Judging true goaltender talent
Fascinating, brief and pretty understandable post at Behind the Net. The spread among NHL goalies doesn't seem that wide. The spread between Luongo and Leighton is, perhaps, as wide as it gets.
over 1 year ago
Dominik
5 comments
0 recs |
Email
PrintComments
Money quote, for me:
You can make a compelling argument that any one of Roberto Luongo, Tomas Vokoun, Jonas Hiller or any one of a number of other goalies is the best in the league; their performance variation from year-to-year due to luck alone is surely larger than their inherent skill difference.
I’m not terribly worried about whether DiPietro stays healthy. I’m worried that if he stays healthy, he’s still able to perform at an NHL level. He is replaceable with any number of goalies — it’s if he happens to keep playing at a sub-replaceeable level where there is risk to the team.
Lighthouse Hockey: Trying to reconstitute the Hogue-Turgeon-Thomas line from NHL 94.
Yeah,
the only thing I worry about with DP is if he comes back, plays at a subpar level and stays healthy. Then it’s a very awkward situation. Do we throw our $4.5mil cap space eating goalie in the minors or tell him to retire? That’s something I don’t want. I either want good DP healthy as a starter or retired DP. No gray area for me there.
Go isles or Go home.
Very interesting.
I’d love to see this system set-up to find out who this system would pick as the best goalie in the nhl. I’m very curious to that answer. Brodeur? Lundqvist? Miller? Luongo? Hiller? Bryzgolov? Very interesting.
Go isles or Go home.
I think the problem with trying to peg any specific one is that it requires such a large sample (save% at even strength on the road…maybe even while tied) that you need to span several seasons, and several seasons is where you get the funky fluctuation in other factors (team defense, luck, etc.) So it’s hard to say any single goalie.
…which is of course why I think there’s still a lot of value in saying, “Well, who’s been good lately?” In the search to identify the numerically best players over the long haul, I think it’s easy to forget that the periods that count begin in October and end in April-June.
Lighthouse Hockey: Trying to reconstitute the Hogue-Turgeon-Thomas line from NHL 94.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Lighthouse Hockey
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
Featured Stories
Islanders Schedule
In Association With
Latest Puck Daddy - NHL from Yahoo! Sports
- Coyotes’ Mike Smith believes Dustin Brown should be ‘done forever’ for Rozsival hit; slams Game 5 officiating
- Tuesday’s Three Stars: Penner’s overtime winner puts Kings in the Final
- Mike Milbury vs. Jeremy Roenick over Dustin Brown’s Game 5 OT hit on Michal Rozsival (VIDEO)
- Watch Kings, Coyotes in hostile handshake line after Dustin Penner sends LA to Stanley Cup Final (VIDEO)
- Kings vs. Coyotes Game 5; Pierre McGuire on Tortorella/DeBoer argument (Playoff Puck Previews)
SBNation.com Recent Stories
1979-80
Source: Uploaded by user via NYIslanders on Pinterest
May 24, 1980: Tonelli to Nystrom. At long last, the steady build of the New York Islanders from expansion doormat to surprise semifinalist to annual contender reaches the promised land: Buoyed by a late season trade for Butch Goring that gave the team the depth up the middle GM Bill Torrey had been seeking, the Islanders knock off the Philadelphia Flyers in six games.
The victory justified the faith in coach Al Arbour who guided them from their second season to their first Stanley Cup seven seasons later. The Islanders would not be the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup, but they would be the only one capable of a dynasty.
1980-81
Source: Uploaded by user via NYIslanders on Pinterest
May 21, 1981: This time it was much easier. After falling to "only" 91 points in the 1979-80 season, the Islanders returned to their division title tradition, piling up 110 points -- a whole 13 points over second-place Philadelphia.
Between the quarterfinals (where they beat the upstart Oilers in six games) and the finals, the Islanders reeled off eight consecutive wins -- with a four-game sweep of archrival Rangers in between. As they defeated the Minnesota North Stars in five games for their second Cup, their goal difference in the final was a combined +10.
1981-82
Source: Uploaded by user via NYIslanders on Pinterest
May 16, 1982: Another year, another landslide title. The Islanders won the Patrick Division by a whopping 26 points over the second-place Rangers, and were seven points clear of their nearest competition for the President's Trophy, the still-not-quite-ripe Edmonton Oilers.
A first-round scare against the Pittsburgh Penguins turned in the Isles' favor thanks to John Tonelli's heroics, and a true dynasty was on its way: Past the Rangers in six games, then an eight-game sweep of the Quebec Nordiques and Vancouver Canucks to run away with the Stanley Cup.
1982-83
Source: Uploaded by user via NYIslanders on Pinterest
May 17, 1983: Not so fast, whipper-snappers. The Edmonton Oilers' steadily rising challenge for league supremacy took them all the way to the finals for the first time, where the New York Islanders summarily dispatched them in a four-game sweep. For the Islanders, the Dynasty was secured. For the Oilers, it was a powerful lesson in where talent ends and the demands of playoff hockey begin.
Four years, four Cups, 16 consecutive playoff series wins (a record that would grow to 19 until the rematch with the Oilers the following year). Mike Bossy scored 60 goals yet again, and Wayne Gretzky became acquainted with Billy Smith's crease.
