Henrik is an elite regular season goalie and one of the top 3 or 4 in the league but until he wins a Vezina or gets past the 2nd round he can never be considered the best goalie in the NHL.
Still, it makes you wonder how good his stats would be if he played on a contending team like Washington or Philly or Detroit
awww dont be mad because you get no respect from anyone and you have no hockey IQ. Try to learn, K? You'll do better next time...oh what's this apparently you say Cally is overrated too? Ok now I know we simply have to introduce you to this little black rubbe rthing called a puck. We'll work on the rest later. PS kinda yea on everything you said about yourself. If you dont know how good Hank is than you kinda are clueless.
What happened? Did I wub-a-dub-dub a Metrosexual Hank Sockpuppet the wong way? Oh, poor wittle baby. So sensitive. So delicate. So douchey.
Video hockey is different from real world hockey. Put your little paddles down and try to learn how to skate, first. Then you can concern yourself about the little black rubber dot on your video game screen.
Metrosexual Hank Sockpuppets just can't handle someone, anyone not having the same delusional, Metrosexual-based Man-Love for Hank, as they do. Gets their panties all out of sorts and their snatch starts to itch.
Funny how several of these guys read my opinon, stated their opnion and moved on. But the Sockpuppets just can't walk away when their love interest isn't being praised to the highest order and being placed on The Golden ******** Throne Of Sockpuppet Fetishes.
I don't care what anyone says, Lundqvist is hands down the best goalie in the league IMHO. Thomas earned a lot of respect from me this year but there's no doubt in my mind that Henrik could have a performance like that as well.
Hank is great, but he is not "hands down" the best goalie in the league. Let's be real here. Hank needs a career defining moment in the playoffs in which he has not done. It is not like Hank played on some bad NHL teams. This Ranger team last year had a lot of pieces to make a run in the playoffs. 13th in goals scored, 4th best in the NHL is GAA, and 4th best in Goal differential. This was a good team. Boston won the cup with not that much of a better team on paper.
Tim Thomas has won 2 vezinas, Conn Smythe and a Stanley Cup. He has to be considered the best goalie in the NHL.
Hank is having a great career. He is probably one of the most consistent goalies ( Vokeun , Luongo, Bryzgalov included also) who has real good stats the past 5-6 years now. This is what makes Hank so valuable to this team. He is so consistent and we just know what he will bring to this team every year.
Hank just needs some career defining moments in the NHL playoffs to really cement his status.
Niemi's had an excellent start to his career. Miller has played on very good teams and not done well in the postseason.
Niemis played on better teams then Miller has.im not saying he isnt a very good goalie,but if i am picking between the 2 of them for 1 game,im picking Miller.
It's funny how every goaltender who wins the Stanley Cup, every season, is not as good as Hank. Even though Hank has an enormous tendenacy to give up awful, weak, soft goals at the worst times. Comical, really.
BTW, Rangers defense is already at the top of the league. I know the Hanky Sockpuppets like to pretend our defense is just so bad and use that as reason why Hanky isn't carrying the Rangers through more than one Playoff Series and onto the Finals (or least the Semi-Finals). But that's just another, in a long line of spin-job excusesand deflections by the Hanky Sockpuppets.
Niemis played on better teams then Miller has.im not saying he isnt a very good goalie,but if i am picking between the 2 of them for 1 game,im picking Miller.
Niemi never played for a President's Trophy team. Miller has.
As spectacular as Thomas was this year, he is too inconsistent each year to say he's the best. Was he the best in 2010-2011? I'd say he was, but he also was having trouble keeping his job last year battling with Rask.
I guess it would be biased, but I can't think of a goalie besides maybe Ryan Miller I'd take over Henrik right now.
Switch Chara with Staal, and watch Thomas' and Lundqvist's stats flip-flop. Lundqvist is without a doubt a top 3 goaltender, and very well may be first. His technique is second to none.
You gotta love homer fans. Thomas has won 2 of the last 3 vezinas, a Cup and a Conn Smythe, and Rangers fans STILL think he needs to prove something.
I dont care if Tim Thomas looks 56 years old and plays behind a prime Doug Harvey and Larry Robinson. In 2011, he had arguably (certainly one of) the greatest wire to wire seasons of a goalie in the modern era.
