Ottawa's goaltending - Must read!

SpezDispenser wrote:

N4L wrote:
Howard has been solid for Detroit but that is a team that keeps absolutely everything to the outside, Howard actually has cost Detroit a few games this year as opposed to stealing one. Detroit lets up so few scoring chances in Babcocks system its hard for a goalie to not look decent in that system, but Howard has defently been awful on a lot of nights that the stats just dont show.

A lot of the goals he lets in are weak and back breaking.

He's stolen some games for Detroit no question. When Datsyuk, Franzen and Zetterberg were out, Howard was a hero for keeping Detroit in the mix. While I can agree that he lets up the odd softie, he's been a shocking surprised in Detroit (because they kept him in the AHL so long I guess). I disagree here, but that's life. I think Howard's a great young goalie with a fantastic future.

Yup, I do too but to say he has been good enough to be a Calder Candidate is way too much. He has been solid for a little while now and seems to be gainign confidence which is good, him and Elliott are very much on the same kind of path.

There are rookies like Myers, Duchene, OèReiley, Del Zatto, Burgfores, Kane, hell, Rask has been phenominal in Boston, thats a goaltender I would put ahead of Howard.

Disregard my last post then, as long as you recognize the achievement that Howard is making, that's fine, he won't be nominated anyway I don't think. Not with Myers, Duchene and O'Reilly in there.

SpezDispenser wrote:Elliott - 42 games, 2.62, .908 - quite good

Howard - 47 games, 2.37, .924

Howard has almost 400 more shots taken on him than Elliott - and I personally don't care where the shots are taken from, they still have to be stopped.

I hope that Elliott can put up those numbers at some point, because dude, those are some stellar numbers. Come on, give Howard some credit.

Absolutely, but they are not always stopped from where they are taken and should be. If those goals go in on a goaltender in Ottawa the sun actually doesnt rise the next day.

The scoring chances Detroit lets up are far and few between. Elliott doesnt have the luxury of having arguably the best team defense in The NHL in front of him. Detroit is the team where coaches say, shoot it from anywhere, it could go in. Now, that is becoming less and less of an issue with Howard but teams were pilling on shots from the outside because of his inability to stop the easy shot.

It absolutely matters where the shots come from and the defense playing in front of him.

Hmmm, I'll have to watch Howard more, but I've been watching him closely and I'm impressed to be honest.

Man, I can't wait for Lehner to be ready to go. I know it'll be another 2 years at least, I've never been this excited about a prospect. I just hope our goalie curse doesn't rub off on him too, hopefully he can break the curse.

SensGirl11 wrote:Man, I can't wait for Lehner to be ready to go. I know it'll be another 2 years at least, I've never been this excited about a prospect. I just hope our goalie curse doesn't rub off on him too, hopefully he can break the curse.

He would be the guy who would laugh in the face of this 'curse'.

SpezDispenser wrote:Hmmm, I'll have to watch Howard more, but I've been watching him closely and I'm impressed to be honest.

He has looked really solid sice x-mas, EV was right there, still has his struggles though with the weak goals from the outside.

SpezDispenser wrote:

SensGirl11 wrote:Man, I can't wait for Lehner to be ready to go. I know it'll be another 2 years at least, I've never been this excited about a prospect. I just hope our goalie curse doesn't rub off on him too, hopefully he can break the curse.

He would be the guy who would laugh in the face of this 'curse'.

'tis true.

Spez put the facts right in front of you. Detroit's defense is pretty much on par with the Sens this year. They are not as good as they were 2 years ago or even last year. Detroit has only allowed 10 or so less goals than Ottawa. I'm not syaing Elliott hasn't been ok, but if you take away his big win streak then his numbers look just as bad as Leclaire. You could argue that in the streak, Elliott didn't have to steal any games for us since our offense and defense were both spectacular.

Big Ev wrote:Spez put the facts right in front of you. Detroit's defense is pretty much on par with the Sens this year. They are not as good as they were 2 years ago or even last year. Detroit has only allowed 10 or so less goals than Ottawa. I'm not syaing Elliott hasn't been ok, but if you take away his big win streak then his numbers look just as bad as Leclaire. You could argue that in the streak, Elliott didn't have to steal any games for us since our offense and defense were both spectacular.

Hmmm interesting. I didn't even think of looking that deeply into it. Good call.

Now can we get back to winning another 11 in a row? Please?

SensGirl11 wrote:

Big Ev wrote:Spez put the facts right in front of you. Detroit's defense is pretty much on par with the Sens this year. They are not as good as they were 2 years ago or even last year. Detroit has only allowed 10 or so less goals than Ottawa. I'm not syaing Elliott hasn't been ok, but if you take away his big win streak then his numbers look just as bad as Leclaire. You could argue that in the streak, Elliott didn't have to steal any games for us since our offense and defense were both spectacular.

