Vernon was excellent for Detroit in 1997. It wasn't just for his on-ice play, either. While he wasn't on a team where he had to steal a lot of games, he played smart and steady, and he provided ample leadership. The type of situation where if goalies could be a captain or alternate, he would have been one.
Back to the Carey argument. The Caps defence was generally revered as the best in the league in the mid-1990s, not just for talent, but for the execution of the system and playing together as a unit. Look who they had: Gonchar (back when he played in his own zone), Sylvain Cote, the always underrated Calle Johnasson, Tinordi, Jim Johnson and Joe Reekie. They also had Brendan Witt and Ken Klee at their disposal. That's the reason Carey had nine shutouts. When Washington ran into injury problems in 1997, Carey started to get exposed. When he was traded to Boston, we found out how much he benefitted from that defence.
Puppa, meanwhile, experienced the joys of dealing with a defence that included the inconsistent Roman Hamrlik, Bill Houlder, Cory Cross, Michel Petit, Igor Ulanov and David Shaw. They were so desparate, they dressed Adrian Plavsic for seven games. Also, Tampa was a very run-and-gun oriented team that year, and Puppa had to fend for himself many nights. If you thought Olaf Kolzig's numbers were bad in 1995-96, you should see Puppa's three back-ups from that season.
While Carey was very good in 1996, and better than some of the goalies tossed out earlier, it still confounds me to this day how Carey beat Puppa for the Vezina, and that has been my point from the start. It's interesting to note that Carey earned only five of 26 first place votes (nine goalies received first place votes that year), and won the award by only six points over Osgood. It's also interesting to note that Carey flopped in the 1996 playoffs, while Kolzig re-emerged as the team's No. 1.
PS: About my "grandfather" comment, perhaps hyperbole and sarcasm are new to some people.
PPS: Hasek led the league in save percentage that year at .920. Funny, isn't it. Now a .920 save percentage would be middle of the pack.