Stich said:
I'm curious what I have said in this thread that made you believe that I think that shots faced is the only factor determining save percentage? Common sense suggests that player ability might be a factor.
You said it was statistically proven that if you face more shots, you will have a higher save%...
I'm also curious if you actually clicked on the link I posted above. In case you didn't, here's the important information:
Shots Faced, Save Percentage
Less than 20, .889
20-24, .901
25-29, .915
30-34, .919
35+, .929
If shots facing more shots wasn't good for your save percentage, then why was the leaguewide save percentage for facing 35 or more shots 40 points higher than facing less than 20 shots in 2002-03?[/QUOTE]
I'm sorry, I must have missed where degroat.net became a reliable source for hockey information... forgive my skepticism.
That's fine and dandy, but lets answer the real question... the more shots you face the higher your save %... which is still wrong. If it were true, the goalies who faced the most shots per game would have, on average, the highest save %... it's simply not true (30 goalies who faced the most shots this season):
[pre]
GP Saves Shots MP SA/G Sv% Sv% Rank
LUONGO 72 2303 2475 4,251 34.93 0.931 2
CARON 40 1041 1179 2,212 31.98 0.883 30
KOLZIG 63 1778 1958 3,738 31.43 0.908 22
DENIS 66 1808 1970 3,795 31.15 0.918 8
GIGUERE 55 1483 1623 3,210 30.34 0.914 12
BURKE 47 1183 1302 2,620 29.82 0.909 20
LEIGHTON 34 888 987 1,987 29.80 0.900 27
FERNANDEZ 37 966 1056 2,166 29.25 0.915 11
BOUCHER 40 1042 1150 2,363 29.20 0.906 24
BIRON 52 1317 1442 2,971 29.12 0.913 14
DUNHAM 57 1363 1522 3,148 29.01 0.896 29
NURMINEN 64 1619 1792 3,738 28.76 0.903 26
THEODORE 67 1710 1860 3,960 28.18 0.919 7
NABOKOV 59 1483 1610 3,455 27.96 0.921 5
ROLOSON 48 1234 1323 2,846 27.89 0.933 1
VOKOUN 73 1780 1958 4,221 27.83 0.909 21
RAYCROFT 57 1469 1586 3,420 27.82 0.926 3
AEBISCHER 62 1574 1703 3,702 27.60 0.924 4
DIPIETRO 50 1149 1261 2,843 26.61 0.911 17
CECHMANEK 49 1085 1198 2,701 26.61 0.906 23
CLOUTIER 60 1420 1554 3,539 26.35 0.914 13
WEEKES 66 1506 1652 3,764 26.33 0.912 16
LEGACE 41 937 1019 2,325 26.30 0.920 6
KHABIBULIN 55 1287 1414 3,273 25.92 0.910 18
BELFOUR 59 1361 1483 3,444 25.84 0.918 9
SALO 49 1041 1160 2,790 24.95 0.897 28
OSGOOD 67 1460 1604 3,861 24.93 0.910 19
BRODEUR 75 1691 1845 4,554 24.31 0.917 10
LALIME 57 1207 1334 3,324 24.08 0.905 25
TURCO 73 1504 1648 4,359 22.68 0.913 15
[/pre]
As we can see, that isn't the case.
[pre]
Shots sv% Average Rank sv%
30 + 14.8 .914
28.5-30 21.6 .906
27-28.5 9.5 .921
25-27 14.5 .913
under 25 19.4 .909
[/pre]
The average NHL goalie faces an average of 26 shots per game (completely rounded). And it is in that area where the save % is the highest. Between 25-28 shots per game.
Like I said, in the end, it all evens out. If it truely was that the more shots you faced, the better your save%, then the goalies facing 30+ shots every night would be the ones who had the best sv%... and they don't.