From David Pollak's entry in Working the Corners:
Finally, I’m just catching up to the fact that Martin Brodeur, not Evgeni Nabokov won the Vezina Trophy tonight. The GMs, not the media, vote on this one so it’s harder to explain the usual East Coast bias. I think maybe you just chalk it up to bad judgment.
Read the full entry here.
I completely disagree with Pollak here. Nabokov played on a far superior team than Brodeur did. If you look closely at the two rosters, they really are not comparable. The Sharks are loaded with speed and talent. Nabokov played extremely well, however, he was rarely relied on to carry the club.
On the other hand, Brodeur had a weak defense in front of him and played for a team that had trouble scoring goals. The Devils relied on his services far more than the Sharks did Nabokov's.
The GMs made the right decision.
5 comments:
Brodeur was certainly the better goaltender all year, Nabokov was solid but Brodeur had alot of youth in front of him. You could make an argument for Tomas Vokoun over Nabokov.
Over Nabby? Did anyone watch the Sharks? In the early season it was ALL Nabokov. There is no reason to believe that Nabokov shouldn't have won the Vezina.
That winning streak was because of Nabby. Sure, the Sharks looked marvellous on paper but that wasn't the case in actual games.
I watched the Sharks quite a bit, and there were many games, especially late in the season, where he'd face 4-5 scoring chances throughout an entire game. I'm not saying he isn't worthy of top 3 consideration, he is. He just wasn't as good as Brodeur this season.
With the way the Devils system is, a lot of games Brodeur didn't need to be the elite goalie he is. I just think the Sharks, who were heavily favoured to be Cup contenders played like minor leaguers. Nabby bailed them out continually.
Brodeur played a good consistent game under a very strict Devils system. That's the generalization though with the Devils.
you must all be from the east coast and must never have watched a sharks game. the sharks were the definition of inconsistent in the begining of the season and Nabby saved them. Our 20 game unbeaten streak is the only reason we won the division. Nabby absolutely deserved it. More wins and more SO's = better goalie period.
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