When your last Vezina Trophy winner was back in the 1986-87 season, having to see a goalie who once donned your colors win the prestigious honor a year after being let go, would be a hard pill to swallow. Hopefully the Flyers front office has plenty of water because that pill’s about to be the ...
On the same day that Sergei Bobrovsky, Henrik Lundqvist, and Antti Niemi were announced as finalists for the 2012-13 Vezina Trophy, I’m presenting a new kind of goalie award, the Most Valuable Goaltender of the Year, to Evgeni Nabokov of the New York Islanders. This honor is based on a single statistically-driven question: Which starting ...
As the 2013 NHL season winds down and awards talk ramps up, Bruins fans may be wondering if anyone on the team may be in line for some hardware. While Zdeno Chara is a perennial Norris candidate, perhaps the top option in terms of having his named called this year is the man behind him, ...
The New York Rangers will go as far Henrik Lundqvist can carry them. That is why the Rangers’ 4-5-0 record after the first nine games was reflective of their franchise goaltender’s statistics. Entering the Blueshirts’ contest with the Islanders on February 7th, the reigning Vezina Trophy-winner had a 3-5-0 record with a 2.83 goals against ...
The impact of American-born players in the NHL has intensified over the last few decades. Not only has there been an increase of U.S. born players on NHL rosters, but those players have been some of the best players in the league. The last two Conn Smythe Trophy winners have been American-born players (Tim Thomas ...
Martin Brodeur is one of the greatest goaltenders to ever play in the National Hockey League. In 18 NHL seasons, Brodeur has rewritten the goaltending record book by winning 656 regular season games and posting 119 regular season shutouts. Along the way, the greatest player in the Devils’ history has won three Stanley Cups and ...
I didn’t want to write about Tim Thomas today. Or yesterday. Or even tomorrow.
But when Peter Chiarelli confirmed today that Thomas’ agent approached him in the beginning of May suggesting that the Bruins goaltender was considering sitting out the 2012-13 season, something had to be said.
Just a year ago, Thomas was the biggest story in hockey–maybe even one of the biggest stories in sports. He capped off an unbelievable 2010-11 season by winning the Stanley Cup, the Conn Smythe and the Vezina Trophy, all within a week of one another. Thomas was on top of the hockey world, and why not? The 38-year old, Michigan native had reached what would be the pinnacle of his career.
Only one place to go from there, you know.
As the Calgary Flames continue to evaluate their options for this summer, including evaluating coaching candidates and preparing for the impending June 2012 Entry Draft in Pittsburgh, one pillar of support in the organization is likely relaxing from another lengthy, bittersweet campaign. Goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff is, as of this moment, very likely enjoying his time ...
The announcements of the trophy finalists are over and as usual they have left controversy in their wake. Let’s be fair, it is a difficult job to pick three players for some of these awards, especially ones like the Norris and Selke trophies where the criteria are not really all that clear. However, there is ...
The National Hockey League playoffs are well underway and there has not been a shortage of excitement. Goaltending has been a hot topic and features players who have won a Stanley Cup before and others who are looking to make their mark in history. As a former goaltender, and now a goaltending coach and consultant, ...
