Rate this goalie prospects please!
- Thread starter Barney Stinson76
- Start date
- Status
I'll have a go..
1. Lehtonen
2. Fleury
3. Lundqvist
4. Toivonen
5. LeNeveu
6. Harding
7. Nittymaki
8. Bryzgalov
9. Ward
10. Ahonen
11. Ouellet
1. Lehtonen
2. Fleury
3. Lundqvist
4. Toivonen
5. LeNeveu
6. Harding
7. Nittymaki
8. Bryzgalov
9. Ward
10. Ahonen
11. Ouellet
Barney Stinson76
Registered User
Stevex said:
First thanks but could you tell me why you put Ouellet at the end and a guy like Lundqvist on 3rd?
Could you tell me please something about this goalies??
THX
Twist and Shout
Registered User
1. Lehtonen
2. Toivonen
3. Fleury
4. Lundqvist
5. Bryzgalov
6. LeNeveu
7. Ouellet
8. Ahonen
9. Ward
10. Harding
11. Nittymaki
2. Toivonen
3. Fleury
4. Lundqvist
5. Bryzgalov
6. LeNeveu
7. Ouellet
8. Ahonen
9. Ward
10. Harding
11. Nittymaki
John Flyers Fan
Registered User
sevenSteen said:
No way is Niittymaki 11th. He was great in Finland, and has come over and adapted his game and become one of the best in the AHL.
Twist and Shout
Registered User
Jason MacIsaac
Registered User
Ahonen is good but has done nothing to prove he is better then Nitty. Ahonen is the most incosistant goaltender in the AHL.sevenSteen said:
John Flyers Fan
Registered User
sevenSteen said:
I'd love to hear you thoughts as to why Ahonen is better than Niittymaki, other than one being a first round pick and the other being a 6th round pick.(not just picking on Ahonen, because he's not the only one on this list that Niittymaki is better than)
Niittymaki was great in Europe, now has moved over and is great in the AHL. Also played excellent during his brief call-up to the NHL.
If the NHL was in business, he be on the Flyers today.
BuppY
xGoodwillx
LittlePenguin66 said:
They're all very good. I think Ouellet and Toivonen tend to be a little overhyped. Other goalies on their respective teams have equally impressive statistics. Im just not sold yet on Ouellet becoming a starter and dont think his upside is as high. Its purely subjective and Im sure Im in a minority. Lundqvist I like because he's consistently performed at a high level for a relatively long time already.
Lehtonen
Fleury
Toivonen
Nittymaki
Bryzgalov
Ahonen
Lundqvist
And then a toss up between:
Ward
Harding
LeNevue
Ouellet
Fleury
Toivonen
Nittymaki
Bryzgalov
Ahonen
Lundqvist
And then a toss up between:
Ward
Harding
LeNevue
Ouellet
1.Lehtonen
2.Fleury
3.Toivonen
4. Lundqvist
5. Bryzgalov
6. LeNevue
7. Ouellet
8. Nittymaki
9. Ward
10.Ahonen
11.Harding
2.Fleury
3.Toivonen
4. Lundqvist
5. Bryzgalov
6. LeNevue
7. Ouellet
8. Nittymaki
9. Ward
10.Ahonen
11.Harding
Vyse64
N64
FLYLine27*
BUCH
John Flyers Fan said:
I dont think you should let Ahonen's past weigh him down. Albany has been god AWFUL for the last 2-3 years.They were within the worst three teams each of those years.I cant personally say alot about Niitymaki, as I have only seen him play once, but the Phantoms have been an upper tier team in the AHL since they came in the league.
That being said, I'll rank them...
1.Lehtonen
2.Fleury
3.Toivonen
4.Ouellet
5.Lundqvist
6.Bryzgalov
7.LeNeveau
8.Harding
9a.Ward
9b.Niitymaki
9c.Ahonen
Winston Wolf
Registered User
True, the teams they play on haven't been of the same quality, but when comparing individual play Niittymaki has still been far superior. Ahonen never did much in Finland, either. Niittymaki led his team to a couple SM-Liiga championships.HokEGoalie said:
John Flyers Fan
Registered User
HokEGoalie said:
I'm not just basing it on what the two goalies are currently doing, or looking at won/loss records, but the following.
They were drafted one year apart.
Niittymaki played 3 seasons in Finland. Winning one league championship. Posted outstanding numbers in 2 of his 3 seasons in Finland.
Ahonen played two years in Finland. Had nice numbers. Nothing great, nothing horrible.
Niittymaki moved over to play in the AHL, and struggled in his first season with his consistancy. His numbers weren't bad looking 2.58 & .903, but far too often gave up weak early goals to start the game before settling down
His 2nd season in North America saw tremendous improvement, where he became one of the top goalies in the AHL, posting a 2.02 GAA and .924 sv%.
Also played 3 consecutive games for the Flyers winning all three, and allowing just one goal in each game.
Due to the NHL lockout Niittymaki again finds himself in the AHL and is again near the top of all AHL goaltending stats. 1.71 & .930
Also as to the Phantoms always being a great team since they came into existance, not true. Missed the playoffs entirely the year before Antero came aboard. His first year they struggled to make the playoffs. The team also struggled early last season until late November when they caught fire, and were among the leagues best from then on.
