportunities than a goaltender that plays behind a worse defense.  In fact, I would think a goalie that plays behind a bad defense would face more shots and scoring opportunites by virtue of that fact.

Regardless, that is something else, and we can debate it another time.  Here’s why Miller wins this year:  Not only does he have the notoriety from his stellar performance in the Olympics (which should help him immensely), but he has Marty beat pretty much across the board.  Goals Against, Save Percentage, Shots Faced, and Saves Made all go to Miller.

If Brodeur has better numbers in any one of those categories, I’d give pause.  But all of those categories belong to Miller, who by the way is in the top-5 in all of them.  And it may be overkill, but I just can’t stress enough the importance of the Olympics.  The GMs aren’t supposed to take that into consideration, of course, but they’re only human.  To think it won’t be in the back of their minds is folly.

Marty will win the Vezina trophy again.  I just don’t think it will be this year.