Vezina Finalists: Ben Bishop (DAL), Robin Lehner (NYI), Andrei Vasilevskiy (TBL)

[Kunta Kinte]

Weakest group ever.... 46 games ? 53 games ? Wtf is this shit... NHL awards are losing all credibility last few years some dubious move.

 

[Kunta Kinte]

I'll admit that I'm a bit surprised to see Lehner as a nominee. His GAA, save percentage, and shutout totals are stellar, but he only played 46 games and had just 25 wins. That's got to be one of the lowest wins/games played totals for a Vezina nominee in recent history.

Exactly, weakest group of goaltender ever has finalist. You can put a guy with 46 games as a finalist... When you have goaltender with 65 games played.

 

[LT]

Weakest group ever.... 46 games ? 53 games ? Wtf is this ****... NHL awards are losing all credibility last few years some dubious move.

Would you prefer worse goalies who have more GP get the nods? The game is evolving and fewer teams are having to rely on a goaltender to play 60-70 games.

 

[Derg12]

I've got to hitch my wagon to the Lehner-mobile. If he pulls this off, I'm sure Tim Murray will feel somewhat vindicated.

 

[c9777666]

Carey Price finished with essentially identical numbers (Prices are a hair better actually) and played 66 games.

So should Price win the Vezina?

And you can't even use the 'Yeah, but missed playoffs' thing considering Bobrovsky won so in '13 despite not making the playoffs.

 

[Kunta Kinte]

Would you prefer worse goalies who have more GP get the nods? The game is evolving and fewer teams are having to rely on a goaltender to play 60-70 games.

Just saying a goaler with ,920 save % which play 70 games >>>> a goaler with ,927 but play 45 f***ing game. Not hard to grasp. But I see you a Dallas fan so you gonna defend your boy, but it doesnt change the fact its the weakest group of goalie ever to be put as finalist.

I don't consider Price having a worst season than any of these guys and he atleast he played legit #1 goaltender games.

 

[Macch]

Lehner won’t win but wow. What a ducking great season for him.

 

[Mrb1p]

Price and Andersen snubbed AF.

Theres no excuses to have Bishop and Lehner before those two. They went for the feel good story with Lehnber and it sucks.

 

[LT]

Just saying a goaler with ,920 save % which play 70 games >>>> a goaler with ,927 but play 45 ****ing game. Not hard to grasp. But I see you a Dallas fan so you gonna defend your boy, but it doesnt change the fact its the weakest group of goalie ever to be put as finalist.

I don't consider Price having a worst season than any of these guys and he atleast he played legit #1 goaltender games.

Is it Bishop's fault that Dallas has a great back-up while Montreal (or Vegas, or Toronto, or any other team) doesn't? Why should he be considered a worse goalie because of something mostly out of his control?

 

[kingsholygrail]

I think Vas will get it.

 

[WesMcCauley]

Good list. Bishop should win it imo.

 

[Vaporwave]

Weakest group ever.... 46 games ? 53 games ? Wtf is this ****... NHL awards are losing all credibility last few years some dubious move.

This just reads as "waaa my goalie should've won".

Price wasn't even top 10 in GA or SV% for goalies with over 30 games played. Not his year, move on.

 

[Frank Drebin]

Is it Bishop's fault that Dallas has a great back-up while Montreal (or Vegas, or Toronto, or any other team) doesn't? Why should he be considered a worse goalie because of something mostly out of his control?

Bishop has been great this season and in the playoffs so lets drop this "better/worse" goalie thing.
It is common knowledge that it is more difficult to maintain a high level of play over 60 or 70 games than it is over 45 or 50, and equally it is more impressive to maintain that level of play over a longer period of time.

I don't decide who the finalists are but a .924 over 70 is more impressive to me than a .931 over 45 for example.

 

[Vaporwave]

Price and Andersen snubbed AF.

Theres no excuses to have Bishop and Lehner before those two. They went for the feel good story with Lehnber and it sucks.

It must suck.

Andersen had zero chance to be in the conversation.

He was 13th in sv% and 25th (!) in GA for goalies over 30 games. That's below average. 2.77 GA, cmon

Lehner .930 (an Islander record) and 2.13. Feel good story? no man, just the numbers.

 

[Mrb1p]

It must suck.

Andersen had zero chance to be in the conversation.

He was 13th in sv% and 25th (!) in GA for goalies over 30 games. That's below average. 2.77 GA, cmon

Lehner .930 (an Islander record) and 2.13. Feel good story? no man, just the numbers.

Yeah and what about his backup? Is his backup going to co-own the Vezina?

 

[Vaporwave]

Yeah and what about his backup? Is his backup going to co-own the Vezina?

What about him?

The best back up this year.

He'll have a nice shiny Jennings Trophy on his mantle.

