Finalists for the Vezina Trophy Announced

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Usually I'd say Broduer, but Nabakov deserves it.

[eva unit zero 271]

If Brodeur wins this in anything other than a landslide, it's a joke. He's the only guy nominated for the trophy who is one of the five best goalies this year who started at least 2/3 of his team's games (55 games), which is typically an unofficial requirement for a Vezina win.

The others, of course, being Roberto Luongo, Ilya Bryzgalov, Tomas Vokoun, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

If Nabokov wins it...that would be just wrong. Brodeur played just as many games, has a comparable W-L record and GAA, but blows him away in save percentage. There is NO reason for Nabokov to win it over Brodeur except his slight advantage in shutouts. And if that's your primary deciding factor, it's Lundqvist's trophy. Nabokov should be a distant third of the three nominees.

[hallelujahlogic 1]

aw, i was really hoping bobby lu would be nominated. i wonder if vancouver had made the playoffs if he would've been.....

meh..anyway. even though brodeur is sorta my sentimental favourite, i gotta say i think nabby deserves it the most..

[Doggy 130]

Brodeur has been easily the best goalie this season. People saying Nabokov are either biased or don't know what they're talking about.

[cirov19 1]

I really do not want Brodeur to pick up another Vezina.

I'm a huge Lundqvist fan and I'm all for him winning, but I'd expect Nabby to take it over him.

Either way, they all had a great season, but Brodeur is, to my dismay, most likely going to win.

Edited April 21, 2008 by cirov19

[YoungGuns1340 1]

San Jose wouldve been atop the Eastern Conference with their 108 points. San Joses offense was all but existant for 75% of the season and their defense was headed by Vlasic of all people. This isnt the New Jersey Devils. They didnt have a strong team system to cling to. They had Nabakov and he was a beast. He kept San Jose in the race the entire year. He was absolutely phenomenal.

[LeftWinger 5,153]

...man, I know drafts are a crapshoot, but in 1990 Martin Brodeur was picked 20th overall. The Wings picked Keith Primeau 3rd overall. Forget not picking Jagr, what about not picking Brodeur. As far as I can remember the Wings didn't have a hot goalie at that time, sure they drafted Osgood in 89, but they had Stefan/Hanlon/Cheveldae and St. Laurant as their goalies the year prior. I guess you can argue that Cheveldae was supposed to be the ONE, he did win 30 games in 90-91, but man could you imagine if they would have drafted Broduer? Shoulda Coulda Woulda...

[IceMunkee 15]

Go Nabs!!!

[Zion 93]

Brodeur has been easily the best goalie this season. People saying Nabokov are either biased or don't know what they're talking about.

Are you sure it is "they" and not you?

San Jose wouldve been atop the Eastern Conference with their 108 points. San Joses offense was all but existant for 75% of the season and their defense was headed by Vlasic of all people. This isnt the New Jersey Devils. They didnt have a strong team system to cling to. They had Nabakov and he was a beast. He kept San Jose in the race the entire year. He was absolutely phenomenal.

My sentiments, exactly.

[Doggy 130]

Are you sure it is "they" and not you?

Lol. You clown. I like Nabokov. Anything else?

Both clubs have an outstanding defensive system. To call SJ's offense all but existant is pretty ignorant considering they easily scored more goals than NJ in the most defensive division in the league. The East is full of teams that give up tonnes of goals, it's much easier to score there. NJ's offense is pathetic compared to SJ's and Brodeur still got 42 wins. His SV% was much better than Nabokov's and GAA was similar.

The best argument people have for Nabokov is Vlasic?

Yeah, I'm the biased one.

Edited April 22, 2008 by Doggy

[miller76 463]

I think we start a petition to get Emery on the list! If we dont, he will probly start throwing s***! lol

If not I say Nabby deserves it.

Edited April 22, 2008 by miller76

[eva unit zero 271]

San Jose wouldve been atop the Eastern Conference with their 108 points. San Joses offense was all but existant for 75% of the season and their defense was headed by Vlasic of all people. This isnt the New Jersey Devils. They didnt have a strong team system to cling to. They had Nabakov and he was a beast. He kept San Jose in the race the entire year. He was absolutely phenomenal.

Not including deadline additions:

New Jersey's top four was Paul Martin, Mike Mottau, Colin White, and Andy Greene.

San Jose's top four was Christian Ehrhoff, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Craig Rivet, and Kyle Mclaren.

I would take the Sharks unit ten of ten times; Martin is the only Devils defenseman who might crack the unit.

Now consider that at the deadline, the Sharks added Brian Campbell on top of their unit, while the Devils' big name addition on the blueline was Bryce Salvador.

Nabokov was phenomenal? No. Nabokov played well enough to win on a very good team. He wasn't one of the five best goaltenders to play 55+ games, and probably wasn't one of the ten best goalies overall this season. He should be nowhere near the Vezina, and wouldn't if he hadn't been in net for 40+ wins. Quantity should not trump quality.

[BlueMonk 102]

Marty in a runaway.

[YoungGuns1340 1]

Not including deadline additions:

New Jersey's top four was Paul Martin, Mike Mottau, Colin White, and Andy Greene.

San Jose's top four was Christian Ehrhoff, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Craig Rivet, and Kyle Mclaren.

I would take the Sharks unit ten of ten times; Martin is the only Devils defenseman who might crack the unit.

Now consider that at the deadline, the Sharks added Brian Campbell on top of their unit, while the Devils' big name addition on the blueline was Bryce Salvador.

