g00n
Retired Global Mod
- Nov 22, 2007
- 30,673
- 14,839
would not be shocked to see 19-44-74 as a checking group with 8-92-2 as the attack pack. then 65-90-27.
Hate 3 on 3 OTs... I doubt any NHL player has ever practiced playing 3 on 3.
I think you could have made a strong case for either player to be honest.
On the other hand if you ignore the recency effect bias in that last game and look at the entire season as a whole Price had one of the best seasons a goaltender has ever had in the history of the league. Ovi had a phenomenal season no doubt and maintained his reputations as a consistent, dominant 50+ goalscorer while adding more defensive play to his game than we've seen recently but I don't think we can realistically be upset that they voted in favor of Price either because his season was just that insanely good. Still a bit bummed he only came away with the Rocket Richard but what can you do.They were considered neck and neck going into the final game of the regular season. Ovechkin scored his 51st and 52nd goals and led the team in hits as 1st star of the night in a 5-4 win against Montreal AT Montreal with Price in net. Price made 15 saves on 19 shots for a .790 save%.
At the time it was considered the tiebreaker of sorts, but I guess everyone forgot about it.
They were considered neck and neck going into the final game of the regular season. Ovechkin scored his 51st and 52nd goals and led the team in hits as 1st star of the night in a 5-4 win against Montreal AT Montreal with Price in net. Price made 15 saves on 19 shots for a .790 save%.
At the time it was considered the tiebreaker of sorts, but I guess everyone forgot about it.
They were considered neck and neck going into the final game of the regular season. Ovechkin scored his 51st and 52nd goals and led the team in hits as 1st star of the night in a 5-4 win against Montreal AT Montreal with Price in net. Price made 15 saves on 19 shots for a .790 save%.
At the time it was considered the tiebreaker of sorts, but I guess everyone forgot about it.
On the other hand if you ignore the recency effect bias in that last game and look at the entire season as a whole Price had one of the best seasons a goaltender has ever had in the history of the league. Ovi had a phenomenal season no doubt and maintained his reputations as a consistent, dominant 50+ goalscorer while adding more defensive play to his game than we've seen recently but I don't think we can realistically be upset that they voted in favor of Price either because his season was just that insanely good. Still a bit bummed he only came away with the Rocket Richard but what can you do.
It's not recency. Like I said, it was widely thought that they were neck and neck at the time of that game. The pregame hype included talk about the battle for the Hart.
Price had a .933 save%. Holtby, who finished 4th, had .923, which is very close. Both had 9 shutouts. Both teams had 9 players with double digit goals. Despite the talk about Price being the entire Habs team, they had four players over 20 goals and Patch almost hit 40. Ovechkin's 53 was more than double the next closest Capital.
Yet Holtby finished 4th in the Vezina, and Ovechkin 2nd in the Hart. I don't buy it. You put in a different goaltender with a .923 save % on that Montreal team and they're still in the playoffs. If you take out Ovechkin and swap him with Montreal's top scorer the Capitals miss the postseason.
Price had a great season but he was not the most valuable player to his team or in the league, imo.
Most valuable player to his team? Yes. The Montreal are a bubble playoff team at best without him
Most valuable player in the league? No.
The numbers OV put up during a season where the league average in goals was at an all time low (or close to the lowest). That last game you were talking about when they were battling it out, Elliott Friedman did a real good segment on both of them and OV's production relative to league wide goals per game average and it was really impressive how OV compared. Price also had a historic year, but I'd be willing to bet that if all 29 other team's coaches and players were asked who they would take given the option, we all know who they would take.
I typed that last summary sentence on the way out the door and I meant in the context of comparing value to team vs other players' value to team, as explained in the previous paragraphs. Of course Price was the MVP of his team but the Hart is supposedly which of those team MVPs means the most to his team. To me there is a bigger gulf from team MVP to the rest of the squad for Washington compared Montreal.
If Price were on the Caps instead of Holtby, is there much difference? Is Ovie still the team MVP?