A shortened season can make for some interesting award
winners- as it stands Chris Kunitz is five goals shy of leading the league in
goals. The reason is that anyone can catch fire for twelve games and that’ll
account for a quarter of their season. Though, like in 95, star players have
topped the statistical categories there are still a couple of interesting names
in the mix, especially when it comes to goaltending. Tuuka Rask, Sergei
Bobrovsky, and Marc-Andre Fleury might make up the most random group of Vezina
candidates since 1996 when the final three were Jim Cary, Chris Osgood and
Daren Puppa (if you know who Jim Cary and Daren Puppa are give yourself a pat on
the back). These guys might be an odd mixture but they deserve the recognition.
Tuuka Rask has been a stellar goaltender since 2010 when he
played forty-five games for the Bruins and posted a 1.97 GAA with a .931 save
percentage. The only issue was that he played with goaltending great Tim Thomas
and had to play second fiddle for a few more years than he would have liked.
Tuuka has always been solid but is still a surprise considering there were a
lot of questions going into the season about whether he could handle being a
number one. Well he’s proved he can this year by posting similar 2010 numbers
with a 1.90 GAA and a .928 SAV. Needless to say he is a great goaltender on a
great team and is a easy pick for the Vezina.
Now here is where things get interesting. Much like Steve
Mason in 2009, Sergei Bobrovsky has played incredible for the Blue Jackets and
if he brings them to the playoffs he deserves serious consideration, nay, he
downright deserves the Vezina Trophy. Last night Sergei single handily stole
Columbus a point in a hard fought game against the powerhouse Vancouver Canucks
who doubled Columbus’s shot total, proving that he can dominate even against
the best. He has next to no room to make a mistake with the Blue Jackets as
they are the lowest scoring team in the NHL, and if that’s not enough he has a
sparkling .930 SAV and a 2.06 GAA to go along with his gigantic saves. No one
saw this coming and his play is admirable.
To say a first overall pick being nominated for an award is
a surprise might sound absurd but not too many saw Marc-Andre Fleury as an
elite goaltender after his porous playoff performance against the New Jersey
Devils. Yet, the Sorel Quebec native has rebounded quite nicely with a .918 save
percentage and 2.24 GAA. He leads the league in wins with eighteen which is
even more impressive when you take into consideration he’s only played in
twenty-four games. To put it into better perspective if he kept at that pace
and played seventy-two games he’d set the NHL record for wins in a season with
fifty-four. Fleury just needs to bring his save percentage up and he’ll be a
shoe in for the Vezina.
There are still enough games left in the season to let some
other stars emerge such as Carey Price, or Niklas Backstrom but these three
have stood out for nearly three quarters of the season and deserve a look at for
their respective accomplishments. No one saw these guy coming and that's what makes their seasons even more astounding. Hopefully they get the appreciation and recognition from the league that they deserve.
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