I didn't realize All-stars and runner ups for the Calder were average...
I seem to also remember Howard was in the Vezina talks on every major media outlet for a majority of the season, then he got injured near the end of the season. I also remember him being a workhorse because Conklin couldn't stop a beach ball. I also remember when Detroit had tons of injuries, over $33 million worth of players on IR and Detroit was basically icing the Griffins AHL team for a few months and Howard carried the team on his back to ensure DRWs didn't miss the playoffs.
I seem to also remember Howard was in the Vezina talks on every major media outlet for a majority of the season, then he got injured near the end of the season. I also remember him being a workhorse because Conklin couldn't stop a beach ball. I also remember when Detroit had tons of injuries, over $33 million worth of players on IR and Detroit was basically icing the Griffins AHL team for a few months and Howard carried the team on his back to ensure DRWs didn't miss the playoffs.
The man is so average....
If he's average there would be a lot of sucky goalies in the league lol
Looks like the Wings have a good goalie of the future here in Mrazek. Let's see if he keeps his solid play up.
__________________
Exhibit A as to how hockey doesn't matter on ESPN:
Last night an ESPN program was discussing how the Detroit Pistons needed a hero citing the heroes on the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions and no mention of the Detroit Red Wings. All this despite the Red Wings probably being the most succesful team in Detroit right now.
I seem to also remember Howard was in the Vezina talks on every major media outlet for a majority of the season, then he got injured near the end of the season. I also remember him being a workhorse because Conklin couldn't stop a beach ball. I also remember when Detroit had tons of injuries, over $33 million worth of players on IR and Detroit was basically icing the Griffins AHL team for a few months and Howard carried the team on his back to ensure DRWs didn't miss the playoffs.
The man is so average....
He is kind of average Starting Goaltender. I rank him at TOP10-15 in the league of the starters. But if you count every guy in the league, of course he is one of the better group. And he's maybe not reached his potential yet.
He is kind of average Starting Goaltender. I rank him at TOP10-15 in the league of the starters. But if you count every guy in the league, of course he is one of the better group. And he's maybe not reached his potential yet.
He was ranked TOP3-5 last year by almost every major media outlet before he got injured. He had too much of a workload.
I would realistically rank him TOP5-10 in the league above many goalies such as Luongo, Halak, Rask, and would rank him tied with Rinne and Quick.
Howard is your avg NHL #1 starting goalie. That is not a bad thing. It just attests to the skills of a good starter these days. Plus lots of teams don't even have a quality #1 starter.
Behind Lidström, Zetterberg and Datsyuk coached by Mike Babcock? Yeah, sure. It's plausible.
When did he receive Vezina consideration?
What's your excuse about Howard dominating and keeping Detroit in PO contention when Datsyuk, Lidstrom, Filppula, White, Ericsson, Franzen, Cleary, Helm, were out at the same time for a significant stretch and Zetterberg was injured and had to play on one knee because there were no centers to relieve him. Abdekader was the 2nd line center, Janik and Kindl were the second defense pairing...
Yet Howard was in the Vezina conversation while carrying the team on his back. I also remember the Grand Rapids Griffins grunted out a win against Quick and the Kings only because Howard was the best goalie on the ice and DOMINATED them. He allowed 1 goal on over 50 shots. Fluke? Nope, he was winning games like that every night during that stretch.
Behind Lidström, Zetterberg and Datsyuk coached by Mike Babcock? Yeah, sure. It's plausible.
When did he receive Vezina consideration?
I was pretty skeptical of Howard up until last season, but when it came down to the eye-test, I thought Howard was neck and neck with Datsyuk for team MVP all year.
Howards 2011-2012 stats:
35 wins, 5th most in nhl
.920 sv %, 10th highest
2.13 gaa, 6th lowest
6 shutouts, 5th most
Nhl all-star
Led Nhl with 31 wins in 43 GP by end of January at the time of his injury.
Thats a .721 win %
Which over a 70 start season would prorate to 50 wins
I'll admit the last number may boarder on fantasy. The others, however, do not.
Datsyuk, Lidstrom, Filppula, White, Ericsson, Franzen, Cleary, Helm, were out at the same time for a significant stretch
When did this happen? Lids played all games two seasons ago; Flip this season. White missed 5 games, Franzen 6 and 7 games. All teams suffer injuries like that, many/most much worse.
Quote:
Yet Howard was in the Vezina conversation while carrying the team on his back. I also remember the Grand Rapids Griffins grunted out a win against Quick and the Kings only because Howard was the best goalie on the ice and DOMINATED them. He allowed 1 goal on over 50 shots. Fluke? Nope, he was winning games like that every night during that stretch.
Source that he was in Vezina conversation? And what point? Till All Star game, maybe but that's not big enough sample size for me. And he still played most games against one of the best D ever and top two defensive forwards.
And what was this stretch that you mentioned and what were he's numbers during that stretch?
One game insn't telling much about anything.
Quote:
Average goalie
No, average starting goalie.
I'd have
Price
Quick
Rinne
Lundqvist
Halak
Schneider
Luongo
Kiprusoff
Thomas
Miller
all of those above him at this point. Then some like Ward, Hiller, Lehtonen, Smith are around wash for me.
top 10-15 goalie for me makes him avg starting goalie. We'll see next season is he better than that.
edit. and what Henkka pointed out. Only one season. He needs to prove himself more (to be an elite goalie). Smith had elite season too, last year, arguably Elliott too. Before last year, many thought they were not even legit starters.
There is a big difference between people saying "average goalie" and "average starting goalie".
An average goalie is someone like Mike smith, he might have an on year, maybe an off year. He generally floats between starting and backup.
An average STARTING goalie is someone that will not be bumped out of the #1 slot. These are usually the guys that may or may not be competing for the Vezina.
Quote:
Price
Quick
Rinne
Lundqvist
Halak
Schneider
Luongo
Kiprusoff
Thomas
Miller
Good example, except I also put Halak as an average goalie until I see a more full load result over an entire season consistently from him, same as Schneider.
Is Howard elite? Until he wins a Vezina I don't think he can be considered this. When I think elite I think Hasek, Brodeur, Lundqvist...guys perennially in the Vezina conversation and have good chances of going HoF.
That being said, I think Mzraek has the makings of being even better than Howard. We saw the WJC that he flashed the brilliance that not even Howard has. It will remain to be seen whether he evolve and be that goalie successor.
Behind Lidström, Zetterberg and Datsyuk coached by Mike Babcock? Yeah, sure. It's plausible.
When did he receive Vezina consideration?
You could argue he was the best goalie in the league through the first half. He was also a top five goalie his rookie year. He has had one bad year (sophomore slump) and people say he's inconsistent and just average. Almost every goalie in the league did worse their second full year. I'm not claiming he's elite, but saying he's an average starter is not giving him nearly enough credit. He was the biggest reason we made the playoffs three years ago and you could argue he was just as important as Datsyuk, widely accepted as a top five player in the game, last year.
He just continues to prove everyone wrong. Can't wait for the doubters to yet again look stupid.
He proved me wrong. I never thought Howard would amount to anything and now he has a proven win record, all-star invitee, and always in Vezina talks. How many average starting goalies can boast his accomplishments? Three maybe? Maybe five?
Mrazek had a tough game the other night (5 GA). The defense was terrible and he wasn't at his best. The good sign is that he stepped up in the 3rd period and made a ton of huge saves, which allowed the Griffins to get back into the game which they eventually won in overtime 6-5. (The Griffins offense is ridiculous right now, especially Nyquist).
