Ben Bishop is a transcendent talent

[CanadienShark]

I can understand people not watching saying silly things but I'm shaking my head there. We don't even pass the first round without Bishop, yes he allowed 3 soft goals overall but he also stopped the four hundred other shots. Bishop and Johnson have been the backbone of our run by a colossal margin, he's been clutch, consistent and displayed a lot of assurance. Bishop outplayed Price over the 6 games series, he's been the better goalie after 2 games so far against NY. The only person that seems capable to beat Bishop is Bishop himself, just shows how dominant he's been the 3 softies aside.

There's not a single goalie Tampa wants beside Bishop at the moment, he's ours.

I was expecting such a response. I urge you to review not only my post history today, but by post history on Bishop.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

I was expecting such a response. I urge you to review not only my post history today, but by post history on Bishop.

I wasn't talking to you.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

I think we should at least wait until Bishop has won a Cup or two and/or firmly established himself as a top 5 goalie before we start calling him a transcendent talent and the prototype for goalies moving forward.



All there is to playing hockey is being very large? A got to think being tall is still a far more important prerequisite in basketball than it is in hockey.

have you ever watched a basketball game out of curiosity?

 

[Rschmitz]

Ben Bishop ladies and gents

 

[Beville]

Rinne says Hi.

 

[Big Guy]

He dives quite a lot.

 

[These Are The Days]

I can understand people not watching saying silly things but I'm shaking my head there. We don't even pass the first round without Bishop, yes he allowed 3 soft goals overall but he also stopped the four hundred other shots. Bishop and Johnson have been the backbone of our run by a colossal margin, he's been clutch, consistent and displayed a lot of assurance. Bishop outplayed Price over the 6 games series, he's been the better goalie after 2 games so far against NY. The only person that seems capable to beat Bishop is Bishop himself, just shows how dominant he's been the 3 softies aside.

There's not a single goalie Tampa wants beside Bishop at the moment, he's ours.

Maybe I was tired last night but I think you found the words I was looking for. He's been outstanding and you're 100% correct that he's been part of the backbone of his run. But I have to disagree with his consistency. I don't want my goaltender swatting the puck into the back of the net, dropping a routine glove save in a road game (against Carey Price of all people) that forces an OT nor the constant misadventures playing the puck. He's made HUGE stops (most notably the pad save on Jesper Fast on the rebound opportunity from Nash's original shot) but I feel we've been able to overcome his mistakes as a team and I think it's shaded the issue a bit.

I just think "imagine how good he would be if it weren't for the silly mistakes" and he makes them too often in margin for me to consider him a transcendent goaltender. At least 2 times a game I'm yelling "DAMN IT BEN GET BACK IN THE NET!!!" and throwing my hat when he lets in a stoppable goal.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Feel bad for Ottawa that the only return they got for trading Bishop was 25 points in 72 games from Cory Conacher and a 4th round pick.

With all that young talent on Tampa Bay did Ottawa just roll the dice and pick the wrong guy to trade for or did Yzerman fleece them?

Wish I knew the answer to that one.....


But, we had 3 NHL goalies on the team (deja vu) and had to move one.

 

[Man Rocket]

when did Bishop become Brodeur

 

[The Macho King]

Maybe I was tired last night but I think you found the words I was looking for. He's been outstanding and you're 100% correct that he's been part of the backbone of his run. But I have to disagree with his consistency. I don't want my goaltender swatting the puck into the back of the net, dropping a routine glove save in a road game (against Carey Price of all people) that forces an OT nor the constant misadventures playing the puck. He's made HUGE stops (most notably the pad save on Jesper Fast on the rebound opportunity from Nash's original shot) but I feel we've been able to overcome his mistakes as a team and I think it's shaded the issue a bit.

I just think "imagine how good he would be if it weren't for the silly mistakes" and he makes them too often in margin for me to consider him a transcendent goaltender. At least 2 times a game I'm yelling "DAMN IT BEN GET BACK IN THE NET!!!" and throwing my hat when he lets in a stoppable goal.

Some of his mistakes - at least his adventures around the net - are part of what make him good. I honestly wouldn't want to take that from his game - live by the sword die by the sword. If he were 100% perfect on his reads it'd be great, but he isn't and you can't realistically expect him to be.

It's weird - he's like the anti-Lindback. If you get a legit, grade A scoring chance it's probably going to go in, but despite how maligned Tampa's D is, we tend not to be that down and out very often to where you have that open net, goalie moving side to side shot. He tends to stop all of the medium grade scoring chances though - he tends not to get beat on a "good but not great" chance.

And to top it off, he's good for some laughable softies. Obviously that's something he could eliminate, but it's sometimes hard to remember a) he's pretty young for a goalie, and b) this is his first playoffs. He's getting a bit underrated around here by some rival fans (especially Habs and Rangers fans, oddly enough - two teams he's owned), but he's a good goaltender, and after years upon years of crap in net, it's so nice finally having a guy back there that we can count on to show up.