Hmmm interesting. I didn't even think of looking that deeply into it. Good call.

Now can we get back to winning another 11 in a row? Please?

Amen, brother!

Big Ev wrote:Spez put the facts right in front of you. Detroit's defense is pretty much on par with the Sens this year. They are not as good as they were 2 years ago or even last year. Detroit has only allowed 10 or so less goals than Ottawa. I'm not syaing Elliott hasn't been ok, but if you take away his big win streak then his numbers look just as bad as Leclaire. You could argue that in the streak, Elliott didn't have to steal any games for us since our offense and defense were both spectacular.

Yes Lindstrom, Kronwall, Stuart, and Ericksson are on par with Phillips, A Train, Kuba, and.... uhhhh. No they are not, Detroits defense is still elite and still a force.

Well if you take away a lot of goaltenders wins they look bad, dont they? If you take away Howards wins and play over the last 4 weeks of NHL hockey he look as bad as Osgood. So yes, if you discount Elliotts win and only count his loses, he's probably the worst goaltender in history because he hasnt actually won a game by that logic.

A goalie doesnt have to steal games to be effective, valuable, and could be the best player on the ice still. NYI was his game, Chicago was his game, St Louis was his game. Those are all the games he was probably the best player on the ice, he was also molson cup winner in Jan and Feb, top 3 stars of the week in The NHL twice, and for good reason.

Elliott has been one of, if not the best goaltender in the league since the new year.

My point is he is inconsistent and will never be an elite #1 goaltender, unlike Robin Lehner who has that potential.

Big Ev wrote:My point is he is inconsistent and will never be an elite #1 goaltender, unlike Robin Lehner who has that potential.

Ill ask you AGAIN, based on what? There is more that says Elliott will be a number 1 then says he wont. He does nothing but win, he does nothing but improve, and he does nothing but work hard. Also, the guy stays healthy and can be counted on in any kind of game it seems.

You wont find a bigger Lehner fan then me either, I was praising him before we drafted him and went mental when we did, but he has his work cut out for him in a couple years if he wants Elliott's job.

Elliott with one good playoff run here could go from being a border line number 1 goaltender, to a bonified number 1. Like I said, he does nothing but win and prove everyone wrong. The guy has a clear head, the rigth attitude, and the tallent. Being in college that long, working your way up, and not getting everything handed to you not only builds character, but it builds confidence and the proper attitude. He's not only a winner for the games he actually wins, along with the championships and idividual achievments, but he's a winner for shutting everyone up and being a numbeer 1 goaltender when most didnt think he had a shot to play in The NHL when he was drafted, same as Halak.

Also, I would like to hear of one young goaltender who is not inconsistant? Halak is the only one I can think of that fits that bill.

Elliott has had JUST over a year in the league and this is basically his rookie season, he's been phenominal given the circumstances. Consistancy is something that comes over time with goaltenders. If you want to look at the most inconcistant goaltender in the league, it's Carey Price by a mile.

Meant to say "I personally don't think he can be a #1 goaltender". If we're in a Game 7 in the first round of the playoffs, I have I no confidence whatsoever in Elliott to get the job done. If we have success in the playoffs, I don't think it will be because of our goaltending. It's just what I think, sorry.

Jonathan Quick is pretty consistent. Same can be said about Tuuka Rask.

Thats fine, stating opinion and stating things as a fact are different. I would like to think your opinion is based on something and Ill wait for you to say something about that before I comment.

Anyways, Elliott has proven to win at every level and when the pressure is on, he plays better. Look at his record coming off a loss and playing the next night, he's like 6-1 in The NHL, that shows his willingness to battle and his ability to stay mentally strong. In college, it was the same thing, he won. Whether he had to be the best player on the ice or just make the easy saves, he did what he needed to, to win. That's what a number 1 goaltender does.

That is a big reason why you see more goaltenders drafted high in the draft have worse careers then those mid or late round picks. Look at Roy, Hasek, Belfore, Cujo (not even drafted), all those guy had intangibles you cant see until they play in The NHL. Elliott is starting to show those intangibles right now in a big way.

If every game went to game 7 this year in the first round, how many teams are in better shape then Ottawa in terms of their goaltending? Chicago, Detroit, Washington, Philly, LA, Boston, Nashville, Atlanta, even NJ based on how Brodure has played the last 3 or 4 years... It's debatable at best to say you would rather have Rask or Glass in nets over Elliott, even then, they dont have the pedegree of winning Elliott does. The bolded ones are no braoners who you would rather have and those 4 were considered favorites to win the cup going into the season, probably 1, 2, 3, 4.