I'd take fleury before Luo, bryz. Ahead of rinne and lundqvist though, not sure. I dont see him play as often as you though. Also, I think its fair to put Price in that same catagory, I think he has potential to be better too IMO
- david22

Fleury is a perfect fit in Pittsburgh. There is no other goalie I would rather have. This has absolutely nothing to do with the other goalies not being better or anything like that. It is just that Fleury's skill set and mental makeup is perfect for the kind of team the Penguins are. Plus he is just a likable player.

I also think he plays an extremely entertaining style of goal. At the end of the day I watch hockey to be entertained so he gets bonus points for that.

MAF deserves it hands-down IMO, but unfortunately all the average media voter looks at is who led the most of the major statistical categorys, and king henrik is the only guy who's top three in all of em.

Now, if Fleury doesn't even get nominated, then I'd be pissed.

Howard, Halak/Elliot and Smith are insulated by great defensive teams, Phoenix St Louis and Detroit would elevate the stats of any goaltender who played there - Henrik and Quick are the only two who've played at the same level as Fleury has this year, he carried the team when it's stars were down.

I'd take fleury before Luo, bryz. Ahead of rinne and lundqvist though, not sure. I dont see him play as often as you though. Also, I think its fair to put Price in that same catagory, I think he has potential to be better too IMO
- david22

Its hard to evaluate Price as long as the Habs continue to suck. Of the guys you just listed, only MAF has a ring...not that having a ring matters when deciding the Vezina, but I'd rather have MAF than any of these 5. He's been there, done that and lifted the Cup. As great as Henrik is, he's never gotten his team past the second round.

Fleury is a perfect fit in Pittsburgh. There is no other goalie I would rather have. This has absolutely nothing to do with the other goalies not being better or anything like that. It is just that Fleury's skill set and mental makeup is perfect for the kind of team the Penguins are. Plus he is just a likable player.

I also think he plays an extremely entertaining style of goal. At the end of the day I watch hockey to be entertained so he gets bonus points for that.
- Gunner Staal

His mental make up is arguably the most important part. He fits in perfectly with the other characters on the team.

Its hard to evaluate Price as long as the Habs continue to suck. Of the guys you just listed, only MAF has a ring...not that having a ring matters when deciding the Vezina, but I'd rather have MAF than any of these 5. He's been there, done that and lifted the Cup. As great as Henrik is, he's never gotten his team past the second round.
- Emperor Filonius

I think this is henriks year to show what he's really made of. I saw him almost steal a series agaisnt a much better caps team. Now he's got a much better team in front of him, should be interesting to watch.

I find that both Rinne and Lunqvist benefit from the defensive coaching that both their teams have. I know Nashville has the 8th most goals this season, but they are a predominately defensive team. The Rangers block the most shots of any team in the league. Lundqvists story might be different if Dan Girardi wasn't blocking 8 shots a game.
- Ben37

Fleury will be the only goalie, barring health problems, who will challenge Brodeurs wins record... probably won't get there unless he plays til he's 42... but I wouldn't put it past him to finish above Patrick Roy....

A 27.5 year old goalie with a very solid team in front of him has 225 regular season wins up to this point putting him 57th all time right now..... Assuming 3 more wins this year.... he is averaging about 38.5 wins a year over the last 5 healthy seasons.... If he plays for 9 more seasons and averages 35 wins a year... he is sitting at 540 wins.... and the amazing thing is that he may never win a Vezina in his career.

I think this is henriks year to show what he's really made of. I saw him almost steal a series agaisnt a much better caps team. Now he's got a much better team in front of him, should be interesting to watch.
- david22

Yes it will be. Rangers fans always hate it when I casually mention he's never been able to get past the second round. In my mind, fair or not, a truly great goalie SHOULD be able to steal you a series against a superior team now and then. Its not just the team in front of him either. Henrik's career save % is over a full point lower in the playoffs than the regular season (90.9% playoffs vs 92% regular season.)

