SenShot » Martin Brodeur

Can Ottawa Senators Goalie Craig Anderson Still Win The Vezina Trophy?

Jared Crozier — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 13:11:23 +0000

At the time of his injury on Feb 21, Craig Anderson was on a pace to capture the Vezina trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender. Has the fact that he missed 20 games in a 48 game season due to the injury taken away the chance for the Senators’ goaltender to raise some NHL hardware?

Apr 12, 2013; Newark, NJ, USA; Ottawa Senators goalie Craig Anderson (41) makes a glove save during the third period at the Prudential Center. The Senators defeated the Devils 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

I did a little research in to the past Vezina trophy winners to see if there is still a chance that Anderson could do enough to sway voters despite his lack of playing time.

Anderson has played in just 18 of Ottawa’s 41 games so far, and could play in up to 6 of the remaining 7 games. Although I don’t think the Senators would want to wear him out heading into the playoffs, and Robin Lehner is a capable backup. So to look conservatively, Anderson should probably play 5 of the last 7 to give him 23 of 48 games played, or just under 48% of his team’s games.

I wanted to see what history says. Since the Vezina Trophy became an award that was voted on in 1981-82 (it was given to the netminding team allowing the fewest goal against prior to that), here are the winners, and the percentage of their team’s games the winner started. I also include whether the winner led the league in Goals Against Average (GAA) and/or Save Percentage:

Year	VEZINA WINNER	GP	Team GP	% GP	Highest SP	Lowest GAA
81-82	Billy Smith	42	80	52.50	-	no
82-83	Pete Peeters	62	80	77.50	-	yes
83-84	Tom Barrasso	42	80	52.50	no	no
84-85	Pelle Lindbergh	65	80	81.25	no	no
85-86	John Vanbiesbrouck	61	80	76.25	no	no
86-87	Ron Hextall	66	80	82.50	yes	no
87-88	Grant Fuhr	75	80	93.75	no	no
88-89	Patrick Roy	48	80	60.00	yes	yes
89-90	Patrick Roy	54	80	67.50	yes	no
90-91	Ed Belfour	74	80	92.50	yes	yes
91-92	Patrick Roy	67	80	83.75	yes	yes
92-93	Ed Belfour	71	84	84.52	no	no
93-94	Dominik Hasek	58	84	69.05	yes	yes
94-95	Dominik Hasek	41	48	85.42	yes	yes
95-96	Jim Carey	71	82	86.59	no	no
96-97	Dominik Hasek	67	82	81.71	yes	no
97-98	Dominik Hasek	72	82	87.80	yes	no
98-99	Dominik Hasek	64	82	78.05	yes	no
99-00	Olaf Kolzig	73	82	89.02	no	no
00-01	Dominik Hasek	67	82	81.71	no	no
01-02	Jose Theodore	67	82	81.71	yes	no
02-03	Martin Brodeur	73	82	89.02	no	no
03-04	Martin Brodeur	75	82	91.46	no	no
04-05	none
05-06	Miikka Kiprusoff	74	82	90.24	no	yes
06-07	Martin Brodeur	78	82	95.12	no	no
07-08	Martin Brodeur	77	82	93.90	no	no
08-09	Tim Thomas	54	82	65.85	yes	yes
09-10	Ryan Miller	69	82	84.15	no	no
10-11	Tim Thomas	57	82	69.51	yes	yes
11-12	Henrik Lundqvist	62	82	75.61	no	no
12-13	???

So, as you can see, it has been 20 years since a goalie who has played less than 75% of their team’s games has gone on to win the Vezina Trophy. No goalie who has played less than 50% of his team’s games has ever won the Vezina trophy. The closest to that mark was 1981-82 and 1893-84 where Billy Smith and Tom Barrasso respectively won the award playing 52.5% of their team’s games.

So, what happens when a goalie leads the league in both SP and GAA? Well, it has happened 11 times where one goalie has accomplished both feats. Six times the goalie has gone on to win the Vezina, as listed above. What about the other 5? Well, it could be a factor of games played, as listed below.

Year	Player	GP	Team GP	% GP
11-12	Brian Elliott	38	82	46.34
09-10	Tuukka Rask	45	82	54.88
03-04	Mikka Kiprusoff	38	82	46.34
02-03	Marty Turco	55	82	67.07
00-01	Marty Turco	26	82	31.71

So judging by these facts, it would appear that Anderson is fighting an uphill battle in his quest for the Vezina. Games played will be a big factor, since the only time a player played more than 60 % of his team’s games and didn’t win the Vezina while leading the league in both statistical categories was Turco in 2002-03.

