Journey-man, career back-up at best, a poor man's Dom Hasek. These were a few of the terms used to describe Bruins goalie Tim Thomas throughout his career. However, All-Star wasn't a term ever used, until the 2007-08 season. Thomas built off this success in 2008-09, getting named to yet another All-Star Game and essentially winning the game for the East. Now, with 7 games remaining in the regular season, the question is: Is Tim Thomas really the Vezina trophy front runner?
Most Bruins fans say yes, but some of them probably also feel that the rules of the NHL should be re-worked so that Milan Lucic wins the Art Ross Trophy. With Martin Brodeur not playing nearly enough games to be in the running, Thomas is by far the clear cut favorite in the Eastern Conference. One could make the argument for the Rangers goalie and King of Sweden Henrik Lundqvist but his stats pale in comparison to Thomas. In fact, there's no goalie in the Eastern Conference or NHL for that matter that can post stats that look better than Ole' Reliable Tim Thomas' do.
For those who do not know, the Vezina works on a 5-3-1 point system. The G.M's of all 30 NHL clubs meet and vote for 1st place (5 points), 2nd place (3 points) and 3rd place (1 point). With the Boston Bruins success this season, surely it would be a Bruin, right?
However, the biggest factor working against Thomas winning the Vezina Trophy is his games played. Often, in order to be in contention for the Vezina Trophy a goalie must play over 55 games. This of course causes problems for Thomas' chances as he split time with goalie Manny Fernandez almost 50-50 for the first 2 months of the NHL season. Thomas is currently at 50 games played, with 7 remaining. With the Bruins clinched for a division title and playoff spot, it's possible and likely that Thomas won't play 5 out of the next 7 games, putting him at the 55 game mark.
Number 30's biggest competitor may reside in the Western Conference, Miikka Kiprusoff. The Flames goaltender is currently leading the NHL in wins with 43 and has played in 70 of the Flames games. This of course gives him an edge over Thomas, but if you look beyond the wins the real Vezina resides in Boston. That being said, you can't ignore Timmy's numbers. He's number one in the NHL for GAA (2.13) and SV% (.931).
Thomas is currently selling the doubters following two incredibly strong performances. Last Sunday, the Bruins netminder held the at-the-time 2nd place in the East New Jersey Devils to 1 goal on 42 shots. His encore was in fact, even better as last night Thomas held the Philadelphia Flyers to 3 goals on 48 shots. In the past two games, Tim Thomas has a .957 SV%. That's what I'd call Vezina worthy.
Although Kiprusoff has been a busy camper for the Calgary Flames, I would not put him in as the Vezina Trophy winner. Evgeni Nabokov has been another intriguing option but the fact that he plays in such a mediocre division is a minus for him. Although Lundqvist's stats are promising, the fact is he's just been too inconsistent to bring home the hardware. This leaves just one, the 34 year old goaltender, son of a Michigan blue-collar family and once NHL-never-was Tim Thomas.
2 comments:
tim thomas hands down.
you write really good, and this is a great write-up on thomas.
this is a really small detail, but for numbers 1-100 you're supposed to write them out as words i was told. i have a blog too and i like reading yours :) good job
Post a Comment