When was the last TOR Jennings? oh yeah, never.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

There should be a GP threshold. <50GP is ridiculous.

I think less than 50 GP and you should have numbers that are really spectacular. I don't mind Bishop being there but I don't see Lehner. These are basically platoon goalies.

 

[Mrb1p]

What about him?

The best back up this year.

He'll have a nice shiny Jennings Trophy on his mantle.

Its ridiculous. Lehner is good but hes clearly a product of Trotz and the team defense, as evidenced by his backups numbers.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Probably still Vasi's to lose but I'd love to see Bishop get the nod here. Posted better numbers, albeit in slightly fewer games.

 

[LT]

Bishop has been great this season and in the playoffs so lets drop this "better/worse" goalie thing.
It is common knowledge that it is more difficult to maintain a high level of play over 60 or 70 games than it is over 45 or 50, and equally it is more impressive to maintain that level of play over a longer period of time.

I don't decide who the finalists are but a .924 over 70 is more impressive to me than a .931 over 45 for example.

Why are we making up stats? Why not compare actual stats from this season?

Since the lockout, no goalie with a SV% below .920 has won the Vezina. Only two goalies with more than 50 GP have a SV% higher than that. One of them is nominated for the Vezina, and the other probably should be too (Kuemper) but his team missed the playoffs and he plays in a tiny market with little attention.

Bishop's SV% is top 3 since the lockout (for goalies with 35+ GP) and Lehner is also in the top 15. Bishop's GAA is also top 10 for the same criteria.

You can certainly argue their stats would've gone down had they played more games, but that isn't a guarantee. Neither had to be relied upon to play 60-70+ games - that's out of their control. They both played amazingly well when called upon, and were fortunate to have a partner in net who could also be relied on. That shouldn't detract from the incredible seasons both had.

None of the 60+ GP goalies this year had particularly remarkable seasons. None of them stood out amongst the crowd. So why should they get any recognition for being average to above-average starters when they did play?

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

The Canadiens and Coyotes not making the playoffs cost Price and Kuemper a spot. I'm surprised no Frederik Andersen. I guess the last few weeks of the season took him out of it.

This is the first time since 2004 that a goalie with fewer than 53 games played made the top-3 Vezina finalists in an 82 game season and this year two guys made it and Vasilevskiy only played 53 games himself. Kiprusoff in 2004 was the last one and he only played 37 or 38 games.

In this case, all bets are off. Lehner or Bishop might actually win it. I thought Vasilevskiy would win it, due to the other two not even getting a finalist spot because of games played.

And that doesn't make sense to me either.

I'm okay with Price not being nominated but Kuemper should probably have gotten a nod. Strong numbers on a bad team and he at least has enough starts.

Bishop's numbers were just too good to ignore.

 

[LT]

And that doesn't make sense to me either.

I'm okay with Price not being nominated but Kuemper should probably have gotten a nod. Strong numbers on a bad team and he at least has enough starts.

Bishop's numbers were just too good to ignore.

I agree. Kuemper should've gotten the nod over Lehner for me. I think Lehner's narrative earned him a lot more attention and therefore votes, though.

I still think it's Vasi's to lose, but this year seems pretty wide open.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I agree. Kuemper should've gotten the nod over Lehner for me. I think Lehner's narrative earned him a lot more attention and therefore votes, though.

I still think it's Vasi's to lose, but this year seems pretty wide open.

I don't think making the playoffs should affect individual awards like the Vezina or Norris. The Hart trophy's a different beast but why should Kuemper not get votes here? Doesn't make sense to me.

Another thing that doesn't make sense is the guys at Sportsnet lobbying for Fleury. Seriously why Fleury over Price or Andersen? That didn't make sense to me either. They're treating it like it's a Hart award (most valuable to the team) instead of the individual award it's supposed to be.

 

[Mickey Marner]

I think less than 50 GP and you should have numbers that are really spectacular. I don't mind Bishop being there but I don't see Lehner. These are basically platoon goalies.

I don't care who wins, but 46 GP (unrelated to injury) means your coach wasn't even sure who the starter was. But I don't expect people to grasp the limitations of averaging statistics, even when it leads to bizarre conclusions.

 

[LT]

I don't think making the playoffs should affect individual awards like the Vezina or Norris. The Hart trophy's a different beast but why should Kuemper not get votes here? Doesn't make sense to me.

Another thing that doesn't make sense is the guys at Sportsnet lobbying for Fleury. Seriously why Fleury over Price or Andersen? That didn't make sense to me either. They're treating it like it's a Hart award (most valuable to the team) instead of the individual award it's supposed to be.

Oh I completely agree, but clearly a large enough number of voters don't. Was more trying to understand the finalists as they are opposed to explaining what I would do.