Crawford for Vezina?

[chaps80 1,591]

Never thought i'd hear those two names together.

https://www.nhl.com/news/corey-crawford-primary-candidate-for-vezina-trophy/c-279605562?tid=277729400

Corey Crawford has already won the Stanley Cup twice with the Chicago Blackhawks, but individual awards have escaped him. With a strong finish to this regular season, that could change.

With midseason favorite Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals sliding statistically since January, Crawford has emerged as a strong candidate to win the 2016 Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goaltender.

Although Holtby could still break Martin Brodeur's record of 48 wins in a season, he has dropped to the bottom or outside of the top-10 in the most significant statistical save percentage categories. Crawford, meanwhile, is near or atop most of those same lists, including the ones that adjust for the quality of chances he faces based on shot distance.

"It's been a good year," Crawford told reporters after stopping 34 of 35 in a March 6 win against the Detroit Red Wings. "[The Vezina Trophy] would be a pretty nice honor, but we've got a bunch of games to play and it's always about the next game first."

Crawford is second in the NHL in save percentage among the goalies that have appeared in at least 40 games at .927, and his .937 even-strength save percentage trails only New York Rangers star Henrik Lundqvist (.939) on that list. Holtby is 10th at .929.

For those who argue Crawford's success is a product of the Chicago system, his adjusted 5-on-5 save percentage, which weighs a goaltender's workload based on shot distance, is .9367, again second only to Lundqvist at .9398, according to war-on-ice.com. Crawford's .9262 adjusted save percentage in all situations is second in the NHL, and although factoring in shot distance isn't enough to totally quantify the discrepancy in shot quality because it doesn't include pre-shot puck movement, it adds context lacking in the raw numbers.

Of course, Crawford is doing pretty well in those categories too.

He leads the NHL with seven shutouts; for those who would believe the shutouts have helped offset more bad games and are a sign of inconsistency, Crawford also leads the League with 40 Quality Starts, which are defined as starts with a save percentage above the NHL average for the season or above .885 in games with less than 20 shots, according to Hockey-Reference.com. Crawford's .715 quality start percentage is also tops among goalies to play more than 40 games. That helps offset Crawford's seven Really Bad Starts, which are defined as games started with a save percentage below .850, compared to five for Holtby and four for Lundqvist.

"It's a combination of a lot of things," Crawford said when asked about his consistency this season. "You take care of yourself, have the right mindset, battling hard every game and making sure you are prepared to play every game the right way."

Crawford also leads the NHL with a 19.70 Goals Saved Above Average, which tracks the number of goals saved compared to what a goalie with the League average save percentage would have allowed, according to Hockey-Reference.com. When analyst Nick Mercadante last broke that statistic down on March 10, weighing the shot difficulty based on location during 5-on-5 play, Crawford's 0.384 goals saved per 60 minutes trailed only Lundqvist (0.448) among goalies with 40-plus games played.

In other words, Crawford's season is not all about the play of a Blackhawks team uncharacteristically ranked 14th in 5-on-5 Shot Attempt Percentage at 50.68, just ahead of the 16th-place Capitals (50.38) but well up on the 24th-place Rangers (47.52).

FINALISTS

Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers

Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals

ALSO IN THE MIX: Ben Bishop, Tampa Bay Lightning; Cory Schneider, New Jersey Devils; Petr Mrazek, Detroit Red Wings.

[HadThomasVokounOnFortSt 878]

They lost 5-0, no.

[frankgrimes 1,836]

nope it's between Holtby and king Henrik

[toby91_ca 620]

What is the argument for Holtby and Lundqvist over Crawford? The only stats Holtby has over Crawford are team stats (Wins and GAA). Crawford has better stats than Lundqvist in every single category.

If you use stats, Crawford holds up pretty well against anyone....Ben Bishop would have the better stats in my mind though, best comparison when you factor in games played as well. Couple guys have higher SV% (most important stat), but they've played 20+ games less. Crawford also has 7 shutouts.

I don't think Crawford gets enough credit, he's underrated, but at the same time, I don't think he's one of the elites either and don't think he's Vezina worthy....but should at least get consideration.

[Echolalia 2,961]

What is the argument for Holtby and Lundqvist over Crawford? The only stats Holtby has over Crawford are team stats (Wins and GAA). Crawford has better stats than Lundqvist in every single category.

If you use stats, Crawford holds up pretty well against anyone....Ben Bishop would have the better stats in my mind though, best comparison when you factor in games played as well. Couple guys have higher SV% (most important stat), but they've played 20+ games less. Crawford also has 7 shutouts.

I don't think Crawford gets enough credit, he's underrated, but at the same time, I don't think he's one of the elites either and don't think he's Vezina worthy....but should at least get consideration.

He's the Blackhawks's Osgood

[kickazz 5,459]

He's the Blackhawks's Osgood

Is he though, I feel like he's loved more than Osgood was

[Aethernum 276]

Crawford has been as important to the Blackhawks' recent success as Toews, Kane, or Keith. He's part of their core, so I would not be upset one bit to see him acknowledged for that. I still think Petr can close the season strong and stay in contention, though.

[ami 273]

I'd say no.

Any trophy won by CHI will likely lead to Patrick "20-cent" Kane break his soberness and go banana again. Blackhawks, as a team, cannot let him down that way. Unless, of cause, City of Chicago shuts down their taxi and call-girls services for at least a month.

[chaps80 1,591]

Is he though, I feel like he's loved more than Osgood was

Yeah he is, which is funny. I'm not gonna get into the whole Osgood thing, but it's hilarious to see what some people think of him considering what he accomplished in Detroit.