Elliott drags his pairing wayyy down. He had a good season splitting games with Halak, but when it's just him in the picture, he dropped down to average/borderline below average. And that's with a good defensive team.
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Thomas is the best of the bunch, but he's nearing the end of the line. Halak and Elliott are both still fairly young, 27, so I'd rather have them moving forward.
I've been under the impression for some reason that Elliott was at least 30+ and was just having some REALLY fluky season after a pretty long career's worth of mediocrity. maybe he and Halak can actually sort of keep up their high level of play from last year.
I still voted for Thomas/Rask, they've been consistently good for longer. if StL's duo can keep up their play i'd take them.
Last edited by CaseyPierroZabotel17: 11-30-2012 at 03:43 PM.
I don't know why so many are bringing up the Hitchcock factor. Julien is no stranger to defensive hockey and the Boston duo also plays behind Chara for half the game.
That said, it's a tough call considering Thomas's age and uncertain future, and also whether or not Elliot is a one-year wonder.
I'd say Halak and Rask are roughly equal though in terms of what they have proven, but I think Rask has more upside. For that reason alone I go with the Boston duo.
If it was back in 10-11 I would of pick Thomas/Rask but as of now I rather have Halak/Elliot. But I you ask me wich Goalie I like the most and would want to build a team around I would grab Rask and run. He's just that good. But I simply feel at the moment Rask is not ready to play 60+ games and Boston doesn't have a good enough back up to compete with Halak/Elliot. The better question would of been Price or Rask since Thomas as become irrelevant to the game now. So let's forget Thomas and move foward.
For the Blues I would take the duo that set the record for most shut-outs by a tandem, that includes the guy who has the single season save percentage record (hint: he is at the bottom of everyone's list), that has two goalies that will actually suit up instead of just one, and that has youth on their side such that both have the potential to improve.
What's that you say? Halak and Elliott need great defense in front of them? We got that here in St. Louis. And I'm sure that having Selke winner Bergeron and Norris nominee Chara didn't help Rask or Thomas look good at all.....
EDIT: Are people really suggesting they would rather have Rask start 82 games for their team than run with the Jennings winning tandem?
For the Blues I would take the duo that set the record for most shut-outs by a tandem, that includes the guy who has the single season save percentage record (hint: he is at the bottom of everyone's list), that has two goalies that will actually suit up instead of just one, and that has youth on their side such that both have the potential to improve.
What's that you say? Halak and Elliott need great defense in front of them? We got that here in St. Louis. And I'm sure that having Selke winner Bergeron and Norris nominee Chara didn't help Rask or Thomas look good at all.....
EDIT: Are people really suggesting they would rather have Rask start 82 games for their team than run with the Jennings winning tandem?
I agree 100 % with you. I rather have Rask be the starter for my team but I couldn't trust Rask to start every game. So for that reason alone I rather have two keeper that one couldn't. So easy answer, Elliot and Halak.
I'd like to see Elliot continue his success from last year before I vote Elliot/Halak.
That is completely understandable.
Be fore-warned that he will come back down some simply due to the fact that he is unlikely to set the single season save percentage record again next season.
However, you should expect a better goalie than he was in Ottawa simply due to the Blues being better defensively currently than Ottawa was when Elliott was there.
Rask has had the benefit of playing his whole career in Boston on a team that plays really good defense. Once Elliott got to a team with a really good defense his numbers improved. The talent is there for Elliott to continue to put up similar numbers to Rask over the next couple of seasons. (Apart from wins, since Rask is likely to be carrying most of the load in Boston while Elliott will be splitting time with Halak.)
Thomas's career is over, unfair poll. I'll take Rask/Khudobin for the record.
it was between halak/elliot and thomas/rask or halak/elliot and lundqvist/biron. i picked thomas/rask because thomas still has some years left and hes shown that he is still a beast.
plus its not a very unfair poll. thomas/rask are owning this poll.
it was between halak/elliot and thomas/rask or halak/elliot and lundqvist/biron. i picked thomas/rask because thomas still has some years left and hes shown that he is still a beast.
idk. ima start a new poll soon with the winner of this poll vs lundy/biron. so itll most likely be the thomas/rask vs lundy/biron. and from there the winner will face fluery/vokoun.
Be fore-warned that he will come back down some simply due to the fact that he is unlikely to set the single season save percentage record again next season.
However, you should expect a better goalie than he was in Ottawa simply due to the Blues being better defensively currently than Ottawa was when Elliott was there.
Rask has had the benefit of playing his whole career in Boston on a team that plays really good defense. Once Elliott got to a team with a really good defense his numbers improved. The talent is there for Elliott to continue to put up similar numbers to Rask over the next couple of seasons. (Apart from wins, since Rask is likely to be carrying most of the load in Boston while Elliott will be splitting time with Halak.)
Elliott's biggest problem (besides the obvious requiring hitchcock to be good) is he cant play to many games consecutively and cant handle 50+ game seasons.
The Elliott hate is pretty amusing. I am not saying he is going to stay at the same level, but lets go over some indisputable facts.
1. Elliott started his great play when Payne was still the coach. Elliott was not a complete product of Hitchcock no matter how many people want to think it.
2. The Blues coaching staff told Elliott to go back to the style of play that he used in college. I'm not sure of the specifics, but it was reported that Ottawa and Colorado wanted him to play a certain way, and he was more comfortable playing how St. Louis allowed him to play.
3. Elliott can play in front of a bad defense. When Payne was still the coach, our team was leaking odd-man rushes and hanging our goalies out to dry, and the reason Elliott was in the games was because he handled those situations perfectly.
So to summarize, Elliott's play was not solely because of Hitchcock, a change in style of play is a very plausible explanation for improved play, and the Blues defense was not bullet-proof when he first started playing.
The Elliott hate is pretty amusing. I am not saying he is going to stay at the same level, but lets go over some indisputable facts.
1. Elliott started his great play when Payne was still the coach. Elliott was not a complete product of Hitchcock no matter how many people want to think it.
2. The Blues coaching staff told Elliott to go back to the style of play that he used in college. I'm not sure of the specifics, but it was reported that Ottawa and Colorado wanted him to play a certain way, and he was more comfortable playing how St. Louis allowed him to play.
3. Elliott can play in front of a bad defense. When Payne was still the coach, our team was leaking odd-man rushes and hanging our goalies out to dry, and the reason Elliott was in the games was because he handled those situations perfectly.
So to summarize, Elliott's play was not solely because of Hitchcock, a change in style of play is a very plausible explanation for improved play, and the Blues defense was not bullet-proof when he first started playing.
When he was playing in Ottawa I would cringe each time there was some sort of offensive rush. The last year he was here, the defense was a total mess and Elliott couldn't handle it in the least.
I hope Elliott does well, but I've seen him play enough games in his career to easily pass him over in this poll even with Halak who I've always been a fan of.
