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.
Sorry I only read opinions that have 15 childish statements, and you only made 10. Try better next time, will ya?
I'd take Thomas right now. It's not like we're talking about GAA here. We're talking about SV%. Thomas was under siege the whole season and was putting up SV% of close to 94. Tim Thomas isn't human and arguably had the best year a goalie ever had. There's nothing wrong with all this. When's the last time we had a player who was #2 in the league at his position? Probably not since Leetch in his prime.
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
Bullseye! Agree with you wholeheartedly about Hank, has had elite regular season #'s for 6 seasons but until the day comes that he carries this or another team(yes, I feel his best shot at a cup will be with a better team) on his back for a playoff game let alone an entire series, there is no way he can be considered the best goalie in the game.
Also, his style of play is not conducive to a long career and so I believe his window with the rangers is no more than 3-5 yrs max. I love Hank's competitiveness but the truth is his game hasn't really improved all that much since his rookie season. Here's hoping our crackerjack GM gets his **** together for what will probably be his last 3 yrs as GM here and makes some bold moves(NO!, signing Richards tomw to a contract for 7-8 yrs at 7-8 mil per is hardly what I would classify as a bold move) to make this team good enough to make a run in the playoffs.
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.
Boy, are you ever right on the money about Hank. Right now, at a minimum, you have to say Thomas is definitely a better goalie and Cam Ward as well as he has also carried a team on his back to a cup win and also to a conference final in 2009. If Hank doesn't come up with a career defining moment such as a deep run in the playoffs resulting in a final appearance or, better yet, a cup win, then he will go down as just a great regular season goalie. As he turns 30 soon, the window of opportunity for him is at best 3-5 yrs with us.
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.
I'll go one further, Kaberle was the probably the 6th best looking Dman, and that's really not a bad thing!
Seidenberg is a fantastic defensive d-man. He was the best looking d-man out there for the entire series IMO. Then Boychuk, Chara, Ference, McQuaid, and Kaberle. Again, that's just IMO from the goaler's standpoint.
I was one of those on the Thomas bandwagon in back in December.
Dude, I agree with all you're trying to say, except your downplay of who I feel is the league's best defense. (and the overplay of the Rangers' D by others.)
How does playing behind grossly mediocre teams your entire career make you a playoff choker? If Lundqvist played for a team such as the Flyers or Detroit, he would be considered the best goalie in the league, and it wouldn't even be close. I'd rather have him over any goalie in this league.
I love the way some of you fans throw the names of teams around in saying that, "If Hank played here, or he played there, then that team would have won cups easily. Nonsense! What is the basis of your prediction that " If the Flyers, Caps, or Wings(??) had Hank in goal, they would have won cups.
How in God's name did Detroit get into this conversation? They've somehow managed to win 4 cups in the past 14 yrs without Hank, how many more cups would the "Great Hank" had won for the best franchise in hockey? Philadelphia? Perhaps but not guaranteed.
I really don't think they would have beaten Chicago last year even if they had Ken Dryden in the nets.
Bottom line is Hank has proven nothing in the playoffs in his 6 yrs in the league. When he finally does play lights out in a playoff series, then some of the statements you made will hold water.
I'd take Thomas right now. It's not like we're talking about GAA here. We're talking about SV%. Thomas was under siege the whole season and was putting up SV% of close to 94. Tim Thomas isn't human and arguably had the best year a goalie ever had. There's nothing wrong with all this. When's the last time we had a player who was #2 in the league at his position? Probably not since Leetch in his prime.
Sorry to disappoint you, Hank is not even #2 goalie in the league unless we're just talking about regular season goalies which when you think of it, means absolutely nothing.
I'll rate Hank ahead of Cam Ward(at a minimum) when he carries us on his back in the playoffs!
These days I don't know if there is a consensus best player at any position. I think those of us who were fans in the 80's or 90's had it somewhat easier because there were guys who were just head and shoulders above everyone else on the planet.
Tim Thomas is in the conversation because his game is top notch. The problem is that there is no guarantee when he's going to pull that out of his hat, or when the clock is going to strike 12 and the magic ends.
Lundqvist is probably the most consistent goalie year-in and year-out, but he has yet to have a season where he was the top goalie from start to finish. I also cant help but feel that for as good as he is, he's not quite cashed in on his full potential.
Miller is guy who could be the NHL's top goalie, but consistency is an issue.
Sorry to disappoint you, Hank is not even #2 goalie in the league unless we're just talking about regular season goalies which when you think of it, means absolutely nothing.
I'll rate Hank ahead of Cam Ward(at a minimum) when he carries us on his back in the playoffs!
I agree with the regular season being more like an actual preseason.
I'll consider the rest a fair statement if ever Henrik Lundqvist gets a showing of full honest effort in front of him. (from his own team, not watching the other side)
EDIT just read your secondary, hey 32185! Should've known it was you!!
I love the way some of you fans throw the names of teams around in saying that, "If Hank played here, or he played there, then that team would have won cups easily. Nonsense! What is the basis of your prediction that " If the Flyers, Caps, or Wings(??) had Hank in goal, they would have won cups.
How in God's name did Detroit get into this conversation? They've somehow managed to win 4 cups in the past 14 yrs without Hank, how many more cups would the "Great Hank" had won for the best franchise in hockey? Philadelphia? Perhaps but not guaranteed.
I really don't think they would have beaten Chicago last year even if they had Ken Dryden in the nets.