Boston's defense?
Chara
Seidenberg
Ference
McQuaid
Boychuk
Kaberle
Wow, look at that stacked lineup LOL
Thomas had a .940 save percentage in the playoffs.....9-4-0.
He is bar none the best goalie in the NHL right now. This shouldnt even be debated.
These "woulda, coulda, shoulda" excuses people are making for Henrik wont put a championship ring on his finger or a Vezina on his mantle.
You gotta love homer fans. Thomas has won 2 of the last 3 vezinas, a Cup and a Conn Smythe, and Rangers fans STILL think he needs to prove something.
I dont care if Tim Thomas looks 56 years old and plays behind a prime Doug Harvey and Larry Robinson. In 2011, he had arguably (certainly one of) the greatest wire to wire seasons of a goalie in the modern era.
Boston's defense?
Chara
Seidenberg
Ference
McQuaid
Boychuk
Kaberle
Wow, look at that stacked lineup LOL
Thomas had a .940 save percentage in the playoffs.....9-4-0.
He is bar none the best goalie in the NHL right now. This shouldnt even be debated.
These "woulda, coulda, shoulda" excuses people are making for Henrik wont put a championship ring on his finger or a Vezina on his mantle.
Be nice, will ya?
We don't have a lot going for our franchise, for various reasons we are mired in mediocrity with or without Richards...but we do have Hank. Please don't rain all over that parade!
You gotta love homer fans. Thomas has won 2 of the last 3 vezinas, a Cup and a Conn Smythe, and Rangers fans STILL think he needs to prove something.
I dont care if Tim Thomas looks 56 years old and plays behind a prime Doug Harvey and Larry Robinson. In 2011, he had arguably (certainly one of) the greatest wire to wire seasons of a goalie in the modern era.
Boston's defense?
Chara
Seidenberg
Ference
McQuaid
Boychuk
Kaberle
Wow, look at that stacked lineup LOL
Thomas had a .940 save percentage in the playoffs.....9-4-0.
He is bar none the best goalie in the NHL right now. This shouldnt even be debated.
These "woulda, coulda, shoulda" excuses people are making for Henrik wont put a championship ring on his finger or a Vezina on his mantle.
I see what you're saying, and I agree in Thomas' defense as he did his job as perfectly as possible....but if you don't think the 6 names (3 of which are all star caliber) above don't make up the best D in hockey I think you're completely nuts!
Disagree. The general consensus here has been that we have one of the best defenses in the league...defensively anyway.
Staal & Girardi = Awesome. One of the top pairings in the league.
One does have to consider past that top pair.
We had Bryan McCabe. That alone drops us significantly. I don't expect his return.(redden/rozsival before him)
McD and Sauer were very sloppy against Washington. However, I don't think there's a hockey fan who knows about them that thinks they won't be awesome. They just aren't yet.
Gilroy, Eminger, MDZ all have their good days but many bad ones.
We don't have a lot going for our franchise, for various reasons we are mired in mediocrity with or without Richards...but we do have Hank. Please don't rain all over that parade!
I love Hank and he's been the savior of the franchise, and i wouldnt trade him for any goalie in the league right now.
He's easily been the most consistent goalie since the lockout, and in a good way. But you cant call him the "best in the NHL" unless he has the hardware or the stats to back it up.
Henrik will get a Vezina within the next two years. He's due, and I'm starting to think Luongo's meltdown will drop him lower as far as perception.
I see what you're saying, and I agree in Thomas' defense as he did his job as perfectly as possible....but if you don't think the 6 names (3 of which are all star caliber) above don't make up the best D in hockey I think you're completely nuts!
Come on, Kaberle is an offensive defenseman who arrived late in the season. Thomas cemented the Vezina in December.
Who else is all-star caliber? Seidenberg? Maybe in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. McQuaid was a rookie. Ference played over 60 games for the first time in 4 seasons. Boychuk is on par with Girardi.
It's a typical knee-jerk reaction for sports fans to downplay a single player's accomplishments by over-crediting those around him, especially if that guy doesn't play for their team.
He's easily been the most consistent goalie since the lockout, and in a good way. But you cant call him the "best in the NHL" unless he has the hardware or the stats to back it up.