 

[DFC]

Yeah, I have no issues with Bishop's puck-handling adventures. I think part of what's happening is he's still adapting to the pace and intensity with which opposing players are closing on him (as in, playoffs vs. reg season). He's done this all year long, but the struggles didn't really pop up until the playoffs. So I'm fine with it, because I think he's slowly adjusting. I want him comfortable rather than rigid, and handling the puck at literally every opportunity is part of his game. It's like having a 3rd defenseman a lot of the time.

I think part of why our possession numbers are so good (reg season) is because Bishop stops so many forechecks before they even start. And his outlet pass gets us moving in the right direction immediately.

 

[Hoek]

He dives quite a lot.

So does Price. He's always looking for a way to get a goal wiped out and is quite successful doing it. All the good goalies are masters of such gamesmanship.

 

[Habsawce]

So does Price. He's always looking for a way to get a goal wiped out and is quite successful doing it. All the good goalies are masters of such gamesmanship.

Meh, there's a difference between using contact to your advantage and acting like Mark Walhberg is in the upper deck with his sniper rifle. But I get your point, the good goalies use contact to their advantage with the new rules to protect them.

 

[tony d]

Solid goalie, one of the better ones playing right now IMO.

 

[Habsawce]

Solid goalie, one of the better ones playing right now IMO.

I'd say he's at least top 4 of the goalies still playing.

 

[icKx]

He dives quite a lot.

He's a pretty big guy

 

[bert]

gotta love hfboards, I'll be loling hard next year when he's dragged through dirt when he goes through a Mike Smith type slump

He really isnt fundamentally strong at all, he has trouble tracking pucks. He is good for a big save here or there but id like to see what he can do without the best offense in the league lighting it up all the time.

He is just big really, but being big can be a talent.

 

[GTA]

have you ever watched a basketball game out of curiosity?

If you only have to beat out like 20 other guys at your height to be an NBA centre, than yes. Height is by far the most important attribute at that position. Obviously, guard is a different ball of wax altogether. All in all though, he average NBA height is achieved by what...1 in 1000 males? Least athletic sport of the big 4, easily.

 

[Bourdon]

He doesn't have great fundamentals and he tends to make himself really small at times by diving forward when making saves. He plays in front of a very deep defensive corp and that makes his job much easier.

At times though, he looks insurmountably big in net. Overall, he's an above average goaltender.

 

[haveandare]

In the modern NHL, size >>> skill when it comes to goaltending, the position has become a joke for the most part

Price, Hank and Quick are fairly normal sized goalies, and there are big guys who don't have any semblance of success. That's not the slightest bit true, Bishop just happens to be both skilled and huge.

 

[BC Ben]

Bishop is a bigger version of reimer, horrid rebound control who is also insanely lucky.

That's what I am banking on as o have Vasilevskiy in my dynasty league

 

[nhlfan9191]

I think Bishop showed in Game 6 he's got a different gear than Price. Price is good with the puck, but part of being the "best puck handling goalie" is actually playing the puck. WHEN Price handles it he's good, but Bishop is so aggressive with it he's basically a sixth skater out there. Smith and Bishop are the top two and in a class by themselves.

We are the ultimate chip and chase team. It's one of the reason Bishop was killing our offense. We didn't know how to handle a goalie who can play the puck like Bishop. If you played that way against Price, you would have been screwed too.

 

[sharks9]

I can understand people not watching saying silly things but I'm shaking my head there. We don't even pass the first round without Bishop, yes he allowed 3 soft goals overall but he also stopped the four hundred other shots. Bishop and Johnson have been the backbone of our run by a colossal margin, he's been clutch, consistent and displayed a lot of assurance. Bishop outplayed Price over the 6 games series, he's been the better goalie after 2 games so far against NY. The only person that seems capable to beat Bishop is Bishop himself, just shows how dominant he's been the 3 softies aside.

There's not a single goalie Tampa wants beside Bishop at the moment, he's ours.

The thing is compared to goalies like Price and Lundqvist, goalies like Bishop and Crawford have the luxury of being able to let in really soft goals and still win the game or the series because their team is good enough to cover up their mistakes. Bishop just needs to make the saves he's expected to make and most of the time his team will win.

 

[Ragnarok14]

Bishop still getting insulted in this thread (where the OP was very clearly being sarcastic btw) but the point should be well absorbed. Yes, he's big but he's very agile and well coordinated for such a big guy. Awful rebound control? No. It's not his strongest point but it's certainly not awful.

Moreover, it's not never-ending luck when guys keep hitting the posts or just barely miss a small hole to shoot wide. The shooters have to cut it fine because he's not leaving much space open, generally.

It's definitely frustration on Rangers fans part. The guy is just so big, he almost embodies the "let's play a sumo at goalie" mindset. It's definitely an advantage when you are so big, you naturally cover the whole net. I think that's what the OP was trying for, in a backhanded way. Expect more teams to scout out giants and hope they can build a human meat-wall in front of the goal!
Who needs scoring when you can have Godzilla-Goalies?

 

[ChiHawk21]

lol what the heck...transcendent?? come on