Even if Anderson plays all 7 of Ottawa’s remaining games, that would give him only 52% of his team’s games. While there is some recent precedent set for goalies (notably Tim Thomas) for not having a huge percentage of games played, Anderson’s 52% would be the lowest GP percentage to ever win the award, injury or no injury.

So Anderson has been arguably the best goalie in the NHL this season, the amount of time he missed due to injury will likely result in his being omitted from the honor when the ballots are submitted by the NHL’s General Managers.

Names that have been tossed around lately as contenders for the award include Sergei Bobrovsky, Carey Price, Antti Niemi, Niklas Backstrom, and Henrik Lundqvist.

Game # 33 Preview: New Jersey Devils @ Ottawa Senators

Andrew Tupper — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 06:05:00 +0000

Today’s game is the Senator’s third in their current five game homestand. With 16 games left in this shortened lockout season each one becomes increasingly important as teams slide in and out of contention.

15-11-6, 36 points = 7th Eastern Conference

VS.

17-9-6, 40 points = 5th Eastern Conference

7.30 PM

TV: Rogers Sportsnet, Radio: Team 1200

HEAD TO HEAD

Their previous meeting was a 2-1 Ottawa victory back on February 18^th. Jakob Silfverberg scored the game winning shoot-out goal on Martin Brodeur. Ben Bishop was in nets and stood tall in Ottawa’s 16^th game of the season in New Jersey. Both goalies were stars of the game.

Feb 18, 2013; Newark, NJ, USA; New Jersey Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador (24) skates with the puck while being defended by Ottawa Senators center Jim O

LAST GAMES

The Ottawa Senators are looking to rebound from the scare that Tampa Bay Lightning gave them in Sunday afternoon’s game. The Senators looked to have everything looked after with a 4-0 lead going into the third period. Two quick goals shortly after the half-way mark allowed Tampa back into the game. Another goal made it a nail-bitter until Daniel Alfredsson’s empty-netter in the final minutes saved the day.

New Jersey’s last game was at home against the Florida Panthers. The 2-1 win was the 15^th of the season for the Devils and their second in a row. Ilya Kovalchuk left the game in the third period with a shoulder injury and didn’t return. Patrik Elias and David Clarkson, two of their top three goal scorers, both scored in the game.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Marc Methot, OTT – One of the stars of the Tampa Bay Lightning game was Marc Methot. He assisted on the first two goals of the game and finished the game with a plus 3 rating; great numbers for Ottawa’s premier shutdown defenseman. His contribution was even more of a surprise because he was just back from a knee injury that looked like it could have sidelined him for considerably longer. Honorable mention goes to Silfverberg as he has 6 points in his last 6 games.

Patrik Elias and David Clarkson, NJ – Both wingers will have to shoulder the offensive load now that Kovalchuk is expected to miss the next 2-4 weeks with a shoulder injury sustained in their last game. The Devils’ goal scoring sits at three less than the Senators but defensively, they’ve allowed 16 more goals.

3 STORYLINES FOR THE GAME

Goaltenders – Ben Bishop gets the nod to go head-to-head with Martin Brodeur in what will likely be a low goal-scoring and tight-checking game. The Senators’ goalies have allowed the Senators to be in almost every game this season, can they continue their dominance? Coach MacLean will no doubt have everyone focused on playing the full 60 minutes tonight.
How will the Devils react to losing one of their top scorers? Ottawa has been scoring by committee – can the Devils do the same and stay with the Senators?
Will Mika Zibanejad, Jakob Silfverberg and Guillaume Latendresse continue developing chemistry? Zibanejad’s faceoff percentage has been over 50% for the last 6 games. As mentioned earlier, Silfverberg’s has 6 points in his last 6 games and looks to be finding his groove. Latendresse’s game has improved dramatically over the past few games and he’s been converting his opportunities like Ottawa management had hoped he would when they signed him in the off-season.

PARTING SHOT

Look for Paul MacLean to continue working his team into playoff contention. The Senators lost to the New York Rangers in seven games last year and almost every player from that team has gained invaluable experience since. Much can go wrong with a young, rebuilding team and much has. I can’t believe the number of games that have been lost to injuries; it’s mind boggling. MacLean’s never-say-die coaching, along with his players who’ve answered the bell above and beyond expectations, are learning lessons every day. It’s these lessons that’ll be put to use when the play-offs arrive. Would any coach WANT to meet the Ottawa Senators in the play-offs? I think you know the answer. Go-Sens-Go!