Goaltender Ratings - March 25/08 - Nick Parsons - Pregame Blogs

From Nick Parsons

The National Hockey League is into the last few yards of the home stretch and much has still to be decided. Here is a table showing the top, and bottom too, starting goaltenders in the league. Three teams dont list a starting goaltender, Detroit for instance, because the two on their roster, Chris Osgood and Dominik Hasek, spilt the games. In Los Angeles theyve used so many this season no-one can really remember them all.

The first box lists the league averages which provide a basis for comparisons.

Goals Against	Save Percentage	Shots/game
2.71	906	28.7

A striking feature of this table is the high scores. Ten years ago a goaltender would lead the league with a score of 33; now that rating leaves him eighth. Theres no doubt in my mind the NHL has to find a way to reduce the influence goaltenders are having on the game.

Rank	Player	Team	Mins.	Team Mins.	GAA	Shots/Game	Save %	Grade
1	Brodeur	NJD	4210	4545	2.13	27.1	920	61.7
2		Detroit		4591	2.10	23.4	908	57.6
3	Luongo	Van	3912	4557	2.22	28.6	922	55.7
4	Nabokov	Sanj	4255	4548`	2.13	23.7	910	53.5
5	Giguere	Anaheim	3185	4667	2.11	27.4	923	51.4
6	Price	Montreal	2111	4614	2.64	31.9	917	41.9
7	LeClaire	Clb	2866	4536	2.22	27.5	919	38.2
8	Lundqvist	NYR	3872	4558	2.28	25.4	910	37.1
9	Bryzgalov	Pho	2920	4593	2.38	30.4	921	31.7
10	Backstrom	Minn	3141	4612	2.37	28.8	918	31.3
11	Turco	Dallas	3322	4575	2.31	25.6	910	29.8
12	Legace	StL	3405	4524	2.43	26.9	910	22.6
13	Thomas	Bos	2978	4559	2.56	31.5	919	20.0
14	Conklin	Pitts	1806	4545	2.46	32.5	924	18.7
15	Theodore	Col	2657	4585	2.44	27.0	910	16.9
16	Vokoun	Fla	3832	4607	2.69	33.0	918	15.1
17	Gerber	Ottawa	2815	4525	2.66	30.2	912	13.4
18	Biron	Philly	3233	4592	2.67	32.1	917	12.8
19	Miller	Buffalo	4104	4551	2.60	28.5	909	12.3
20	Khabibulin	Chicago	2587	4579	2.55	28.2	910	11.1
21	Toskala	Toronto	3603	4597	2.60	28.3	908	9.8
22	Garon	Edmonton	2655	4637	2.66	30.7	913	7.9
23	Kiprusoff	Calgary	4082	4541	2.68	28.7	907	3.5
24	Smith	TBay	595	4506	2.62	26.2	900	0.1
25	Ward	Car	3568	4574	2.77	28.6	903	-7.2
26	Lehtonen	Atl	2527	4683	3.04	34.4	912	-11.6
27	DiPietro	NYI	3707	4591	2.82	28.8	902	-12.2
28	Mason	Nash	2606	4584	2.92	28.9	899	-15.9
29		Wash		4590	2.77	27.5	896	-17.3
30		LAK		4573	3.07	31.7	899	-40.1

Once again the NHL is being led by Martin Brodeur of New Jersey. Roberto Luongo (Vancouver), Evgeni Nabokov (San Jose), and J-S Giguere in Anaheim round out the list of this seasons A level goalkeepers.

General manager Bob Gaineys gamble in Montreal with Carey Price is so far paying off with huge returns. Marty Turco in Dallas is having a good year and there is redemption of sorts for Red Wing cast off Manny Legace in St. Louis. Bostons goaltending has been sliding and Tim Thomas is at the cut-off line between acceptable and liability.

Ottawas Martin Gerbers pads have turned to cement and hes giving up endless rebounds. Miikka Kiprusoff continues to wobble in Calgary and the Hurricanes wouldnt have had to worry quite so much this season if Cam Ward had been better.

I was looking for Tampa Bay to finish this season with a rush when they traded for Dallas Mike Smith. They still might but right now theyve been 4-8-1 since Smith arrived. His save percentage has been poor. Perhaps hell be much better next season after going to camp with this team.

Nashville is another team flattened by poor goaltending. They are four points out of eighth place with a game in hand on #8, which is Colorado in the Western Conference. If the Predators goalies had been able to do what the Avalanches Jose Theodore has done Im sure Nashville would be much further up the table.

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