Brodeur has the record, Mason has the shutouts and Kiprusoff has the wins, but there's not a more deserving Vezina Trophy winner than Boston's Tim Thomas.
Now that he’s climbed the highest mountain in his universe (most wins by a goaltender), you would think that New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur is a dead-lock cinch to win the Vezina Trophy this season.
In the words of some other famous (at least by television standards) New Jersey folk: "faaget abot it."
It could be worse, you could perhaps want somebody to "whack" the guys who do the voting if Brodeur, who has played all 15 of his NHL seasons in New Jersey, doesn’t win the award, but a win this season is not likely to happen even though the general managers love this guy.
Now don’t misunderstand. They love him largely because he plays well and he plays for less than a lot of players who have used the lure of free agency to make themselves richer than they could possibly ever imagine while with Lou Lamoriello’s Devils. That goes a long way in a general manager’s book, but because of a torn biceps injury Brodeur will have missed 50 games this season and even the GMs will be hard pressed to vote a major award to a goalie that’s missed more games than one very deserving candidate, Miikka Kiprusoff, may end up winning.
But even if that happens (the Calgary netminder has 41 wins as of this posting) this is a wide-open season regarding goaltending talent. I could argue that’s because the GMs and the NHL in general still haven’t done enough to knock down the advantages netminders have accumulated over the years in terms of equipment, rules and coaching, but that’s a column for another time.
This one, with under a month left in the season, is all about just who the GMs should select to replace the man they’ve awarded the Vezina Trophy to in four of the past five seasons. This is really the only say the GMs have in the postseason balloting for the major awards and your humble correspondent makes an annual effort to help them get it right.
With 552 career wins Brodeur might even get a smattering of votes just for old times’ sake, but there are others who’ve worked pretty much the entire season (and Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo isn’t one of them) and since the award is based on single-season performance here’s a rundown on the top candidates:
Tim Thomas, Boston: he’s the primary reason the Bruins have turned their fortunes around in recent years. Thomas is a favourite on two counts; his numbers this season are excellent and he should have been considered last season but no one thought he was for real so he was largely neglected. He already has 30 wins and for much of the season has been among the league leaders (and often the league leader) in save percentage (.930) and goals-against average (2.12). Save percentage is big within the general managers’ ranks and rightly so. It is arguably the best measure of a goaltender’s performance, one that in the minds of many outranks goals-against average and even wins by a significant margin.
Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose Sharks: Backstops the San Jose Sharks, one of the best teams in the league all season and quite often the best in terms of wins and points. That’s nice and he’s a quality goaltender, but his save percentage isn’t awesome (.911) and his goals-against (2.44) though in the top ten isn’t in with the elite. He’ll get his due from some west coasters, but it’s not his year.
Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames: Kiprusoff is the runaway wins leader and that should count for plenty, but he’s got a goals-against average (2.85) and a save percentage (.904) that are both outside the Top 30 in the league and he will undoubtedly lose more than a few votes because of it. It doesn’t seem fair when you measure his numbers vs. wins and his amazing durability, but GMs think that way sometimes. There will also be some who despise his coach, Mike Keenan. Still, Kiprusoff is an integral part of the success the Flames are having this season and he will be in contention.
Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild: One could make the argument that Backstrom is the most overlooked talent in the National Hockey League at his position and it would be a good one but one could also argue that his numbers are, more than a little bit, the result of a style of play the Wild employs that makes all their goalies look good (more than one has made that same argument about Brodeur over the years as well). Backstrom is inside the Top 5 in save percentage (.921) and goals-against average (2.38), and his wins total (31) is fifth, but his team isn’t soaring and that will hurt when measured against the best numbers out there.
Steve Mason, Columbus Blue Jackets: Mason is the likely winner of the Calder Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year, but he also has Vezina-worthy stats. He’s likely to have a 30-plus win season despite some health issues that threatened to derail his season and he plays for a team that is challenged in several areas. He’s second behind Thomas among the league leaders in goals-against (2.25) and in the Top 10 in save percentage (.918) and has already posted a league-leading nine shutouts. One could make a case for Mason winning both the Calder and the Vezina (it has been done before by notable goaltenders Ed Belfour and Tom Barrasso). One could even make a case for Mason winning the Hart Trophy if you subscribe to the literal wording of the award, "the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team." Should he get the heretofore hapless Blue Jackets into the postseason, he will undoubtedly get some votes in that regard despite the stellar offensive statistics being posted by Evgeni Malkin, Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby.
Tomas Vokoun, Florida Panthers: With a .925 save percentage (second only to Thomas, he has a shot, especially if he can bring the Panthers into the playoffs for the first time in seemingly forever. He doesn’t see as many shots as Kiprusoff, but he’s in the Top 10 in that regard (1,568) and his goals-against is decent (2.49) though not in the elite area.
Still, he backstops a team that is not overly tight and that weighs in his favour even though the GAA does not. He is likely to lose some votes because his co-goalie, Craig Anderson, puts up pretty much the same number in save percentage (.923) though to me that indicates it should be a team award and the duo should be in the running.
Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers: There’s nothing in his numbers to indicate a Vezina this season, but he’s the New York Rangers goalie so expect to read about him being a candidate just because he’s in a media centre and, well, New Yorkers think he is. He does have 32 wins and that is noteworthy.
Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators: Where do the Preds find these guys? Year after year they turn up a goalie gem, make the playoffs when almost everyone had written them off and then trade that goalie for financial reasons and plug in a new one who does exceptionally well. Rinne is someone you have never heard of, but he has the fifth-best save percentage (.921) and a decent goals-against (2.28) and he has moved the team into playoff contention again. He won’t win, but he deserves your attention and should garner some votes.
My pick: The trend is to go with the flavour of the season and that’s Mason, who has good-to-great numbers and is the key to unlocking the door to the first playoff appearance ever by the Blue Jackets. Still, I favour Thomas. He’s remarkably good, remarkably consistent, has all the right numbers and is every bit as important to the Bruins’ overall success not just as a playoff contender, but as the No. 1 team in the East.
The purpose of the award is to recognize excellence and Thomas meets the criteria and he does it with style, emotion and a will to win that doesn’t just mirror his team, in truth, it drives his team. What the heck, he even showed up for the All-Star game and seemed happy to be there. GMs love a guy like that and even that could help put him over the top.
