FlyTimmo
pit <3
- Jul 10, 2013
- 12,425
- 10,441
Anderson carried that team to game 7. Karlsson had a good series, but that wasn't a team devoid of talent, Hoffman, Turris, Stone, Brassard, but Anderson's .922 S% kept them in every game. Two years before, Anderson and Hammond single handly carried that team into the playoffs.
Last year, Anderson finally showed his age with a .898% and Ottawa totally tanked.
Goalies and playoffs:
2018: Holtby .922, MAF .927, Hellebuyck .924, Vasilevskiy .918
2017: MAF/Murray .929, Rinne .930, Gibson .924, Anderson .922
2016: Murray .923, Jones .923, Elliott .921, Bishop/Vasilevskiy .933
2015: Crawford .924, Bishop .921, Lundqvist .928, Andersen .913
2014: Quick .911, Lundqvist .927, Price .919, Crawford .912
2013: Crawford .932, Rask .940, Quick .934, Vokoun .933
You can get to the Conference Finals with an average goal tender, but the odds are stacked against you.
I think EK is very good, but not generational.
Last five years EK, Hedman and Burns are neck to neck, and Klingberg and Hamilton just behind. And Doughty may be the best all around defenseman.
Krug, Burns and Keith are just behind him as playoff performers.
That is, EK certainly deserves consideration as the best D-man in the league, but the gap between him and the others in the top 5 isn't large.
I don't know how good Myers will end up, but the number of guys that size with legitimate skills is very, very small.
Burns, Weber and ???
You stats didn't really support your argument. In the entire playoffs among goalies who played 4+ games, he ranked 9th/18 in GAA and 10th/18 in SV%. Among the conference finalists he was the worst statistically.
You said that "Anderson carried that team to game 7", then said that "he kept them in every game". A team carrying goalie and a goalie that keeps a team in games are not the same thing. And like you said, "You can get to the Conference Finals with an average goal tender, but the odds are stacked against you." Andersson, with respect to other playoff goaltenders, was statistically average. But... you know how they over came those odds... Erik Karlsson.
He was among their best offensive players and had a similar P/60 to their best forwards. He had by far the best GS on OTT, a RelCF% of 7.07, RelxGF% of 4.34... all while playing huge minutes. And honestly, you can re-watch those games. He was dominant offensively, but still was their most effective defenseman defensively as well. Oh, but yeah... Karlsson totally has serious playoff limitations. You can say that Anderson was the biggest reason to their success, but I can't force you to be correct.
Whether he is generational or not, is totally subjective. Whether he is the best defenseman of this generation, is not. And if Myers becomes Burns, Weber or whoever, all those players are worse and not as special as EK.