Who Has Been the Best Goaltender in the Playoffs So Far?

Dave, by that Logic Ward is still the guy because he played 2 of the top 3 teams in the East and beat them both, while going the distance.

The mark of a good goaltender is making the saves when they need to be made. The saves dont get any bigger than in gave 7.

Ward doesnt have the defence Detroit or Chicago have and that team depends on him a lot more than Chicago or Detroit depend on their goaltenders.

Ward IMO, along with Crosby has been the playoff MVP thus far, let alone the best goaltender.

Neely4Life wrote:Dave, by that Logic Ward is still the guy because he played 2 of the top 3 teams in the East and beat them both, while going the distance.

The mark of a good goaltender is making the saves when they need to be made. The saves dont get any bigger than in gave 7.

Ward doesnt have the defence Detroit or Chicago have and that team depends on him a lot more than Chicago or Detroit depend on their goaltenders.

Ward IMO, along with Crosby has been the playoff MVP thus far, let alone the best goaltender.

Neely, can't argue there...these three are all so good...amazing in their technique and clutch saves--as well as the ability to shake off so-called 'bad' goals.

All Cup winners...for very sound reasons.

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asq2 wrote:Theodore. He's let in fewer goals than anyone else.

Stats don't lie!

davetherave wrote:

asq2 wrote: If you're going to bring in tough teams faced, though, then Ward would seem the obvious choice, no?

No question Ward has been phenomenal...we are talking about minute increments here between Wardo, Khabby, and Ozzy...all Stanley Cup Champions.

IMHO Khabby edges them out in the playoffs so far for two reasons:
(a) wins-losses--being better than Ward in that department,
(b) vis-a-vis Oz, the level of Nik's opposition being stronger.
(c) I'm a huge Hawks fan

FYP.

Truth is, the only category where Khabibulin shows up in the leader board is the total wins, and every goalie in the third round has 8. He's not in the top 5 for SV% (the closest we'll ever get to a "Goalie Performances" stat) or GAA. He has no shutouts. The Hawks are just firing on all cylinders as a T-E-A-M.

To me it's between Hiller and Thomas, except both of them are out. Next in line would *have to be* Ward.

cool) Ha ha, Prager, always the cynic with a barb at the ready.

Don't watch many Hawks games, do you?

You just can't give Khabibulin credit for being as good as he is...

I, on the other hand, readily acknowledge the excellence of other teams and their players.

That objectivity is part and parcel of being a Blackhawks fan.

It also comes from having watched my favourites win the Stanley Cup.

Who knows, you might learn what that is...eventually.

davetherave wrote:cool) Ha ha, Prager, always the cynic with a barb at the ready.

Don't watch many Hawks games, do you?

You just can't give Khabibulin credit for being as good as he is...

I, on the other hand, readily acknowledge the excellence of other teams and their players.

That objectivity is part and parcel of being a Blackhawks fan.

It also comes from having watched my favourites win the Stanley Cup.

Who knows, you might learn what that is...eventually.

IIRC, Prags was a Habs fan prior to the Sens' entrance into the league.

So, he has.

asq2 wrote:

davetherave wrote:cool) Ha ha, Prager, always the cynic with a barb at the ready.

Don't watch many Hawks games, do you?

You just can't give Khabibulin credit for being as good as he is...

I, on the other hand, readily acknowledge the excellence of other teams and their players.

That objectivity is part and parcel of being a Blackhawks fan.

It also comes from having watched my favourites win the Stanley Cup.

Who knows, you might learn what that is...eventually.

IIRC, Prags was a Habs fan prior to the Sens' entrance into the league.

So, he has.

In that case, having abandoned his original team, Prager has forfeited his status as a supporter of Champions.

And why does he need you to defend him?

davetherave wrote:In that case, having abandoned his original team, Prager has forfeited his status as a supporter of Champions.

And why does he need you to defend him?

Regardless, he has seen a team he supported win the Cup. [understatement]And I have seen many a Habs fan born prior to 1993 who aren't necessarily 100% objective.[/understatement]

Also, I'm online, and he isn't.

davetherave wrote:cool) Ha ha, Prager, always the cynic with a barb at the ready.

Don't watch many Hawks games, do you?

You just can't give Khabibulin credit for being as good as he is...

I, on the other hand, readily acknowledge the excellence of other teams and their players.

That objectivity is part and parcel of being a Blackhawks fan.

It also comes from having watched my favourites win the Stanley Cup.

Who knows, you might learn what that is...eventually.

But say that yours are better.

EDIT: Which, I might add, is usually the case. But I think you'll find yourself in a minority putting 'Bulin over Ward.

davetherave wrote:cool) Ha ha, Prager, always the cynic with a barb at the ready.

Don't watch many Hawks games, do you?

You just can't give Khabibulin credit for being as good as he is...

I, on the other hand, readily acknowledge the excellence of other teams and their players.

That objectivity is part and parcel of being a Blackhawks fan.

It also comes from having watched my favourites win the Stanley Cup.

Who knows, you might learn what that is...eventually.

Watched quite a few of them recently. They seemed to be on every other night.

He started out like gangbusters but I seem to remember that he hit a bit of a bump around the middle of the first series. That was why I picked Vancouver in the second round. But he put on the afterburners, and Sundin forgot that, even in hockey, you have to at least ante up to stay in, so the Hawks play on.

Objectively speaking, up until that horrible rebound in game 7 OT, Thomas had been playing better. His team (defensively) was playing worse. Even with that rebound, how the heck do you let Walker just (wait for it) walk in there without so much as a dirty look?

As for watching your favorites win the SC, I arrived in Montreal in May of 1975, just in time to see Nos Glorieux win 4 in a row. I was also still living there when they won in '86 and '93. I actually went to the parade in '86 because I was going to Concordia (the Sir George campus) and was spending a lot of time downtown.

davetherave wrote:
In that case, having abandoned his original team, Prager has forfeited his status as a supporter of Champions.

And why does he need you to defend him?

My original team was Spartak, Moscow. By the time I got to Canada my favorite player -- Yakushev -- had retired, so the transition to being a Habs fan was pain-free. Although I was also a great fan of Tretiak, so I was confused as to whom to cheer in that '76 New Year's Eve game. Luckily it ended 3-3 and both Tretieak and Dryden played fantastic.

But I digress.

Point is, if I make a city my home I have no problem cheering for the home team. And not just for a team that happened to win all that time. Notice how, when I lived in Moscow, I cheered for Spartak first, Dynamo second, and CSKA *never*. It was never bandwagon jumping for me, not even when I was a pre-teen. Couldn't stand the Army team, because they always got first dibs on the best players (and don't talk to me about the Pollack Habs, since his scope of influence extended only across Quebec, not a country of 250 million).

Ward for me. He's not in net then they don't get to the Conference finals.

Anybody care to revisit their choices?

Osgood of the two goalies left.

Hiller ghas been the most valuable of all though.

davetherave wrote:Anybody care to revisit their choices?

How about you?

wprager wrote:

davetherave wrote:Anybody care to revisit their choices?

How about you?

Khabby's just been awesome though :n:

Not awesome enough. MAF outplayed him in at least one game. There is an injury situation that we're not allowed to know about yet, but injury avoidance is part of makes some players greater than others.

wprager wrote:

davetherave wrote:Anybody care to revisit their choices?

How about you?

Nope. Khabby was also the Hawks' best player until he was injured. As I said, very minute differences between him, Ward and Osgood.

Of course, I've watched every playoff game so far...not easy when they're sometimes on at the same time.

But such is the life of a hockey junkie.
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Oh, and Prager...MAF plays for the Penguins.