This season the Phantoms are very good, greatly helped along by the NHL lockout, as Pitkanen, Seidenberg, Sharp and Niittymaki would be with the big club.
Playing for Albany certainly isn't helping Ahonen's stats, but Ahonen has done nothing to show that he's a big time prospect. He has yet to even outplay Scott Clemmensen for the #1 job in Albany.
The numbers:
Clemmensen
04-05 - 2.75 & .912
03-04 - 3.07 & .902
02-03 - 2.65 & .910
01-02 - 3.29 & .908
AHL Career (previous to this season) - 22-55-16 2.94 & .908
Ahonen
04-05 - 3.02 & .907
03-04 - 2.99 & .902
02-03 - 3.04 & .898
01-02 - 3.02 & .914
AHL Career (previous to this season) - 32-72-15 3.01 & .904
Where Niittymaki appears to be showing serious progress as a goalie, Ahonen does not.
Patty Ice
Straight to the Banc
First let me just say that all these guys I expect to be number one goalies at one point or another and are all fine prospects but this is my order of preference if I'm tryin to build a winner.
Lehtonen
Fleury
Bryzgalov
Ward
Ouellet
Toivonen
LeNevue
Lundqvist
Harding
Ahonen
Nittymaki
Lehtonen
Fleury
Bryzgalov
Ward
Ouellet
Toivonen
LeNevue
Lundqvist
Harding
Ahonen
Nittymaki
Kirk- NEHJ
Registered User
Stevex said:
Toivonen overhyped?
Are you kidding me?
The guy sees an average of 33 shots per game- many of them quality and has nearly a 94% save percentage, 2.00 GAA and a .500 record on a team that has barely averaged 2 goals in offense per game this season. Until the loss to Hartford over the weekend, he had not had one single poor start in a season when he'd started all but three games for his Providence team.
If anything, Toivonen is getting his due respect as one of the better young goalie prospects in the league. Overhyped- hardly. He went from being considered a "second tier" goalie prospect at the 2002 draft to one who could someday be a franchise cornerstone.
The attention he's getting is deserved. And, if you've seen what he's done for Providence, you'll understand what the buzz is about.
Kirk- NEHJ said:
Yes overhyped. Other goalies have been just as impressive but get virtually no credit in comparision. (Leneveu and Harding to name two) Its not really surprising if you remember that the Boston board on HF is one of the biggest by far.
Im not saying Toivonen is bad or anything, he's great.. but he isnt wildly better than some other top goalie prospects like HF hype seems to be.
Stevex said:
Hey hey now, Ive had season tickets to the Falcons the last 9 years and LeNeveau didnt really shine at all to me. Sure he was an all-star, but the only reason was, is because every team needed a representative and noone else from those god-awful Falcons was closed to deserving.
neelynugs
Registered User
- Feb 27, 2002
- 35,433
- 9,870
Ward- 5
Harding- 8
LeNevue- 9
Toivonen- 3
Ouellet- 6
Bryzgalov- 4
Nittymaki- 7
Fleury- 2
Lehtonen- 1
Ahonen- 10
Lundqvist (NYR)- 11
cuz i said so
not sure what the lundqvist lovefest is about
until this guy comes to N.A. and proves himself, he's nothing more than hype IMO
Harding- 8
LeNevue- 9
Toivonen- 3
Ouellet- 6
Bryzgalov- 4
Nittymaki- 7
Fleury- 2
Lehtonen- 1
Ahonen- 10
Lundqvist (NYR)- 11
cuz i said so
not sure what the lundqvist lovefest is about
until this guy comes to N.A. and proves himself, he's nothing more than hype IMO
Last edited:
Kirk- NEHJ
Registered User
Stevex said:
I guess we differ in our definition of "overhype" then.
To me, someone overhyped is a player who doesn't deserve the accolades he's given. A goalie prospect who was overhyped on these boards was Brian Finley, for example. Yes, injuries and hard luck have prevented him from becoming the player Nashville thought they were getting (easy Preds fans- just calling it as I see it here), but anyone who spent time on these boards circa 1999-2001 knows that Finley was much-talked about on a borderline ridiculous level (no doubt due to his draft position and upside) at HF, and hasn't really gotten anywhere in the years since.
Toivonen deserves the buzz. The kid had a very strong AHL rookie season last year and helped Team Finland to the WJC bronze on home soil with some big performances. For an encore, he's played at an even higher level for Providence, stealing games and keeping his team in just about every one.
What Toivonen gets is not "overhype" because he deserves to be mentioned. Just as anyone else who is having a solid season and going above and beyond for their club. Ask anybody who follows Providence or has seen just one game this season and they'll tell you- without Toivonen's superb play this year, they'd be cellar dwellers.
Look- I won't argue semantics with you. If you want to maintain that Toivonen is "overhyped" because nobody's fighting for Josh Harding and David LeNeveu, then so be it. That's your opinion. I just don't happen to agree.
BTW- this is a tough debate. All of these goalies are deserving and have earned the right to a high ranking based on their merits. But- why sell a guy with a .937 save percentage and 2.08 GAA with just a .500 record short? Where I come from, that's called walking the walk.
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