MAF should be a finalist, not saying he should win it, but we all saw with Johnsons struggle's and Saturday's 8-4 beating, just what he means. PLUS he was the MAIN reason this team got to game 7 of round one with an AHL squad last year

Quick, Lundi, and Flower are the finalists, IMO.

I re-itterate every year in some dumb convo about goalies how Flower is a top 5 and possibly top 3 goalie in the league, and constantly hear poop for it.

But stats dont lie. Look at Flowers stats, and not only do you see they are exceptional, they are consistent.

Bryzgalov.
- keatondixon

The trophy is for the ENTIRE year, not just the month of march

Crosby stat of the day.....

15 gp ...+16, tied for 2nd on the team.

Flower all day every day! spectacular saves, big time when you need it saves, best in the shootout, and in a system that isn't designed to be all defense.

come on man. lundqvist and quick are better goalies. both of them beat MAF in GAA and SV% by a very healthy margin. fleury does have more wins, but it doesn't exactly hurt that he plays behind the best offensive team in the league, while quick plays behind the 2nd worst offensive team, and lundqvist behind the 12th or 13th offense. so bacically, unless quick throws up a shutout, he ain't winning many games, and lundqvist gets about 0.66 less g/g support.

the argument about wins not being the be all tell all of the vezina is a very good argument. At one point, before he got hurt, Craig Anderson was leading the league in wins, and would still be up there close if he hadn't have gone down. should he have been getting some consideration? i'm as big of a sens fan as there is, and even i'm not dumb enough to think that.

Perhaps fleury gets into the final 3, but he has almost no chance of winning, and that's the right call. The vezina is a 2 horse race at this point, between quick and lundqvist, and even then it's probably not that close. Lundqvist will run away with this award, and no amount of ridiculous stat twisting (has given up 3 goals, 3 times in his last 10 games......has only given up 3 ES goals one time....etc, etc, etc) is going to change that.

fleury is great, but lundqvist and quick are better.

I still know people who complain about Fleury because he makes 5 mil a year. Personally, there is no other goalie i would want backing this team up.

Quick, Lundi, and Flower are the finalists, IMO.

I re-itterate every year in some dumb convo about goalies how Flower is a top 5 and possibly top 3 goalie in the league, and constantly hear poop for it.

But stats dont lie. Look at Flowers stats, and not only do you see they are exceptional, they are consistent.
- mochoson

HMMM ... this sounds like a trap. Philly fan giving props to a Penguin?

Bottom line, whether he is deserving or not, Flower should be in the conversation. King, Quick, Rinne, Hlack, Elliott, Flower ... quite a few good ones out there. I wonder if a St. Louis goalie will get consideration since they are more of a split than any other duo in the league.

The Buffalo fan that was saying Flower would be a finalist if there were eight finalists is a sheer idiot.

The trophy is for the ENTIRE year, not just the month of march
- cap1681

I was going to say the same thing. I believe, however, he was being sarcastic.....at least I hope sarcasm was the intent.

I read the flyers blog frequently, and 90% of them wanted to dispose of the guy like a dirty diaper....that is until the last month or so. Some even hoped he'd have a major injury to clear cap space.

I think Rinne has to be a finalist.

He's played 68 games and won all but 3 of Nashville's 44.

What most people don't realize is that he faces an average of 29.73 shots per game (more than Lundqvist's 28.66 and Flowers 26.61) and still has the .922 save percentage.

Over the course of the season, he has 372 more saves than MAF and 417 more than Lundqvist.

the argument about wins not being the be all tell all of the vezina is a very good argument. At one point, before he got hurt, Craig Anderson was leading the league in wins, and would still be up there close if he hadn't have gone down. should he have been getting some consideration? i'm as big of a sens fan as there is, and even i'm not dumb enough to think that.