Nabokov was phenomenal? No. Nabokov played well enough to win on a very good team. He wasn't one of the five best goaltenders to play 55+ games, and probably wasn't one of the ten best goalies overall this season. He should be nowhere near the Vezina, and wouldn't if he hadn't been in net for 40+ wins. Quantity should not trump quality.

Two teams in the entire NHL have idiosyncratic systems that allow lesser players to flourish if they play a sort of game that complements the system. Those two teams are Detroit and New Jersey. Both have been playing their systems with slight modifications for over a decade. And both teams have been enjoying regular success year after year.

Also, you should ask Shark fans how they feel about Vlasic now. Hes not the stud he was last year. Not to mention you are extremely short-changing Colin White, who is a great defensive defenseman. And the likes of Grier and Mitchell are nowhere close to the defensive minds of Pandolfo or Madden. On paper, the San Jose defense may look like its better (and even then only slightly do to the underachieving of every one of their dmen outside of Rivet), but their on-ice performance proved to be a ridiculous product. Again, to the admission of Sharks fans. And this in conjunction with a Sharks offense that only began to pile it on in February, after also giving nightly underachieving performances. Nabakov kept his team in a tight race in a tight division throughout the entire year.

Perhaps if you actually watched some Sharks games, youd be in agreeance with the fact that not only does Nabakov deserve his nomination, but he also would be deserving of a win. Theres a reason why Nabakov was nominated. And it was because people actual paid attention to Sharks and Devils games, instead of just looking at a paper roster, and were able to see that Nabby and Brodeur were coming up with similar performances.

On a team with Joe Thornton, Nabby was his teams MVP.

[Doggy 130]

Two teams in the entire NHL have idiosyncratic systems that allow lesser players to flourish if they play a sort of game that complements the system. Those two teams are Detroit and New Jersey. Both have been playing their systems with slight modifications for over a decade. And both teams have been enjoying regular success year after year.

Also, you should ask Shark fans how they feel about Vlasic now. Hes not the stud he was last year. Not to mention you are extremely short-changing Colin White, who is a great defensive defenseman. And the likes of Grier and Mitchell are nowhere close to the defensive minds of Pandolfo or Madden. On paper, the San Jose defense may look like its better (and even then only slightly do to the underachieving of every one of their dmen outside of Rivet), but their on-ice performance proved to be a ridiculous product. Again, to the admission of Sharks fans. And this in conjunction with a Sharks offense that only began to pile it on in February, after also giving nightly underachieving performances. Nabakov kept his team in a tight race in a tight division throughout the entire year.

Perhaps if you actually watched some Sharks games, youd be in agreeance with the fact that not only does Nabakov deserve his nomination, but he also would be deserving of a win. Theres a reason why Nabakov was nominated. And it was because people actual paid attention to Sharks and Devils games, instead of just looking at a paper roster, and were able to see that Nabby and Brodeur were coming up with similar performances.

On a team with Joe Thornton, Nabby was his teams MVP.

I've watched plenty of Sharks games. Brodeur deserves the Vezina. Nabokov a distant second.

[interminded 1]

How could Marty not win ?

[eva unit zero 271]

Two teams in the entire NHL have idiosyncratic systems that allow lesser players to flourish if they play a sort of game that complements the system. Those two teams are Detroit and New Jersey. Both have been playing their systems with slight modifications for over a decade. And both teams have been enjoying regular success year after year.

Also, you should ask Shark fans how they feel about Vlasic now. Hes not the stud he was last year. Not to mention you are extremely short-changing Colin White, who is a great defensive defenseman. And the likes of Grier and Mitchell are nowhere close to the defensive minds of Pandolfo or Madden. On paper, the San Jose defense may look like its better (and even then only slightly do to the underachieving of every one of their dmen outside of Rivet), but their on-ice performance proved to be a ridiculous product. Again, to the admission of Sharks fans. And this in conjunction with a Sharks offense that only began to pile it on in February, after also giving nightly underachieving performances. Nabakov kept his team in a tight race in a tight division throughout the entire year.

Perhaps if you actually watched some Sharks games, youd be in agreeance with the fact that not only does Nabakov deserve his nomination, but he also would be deserving of a win. Theres a reason why Nabakov was nominated. And it was because people actual paid attention to Sharks and Devils games, instead of just looking at a paper roster, and were able to see that Nabby and Brodeur were coming up with similar performances.

On a team with Joe Thornton, Nabby was his teams MVP.

I stand by my statement. Nabokov is a good goaltender who played well all season. Brodeur played on a lesser team; the Devils' defensive system is generally a 'shot prevention' defense, in that the defense's primary aim is taking away the shot opportunity by blocking the puck or taking it away, and not allowing the puck to get near the net. The Sharks system seems aimed more for chance prevention; in other words forcing the opposition into bad shooting situations through positioning and taking away passing lanes, and forcing the opponent to the outside. Both are completely valid styles of defense, but I leave you with this food for thought; if performed to equal level, the Devils' style will result in fewer total shots, but a higher percentage of good chances. The Sharks' style will typically result in more shots, but it is not uncommon for such a defense to result in fewer scoring chances.

Bearing that last thought in mind...the Sharks allowed considerably fewer shots per game than the Devils did. Using a system that tends to allow more shots.

I don't think Nabokov played well enough to be considered for the Vezina, and I think people have looked at his number of games and the fact that he has been in net for a lot of wins as indicators that he has been a top goalie, when other stats don't even come close to suggesting that. Nabokov is a very good goalie...but as I said before...there are at least five guys I would put ahead of him based on performance this season.