Bottom line is Hank has proven nothing in the playoffs in his 6 yrs in the league. When he finally does play lights out in a playoff series, then some of the statements you made will hold water.
Have you ever watched Michael Leighton play hockey? Philly had every chance to win that series, and their goalies blew it.
Lights out in a playoff series--I don't know if you watched the series this year, you probably just listened to the media after the games. The flukes that led to us losing the first three games could have JUST AS EASILY happened to Varlamov, and Henrik would've been crowned MVP of the series.
Also, Cam Ward? Is that seriously a joke? His first year in the league, he caught on fire in the playoffs and led his team to a cup. His best GAA is higher than Lundqvist's worst, and he's only had two seasons where his SAV was above .912, which is Lundqvist's worst season.
In terms of Tim Thomas, I just feel that every time I watch him he seems so unimpressive. He's always out of position, and has to fly all over the crease just to make save. The only way he's able to keep up the stats he has with the way he plays is because his team is VERY GOOD defensively--I don't just mean the defense, it's the forwards too; they all help out and don't give up second chances. If Thomas played 70 games a season like Lundqvist did, there is NO WAY he would put up the numbers he does.
People will never rate goalies correctly without giving strong consideration to the help he receives,or doesn't receive for that matter.
Here's ONE example of why I say Hank is #1- I've SEEN Henrik make routine toe saves, because of how his style is, that would most often squeak by just about anyone else I've ever seen.
He would've EASILY made the save Thomas missed that Luongo was talking about in the news, and he also would've backed it up the next game after (unlike Lebrongo LOL).
His set positioning would've stopped the first goal of the SCF game 7.
I can go on, and probably will later, but food's ready!
I put him right behind thomas.
The top five of Thomas,luongo,rinne,miller and Hank ate interchangeable as the season goes on.
Lundqvist is just as good as Thomas. People always overlook how good Boston's defense is. The amount of challenging shots Thomas faced in the Vancouver Stanley Cup Finals was a joke. People just look at the stats, over and over again. From watching the Bruins in the entire Canucks series, entire Lightning series, and the Flyers series, I can't say this guy was tested. The Flyers series was a cake walk in terms of difficulty. The Canucks series was a breeze, in terms of difficulty. He was challenged against the Lightning, who had gotten some pretty good scoring chances against him, but he always blew a few games... I just feel like people take Thomas and what he does completely out of context.
In between tear inducing laughter this is what I saw. ANybody else having as much fun with this as I am? You know the mods are hysterical right now that has to be the only explanation for this comment being left up. So anyone who thinks Hank is a top goalie is a sockpuppet metrosexual. This generalization makes about as much sense as anything else you've said.
Thomas is a top goalie in the league what else credit does he deserve I don't get where some of you are coming from. If you honestly would rather have had thomas the last 3 years over Hank I guess that's your opinion. if you';d rather have thomas next year instead of hank again that's your opinion. You're talking about the top 5 goalies in the league but none of them is a runaway with the number one spot it's more based on personal preference. You put Hank on Philly last year and Philly sorta beat Chicago in 3 games I think they had a good chance of beating them with Hank. There is a good reason why people think hank is the best in the league. his actual play for the last half a decade+.
I use nothing more than his actual play including his PO's. You wanna be stat watcher his PO and regular season stats look good, fantastic in 06-07 and of course he always has to face the 1 seed and still puts up those stats. People really fail miserably to look at Hank in the PO's. Even watching him actually play this year he was fantastic.
1 goal in regulation and loses (Yup he certainly sucked)
2 goals in regulation his team gets shutout (Clearly his fault)
2 goals in regulation (win)
3 goals in regulation (Abomination of a game. Especially the breakaways he stopped and carrying us into 2nd OT when the team was gassed and dead on its feet until gabs poked it in on him)
3 goals in regulation (btw making his 34th consecutive start...i think that equals the numbe rof games thomas missed during the season.)
Let's go back to 08-09 team gets shutout twice. These are also games where he gave up 4 goals. He also pitched a shutout and had 2 GAMES of 2 goals or less One of which he LOST maybe it's a coincidence his team doesn't show up for half the series every year and they never advance very far...naw can't be a coincidence it's Hank's fault he's not a good enough goalie that's all. Tim Thomas, Luongo, Miller they certainly would have gotten us into round 2 or 3 right? We would have gotten the 3 seed (or higher) with them right?
How the hell could anyone honestly believe these guys are better does anyone bother to factor the team as a whole into the equation because it's pretty damn important and yet certain people dismiss it entirely out of hand! Really ask yourself if you would trade hank for Thomas straight up if you can say yes with a straight face then I dunno what to say to you. But Boston will know what to say "THANK YOU!!!"
Sorry but wins are not the be all end all of evaluating an individual player in a team game they are however a huge factor in the equation which is why Thomas certainly is a top goalie in this league no question
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4th Line Grinder
Sorry to disappoint you, Hank is not even #2 goalie in the league unless we're just talking about regular season goalies which when you think of it, means absolutely nothing.
I'll rate Hank ahead of Cam Ward(at a minimum) when he carries us on his back in the playoffs!
I'll take Hank's play over your opinion because it actually does mean something. Dunno if it's even worth acknowledging someone in this debate who feels regular season play is not worth mentioning. And again severaly failing to look at Hank in the PO's. All you can look at is one single stat. Wins. That does not make for a good evaluation.
Last edited by JimmyStart*: 06-30-2011 at 07:35 PM.