Perhaps fleury gets into the final 3, but he has almost no chance of winning, and that's the right call. The vezina is a 2 horse race at this point, between quick and lundqvist, and even then it's probably not that close. Lundqvist will run away with this award, and no amount of ridiculous stat twisting (has given up 3 goals, 3 times in his last 10 games......has only given up 3 ES goals one time....etc, etc, etc) is going to change that.

fleury is great, but lundqvist and quick are better.
- sensarmy_11

So last year when we won nothing but 2-1 games for 50% of the regular season and playoffs was a fluke. Just look at Brent Johnson and Theissen's stats, playing behind the same team.

Not saying MAF is head and shoulders better than anyone, just that he deserves credit....more than what he gets, IMO. I would like to see any other goalie waltz in to Detroit in game 7, and win a 2-1 game, where the entire 3rd period was spent in the D-zone.

He should be a finalist, period.

come on man. lundqvist and quick are better goalies. both of them beat MAF in GAA and SV% by a very healthy margin. fleury does have more wins, but it doesn't exactly hurt that he plays behind the best offensive team in the league, while quick plays behind the 2nd worst offensive team, and lundqvist behind the 12th or 13th offense. so bacically, unless quick throws up a shutout, he ain't winning many games, and lundqvist gets about 0.66 less g/g support.

the argument about wins not being the be all tell all of the vezina is a very good argument. At one point, before he got hurt, Craig Anderson was leading the league in wins, and would still be up there close if he hadn't have gone down. should he have been getting some consideration? i'm as big of a sens fan as there is, and even i'm not dumb enough to think that.

Perhaps fleury gets into the final 3, but he has almost no chance of winning, and that's the right call. The vezina is a 2 horse race at this point, between quick and lundqvist, and even then it's probably not that close. Lundqvist will run away with this award, and no amount of ridiculous stat twisting (has given up 3 goals, 3 times in his last 10 games......has only given up 3 ES goals one time....etc, etc, etc) is going to change that.

fleury is great, but lundqvist and quick are better.
- sensarmy_11

Umm no! the fact the Rags and Kings have no offense forces them to play a pack it in style defense. Allowing shots from the perimeter which allows for easier saves and inflated save percentages. Flower over the king and quick anyday.

Umm no! the fact the Rags and Kings have no offense forces them to play a pack it in style defense. Allowing shots from the perimeter which allows for easier saves and inflated save percentages. Flower over the king and quick anyday.
- Sell My Monkey

The Kings have an enormous amount of offensive talent (Kopitar, Richards, Carter, Brown) can't figure that out at all.

The Kings have an enormous amount of offensive talent (Kopitar, Richards, Carter, Brown) can't figure that out at all.
- ryman1566

Doughty, Williams, Brown, Penner (Lol, just kidding).

It is extremely puzzling. I think very highly of Kopitar.

King Henrik will win it, Fluery plays on a great team. Is he a great goalie? Yes he is, but I don't see a Malkin on the rangers carrying there team this year. And Quick? He is the only reason that team is even in the playoff race, I know being the pens blogger you want Fluery to win, but he doesn't deserve to this year.

Considering that Letang, Martin, Michalek all missed a ton of games let alone all the games missed on O, Id say MAF had a pretty solid yr. But Lundqvest was better.

delete

King Henrik will win it, Fluery plays on a great team. Is he a great goalie? Yes he is, but I don't see a Malkin on the rangers carrying there team this year. And Quick? He is the only reason that team is even in the playoff race, I know being the pens blogger you want Fluery to win, but he doesn't deserve to this year.
- Allstarzz

I just wrote this reply to another comment...

I think the thing that could potentially count against Lundi is that Biron has won 12 of the Rangers 47...which I think is the highest total for a back-up among the goalies that would be considered possible finalists.

It doesn't take away from what Lundqvist has done, but all the other guys have played more games and have a higher percentage of their teams total wins.

I just wrote this reply to another comment...

I think the thing that could potentially count against Lundi is that Biron has won 12 of the Rangers 47...which I think is the highest total for a back-up among the goalies that would be considered possible finalists.

It doesn't take away from what Lundqvist has done, but all the other guys have played more games and have a higher percentage of their teams total wins.
- icedog97

Which equals more shots faced, more goals against, more saves...etc