Who do you guys think will be three finalists for the Vezina this year? It is one of the tightest races in recent memory and I think there are probably 6 goaltenders that would be reasonable picks for the three finalist spots and any one of them could win...
If I was choosing, here is how I would rank them:
Finalists: Luongo - impressive GAA and save %, must stay hot to keep his place amongst the finalists Brodeur - perrenial favorite hasn't lost a beat despite being almost 36 years of age Bryzgalov - has been stellar since being waived by Ducks .925 GAA in 47 games started with the 'yotes!
Any one of these guys "could" also be a finalist (if there were more spots!): Giguere - could easily be a finalist, if any of the 3 above falter, Giggy gets in Leclaire - league leading 9 shutouts, but less than 3000 minutes played Nabokov - despite starting nearly every game in SJ, his poor save % (as compared to the 5 above) has Evgeni missing out on the Vezina
Other slightly more remote possibilities for finalists (no chance really): Turco Lundqvist
-- Edited by Anaheim GM at 16:30, 2008-03-14
__________________
2007-08 - missed playoffs (29th overall) 2008-09 - missed playoffs (26th overall) 2009-10 - 7th place in Western Conference (99 pts), Conference Semi-Finals 2010-11 - missed playoffs (19th overall) 2011-12
i think that it will be luongo, brodeur and nabakov in the final three... most likely brodeur winning it again, but they may award it to luongo as i think he deserved it last year over brodeur
So it looks like Brodeur, Nabokov and Lundqvist are the finalists (one from each of my categories).
Luongo and Bryzgalov really faltered at the tail end of the season. Lundqvist on the other hand allowed only 14 goals in 12 games after my post (very impressive!).
In the end though, Brodeur will win as his numbers are the best among the three.
Anaheim GM wrote:
Who do you guys think will be three finalists for the Vezina this year? It is one of the tightest races in recent memory and I think there are probably 6 goaltenders that would be reasonable picks for the three finalist spots and any one of them could win...
If I was choosing, here is how I would rank them:
Finalists: Luongo - impressive GAA and save %, must stay hot to keep his place amongst the finalists Brodeur - perrenial favorite hasn't lost a beat despite being almost 36 years of age Bryzgalov - has been stellar since being waived by Ducks .925 GAA in 47 games started with the 'yotes!
Any one of these guys "could" also be a finalist (if there were more spots!): Giguere - could easily be a finalist, if any of the 3 above falter, Giggy gets in Leclaire - league leading 9 shutouts, but less than 3000 minutes played Nabokov - despite starting nearly every game in SJ, his poor save % (as compared to the 5 above) has Evgeni missing out on the Vezina
Other slightly more remote possibilities for finalists (no chance really): Turco Lundqvist
-- Edited by Anaheim GM at 16:30, 2008-03-14
__________________
2007-08 - missed playoffs (29th overall) 2008-09 - missed playoffs (26th overall) 2009-10 - 7th place in Western Conference (99 pts), Conference Semi-Finals 2010-11 - missed playoffs (19th overall) 2011-12
i think shutouts put brodeur over luongo last year, so lundqvist may have the advantage over the other two goalies....
that being said, i would go with nabby... he's posted good all-round numbers, nine more wins than lundqvist with a better GAA and just a little worse SV% than lundy...
brodeur may win it for sentimental value, winning his 500th game during this season...
I can't see Lundqvist winning it....he was a below average goalie (s% below 90%, gaa above 2.5) for two months in the middle of the season. When he was good he was great, but he wasn't consistent enough to get it.
