Here are the nominees for the Vezina Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL's goaltender who is judged to be the best at this position, as voted on by the 30 general managers of the National Hockey League.
Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
It is not news that Marty is back in the list of nominees for this trophy. He is still one of the best in the game at 36 years old.
This year, on a struggling Devils team, he managed 44 wins, while playing in 77 games, just one less than his 78 games played last season. He had a 2.17 GAA and a .920 save percentage.
Brodeur played in 41 straight games to end the season, which unfortunately may have led to the Devils' first-round loss to the rival Rangers. He had four shutouts this year.
"The reason Marty is who he is is because he takes a lot of pride in doing things right in practice," coach Brent Sutter said. "Human beings are creatures of habit, and in hockey good habits start in practice. He practices like he wants to be the best."
Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
Lundqvist, Brodeur's across-the-river rival, managed a great season, worthy of a third straight Vezina Trophy nomination. "King Henry" put together a career year, with 37 wins in 72 games. He had a 2.23 GAA and a .912 save percentage with a league-leading 10 shutouts.
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"The good thing about Henrik is he is completely consistent day in and day out with how he prepares himself to play, and it doesn't matter who the opponent is," coach Tom Renney said. "That's why he is one of the better ones in the league."
Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose Sharks
Nabokov led the NHL with 46 wins this year, and was tied with Brodeur for games played with 77. His 2.14 GAA was the best of his career, and a .910 save percentage with six shutouts. Nabokov started each of the first 43 games of the season before finally being taken out of the lineup to rest.
"There aren't many goalies like him out there with that same competitive fire," Jeremy Roenick said. "He's our backbone and the guy we rely on every night. When we don't play well, he's always there.
"He's one of the best goalies I've ever played with and no matter how many games he plays, he's the same steady goalie every night. That's a tribute to his dedication to what he does."
Each of these men deserve the nomination, however I think Lundqvist is the weakest of the three. Don't get me wrong, he is an unbelievable goalie, but he will have to wait another year or two before he can win his first Vezina Trophy.
That narrows the list down to Brodeur and Nabokov. Nabokov had more wins, yet Brodeur had better stats, which really show more of the goalie effort, as a team can put up wins, but only a goalie can put up save percentage. The Sharks were clearly the better team this year, and the Devils struggled most of the year, especially defensively, yet Marty was still able to put up 44 wins, just four less than his career best of 48 last season.
I think that Marty had to make more spectacular saves this year to bail his team out, and he came up big for the Devils. Nabokov was not so much superhuman as he was unbelievable.
Therefore, for the fourth time, I award the 2008 Vezina Memorial Trophy to Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils.
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3 months ago
Obviously as a Ranger fan, I want Lundqvist to win. But, I believe Nabokov is the most deserving of all candidates as I think that in the playoff series versus the Rangers, Brodeur was exposed for exactly what he is.
And isn't it funny that not one Vezina nominee made it to the conference finals? Goes to show you that the regular season means nothing.
3 months ago
Good read Alan, liked the article.
3 months ago
I agree, I think Marty will take it again this year. Can't wait till he breaks Roy's record next year
3 months ago
Man...I love what Marty has done for NJ, but hes not himself anymore...
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