Sunday, 02.12.2012 / 12:34 PM / Goalie Insider
By Ken Baker - NHL.com Goalie Insider
While NHL teams battle for Stanley Cup Playoff positioning, the men in the bulky gear and bulbous masks are also amid a race of their own -- for the Vezina Trophy.
To win it means more than just bragging rights as the regular season's best goalie -- and perhaps leverage in their next contract negotiation. Since a dominant goalie can carry a team deep into the playoffs, the Vezina race is the League's must-watch subplot because the team whose goalie ends up winning the award almost certainly will have an edge in its Cup quest.
The big V is voted on by the League's 30 general managers, who, at the end of the season, fill in a ballot with their three top picks, in order of ranking, for the goalie who is deemed "the best at this position."
In other words, not the lowest GAA or the lowest save percentage or fewest goals-against (that's the Jennings Trophy) or the most wins. Simply, the best.
Here's my ranking of the current Vezina contenders (and feel free tell me yours below in the comments section):
Favorites:
1) Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers:Ask most Eastern Conference shooters who's the hardest goalie to score on right now and they likely will tell you it is the Beast of Broadway. He's got the stats to back it up, and his consistent, hybrid style of play that combines positioning and reaction with such equal aplomb makes it hard for opponents to isolate any flaws.
Unless his perimeter-protecting defense collapses on him, or he suddenly becomes Hank the Tank, he should take the prize.
To win it means more than just bragging rights as the regular season's best goalie -- and perhaps leverage in their next contract negotiation. Since a dominant goalie can carry a team deep into the playoffs, the Vezina race is the League's must-watch subplot because the team whose goalie ends up winning the award almost certainly will have an edge in its Cup quest.
The big V is voted on by the League's 30 general managers, who, at the end of the season, fill in a ballot with their three top picks, in order of ranking, for the goalie who is deemed "the best at this position."
In other words, not the lowest GAA or the lowest save percentage or fewest goals-against (that's the Jennings Trophy) or the most wins. Simply, the best.
Here's my ranking of the current Vezina contenders (and feel free tell me yours below in the comments section):
Favorites:
1) Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers:Ask most Eastern Conference shooters who's the hardest goalie to score on right now and they likely will tell you it is the Beast of Broadway. He's got the stats to back it up, and his consistent, hybrid style of play that combines positioning and reaction with such equal aplomb makes it hard for opponents to isolate any flaws.
Unless his perimeter-protecting defense collapses on him, or he suddenly becomes Hank the Tank, he should take the prize.
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