Alright we are knee deep in the 2009 NHL playoffs. We have seen some exciting hockey thus far. What gets people more amped up than award season? NOTHING! Earlier in April the NHL released the list of nominees for several of their awards which are to be presented in the city of sin in June. I always pay a particular attention to the Vezina.
This year we have a troika of: The Fabulous Fin Nik Backstrom, Steve ‘Shutout Machine’ Mason and Tim ‘Chubby (see teen wolf)’ Thomas. The odds-on favourite seems to be Chubs, which I don’t get. Doing a superficial analysis of the numbers ranking every relevant goaltending statistic we get the following Top 5: Thomas, Backstrom, Luongo, Mason and Ward. Although Chubby has the top GAA and SV% his stats start to fall off when it comes to GP, Shots and Shutouts in comparison to the rest of the finalists. Namely, this doode only played 54 games. This is the same amount that Spaghetti (Luongo) played even though his groin was in worst shape than Apollo Creed’s existence, after Ivan Drago explained with his fists how juiced up Russians roll. Look, Peter Budaj played more games than this man! C’mon. Just to put this in perspective this would be the fewest GP’s by a Vezina winner since the lockout shortened season. Let’s take a peak at the case being made for each:
- Chubby: Number one goalie on the best team in the East and best defensive team. Also led the league in GAA and SV%
- Mason: Man lead the league in shutouts and played more games than the front runner on a poorer team despite starting the season in AHL. Mason also defeated Mononucleosis during the year and may or may not be a shutout machine sent from the future to beat Brodeur’s records.
- Backstrom: Appears in more of the top 5 categories than the competition. Man is steady and surprisingly saw the second most rubber to Kipper.
So who gets the award? I am convinced that this goes to Timmy Thomas. Sports writers watch a fraction of the games and will be drawn to the big market of Boston as well as the fact that they won the East. Mason will be able to cry himself to sleep while caressing the Calder and rocking back and forth in the fetal position. Backstrom’s steady year once again will go unnoticed but after signing his new deal he can buy a sick party boat to cruise Lake Minnetonka. If he wants to have a real fun time he should assemble a party planning committee of former Vikings.
This year we have a troika of: The Fabulous Fin Nik Backstrom, Steve ‘Shutout Machine’ Mason and Tim ‘Chubby (see teen wolf)’ Thomas. The odds-on favourite seems to be Chubs, which I don’t get. Doing a superficial analysis of the numbers ranking every relevant goaltending statistic we get the following Top 5: Thomas, Backstrom, Luongo, Mason and Ward. Although Chubby has the top GAA and SV% his stats start to fall off when it comes to GP, Shots and Shutouts in comparison to the rest of the finalists. Namely, this doode only played 54 games. This is the same amount that Spaghetti (Luongo) played even though his groin was in worst shape than Apollo Creed’s existence, after Ivan Drago explained with his fists how juiced up Russians roll. Look, Peter Budaj played more games than this man! C’mon. Just to put this in perspective this would be the fewest GP’s by a Vezina winner since the lockout shortened season. Let’s take a peak at the case being made for each:
- Chubby: Number one goalie on the best team in the East and best defensive team. Also led the league in GAA and SV%
- Mason: Man lead the league in shutouts and played more games than the front runner on a poorer team despite starting the season in AHL. Mason also defeated Mononucleosis during the year and may or may not be a shutout machine sent from the future to beat Brodeur’s records.
- Backstrom: Appears in more of the top 5 categories than the competition. Man is steady and surprisingly saw the second most rubber to Kipper.
So who gets the award? I am convinced that this goes to Timmy Thomas. Sports writers watch a fraction of the games and will be drawn to the big market of Boston as well as the fact that they won the East. Mason will be able to cry himself to sleep while caressing the Calder and rocking back and forth in the fetal position. Backstrom’s steady year once again will go unnoticed but after signing his new deal he can buy a sick party boat to cruise Lake Minnetonka. If he wants to have a real fun time he should assemble a party planning committee of former Vikings.
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