I totally get that Hammond's run has been fantastic and his record is nothing short of amazing but I'm shocked at how many people would give him the season MVP after such a short number of games and here is the main reason why:
Anderson has played more games than Hammond and was amongst top 5 in the league in save % BEFORE his injury and that's behind a team that was not nearly as good as the team playing in front of Hammond. The problem I have with this situation is that Anderson has always been a very good goaltender for Ottawa, if not the best goaltender this franchise ever had (save a year of Hasek). Anderson is not responsible for the way the team plays in front of him and neither is Hammond. I think it's safe to say that the players love to play in front of Hammond but it looks like the total opposite whe playing in front of Andy. The point I want to bring is, Andy has played absolutely phenomenal hockey this season for us and we ALL know that without him in the beginning of the season there would not even be playoffs hopes at this point and the same applies to Hammond who has helped us in the last 20 games. Andy was literally, exquisitely, the only player that gave an effort night in, night out to give us a chance to win games for the first half of the season. Anderson has played as good, if not better than Hammond, for the first half of the season(.925 save % before injury on a very bad team is no short feat.) and yet nobody gives him the credit he deserves. To me this is beyond ridiculous. Does Michalek also deserve the MVP for his recent play in the last 20 games? I get that a goalie is important but a season MVP is not a player that gives you 20 starts, especially since the other goalie gave you more games and stellar play as well. Not his fault that the team doesn't play in front of him.
I guess that hockey is really just about what have you done for me lately, as in the last 20 games.