Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Vezina Trophy Candidates

Well, despite it being playoff-time, the NHL has decided to announce all the candidates for all the major awards. Great timing, too. As if we needed something else to talk about around the time of Game Sevens going on. The first trophy that's highlighted was the Vezina Trophy for goaltending.

In New York, Henrik Lundqvist had a stellar season leading the Rangers into the playoffs and posting 10 shutouts. In the regular season hockey pools for the Sherpa, he collected a very reasonable 94 points this season in 37 wins, plus his 10 shutouts. But he isn't the Sherpa's favourite for the title. He's certainly up there as the third highest point-getting goaltender in the pool.

The second favourite goalie for the Sherpa was also the second highest scoring goaltender in the pool as well. Go figure. Martin Brodeur had yet another nomination for the year-end goaltending trophy. He finished the season with 44 wins, 4 shutouts and 4 assists for 100 points this season. He is a perennial nominee for this trophy, but he isn't my winner this year.

The Sherpa thought Evgeni Nabokov was the most consistent goalie in the league all year long and his 46 wins were the best example of his consistency. Nabokov finished the pool season with 46 wins, 6 shutouts and 2 assists for 106 points in the year. He finished third in pool scoring and should be a hot commodity in the pool Draft next season. He'll probably lose the actual voting to Brodeur's 500th win this season, but he should get a few first place votes, if he doesn't win the whole thing.

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