Non-Pens NHL Games Thread

[shafnutz05]

Man, what a horrible SCF

[Kovy27]

Wow...I hate you NJ for not even trying.

[columbia]

That frozen puck goal is the new Danielle/offsides.

[KG]

Devils just can't beat Quick and Marty can't stand on his head like he used too.

Kings are just on a historic run and the sweep will be coming on Wed...

Great job by LA...it all came together...

[Kovy27]

Jonathan Quick is ridiculous.

[shafnutz05]

Yeah, major congrats to the Kings. 8 seed winning the big prize. Consolation for me? Hearing the sad, sad Flyers fans here

[Why Not Us]

The Devils are trying, I'm sure; but I'm afraid beating NYR was their Cup like PHI beating the Pens was theirs.

[offsides]

Man, what a horrible SCF

I would almost rather watch a Pirate game than this mess.........almost

[KG]

Man...the season is going to be over Wed...

It's a long way away until July 1!

[shmenguin]

Boy, the Devils have the possibility of being terrible next year, if Parise leaves as a UFA and Daddy Uncle retires.

Kovalchuk just throwing blind passes to Kings. He sucks.

brodeur retiring will be a bonus for the devils. the succession plan doesn't even matter.

[mikey287]

Boy, the Devils have the possibility of being terrible next year, if Parise leaves as a UFA and Daddy Uncle retires.

Kovalchuk just throwing blind passes to Kings. He sucks.

brodeur retiring will be a bonus for the devils. the succession plan doesn't even matter.

[shmenguin]

Boy, the Devils have the possibility of being terrible next year, if Parise leaves as a UFA and Daddy Uncle retires.

Kovalchuk just throwing blind passes to Kings. He sucks.

brodeur retiring will be a bonus for the devils. the succession plan doesn't even matter.

i appreciate what brodeur has been for the duration of his career. i'm typically not a hater of his, and i've always liked him, personally. but in the playoffs this year, there has been no moment where him letting in a stinker wasn't in play. maybe there's evidence that says he's had a good run, but i've seen a shaky, shaky goalie.

[Rylan]

Brodeur has the Devils in the Finals? That is farther than 28 other starting goalies in the NHL...

Brodeur retiring is not a positive going into next season unless the Devils acquire Luongo IMO.

[mikey287]

I never really win this one, but I haven't tried this reasoning on anyone in a while, so maybe it'll catch some appreciation...I mean, right now, you have a 40 year old goalie in the Stanley Cup Finals with a 6th place team (4th in their own division) with a #1 defenseman named Marek Zidlicky (scratched by his previous team in the same season) and a #2 is split between a former #6 d-man in Bryce Salvador and an offensive 3rd pairing d-man in Andy Greene who has 1 point in 20 games in these playoffs...

Ok, get that out of the way.

Are the goals that Brodeur gives up bad? Or just different?

It's no secret (at least I hope not) that Brodeur is not a butterfly goalie. When 95% of the league is butterfly or butterfly-plus. He stands up on shooters, uses his stick effectively, isn't afraid to have his skates come off the ice to make a save, etc.

Goals are inherently more noticeable than saves. Bigger momentum shift: amazing save or horrendous goal? Horrendous goal by whatever margin.

With Brodeur, he gives up "different" goals. Goals you aren't used to seeing go in. Like Jeff Carter's OT winner in game 2...he wants to punch that away with his blocker...most goalies would be on their knees trying to see through traffic, hope it hits them and that it doesn't bounce in front for a rebound...

It would be something you'd literally have to go back and watch for...but I'd be curious to see how many shots that Brodeur stops that a butterfly goalie would allow...and conversely, how many "weird" goals Brodeur gives up because of his hybrid style. But whenever someone says "ah, Brodeur gave up another bad goal" I always kind of hint that maybe it's not "bad" per se, maybe it's just "weird" because you aren't used to seeing that type of goal go in but never remember the shooter that hits Marty's shoulder when he goes top corner because Marty is still standing up...so the "weird" goals accumulate in your mind but you're never looking for or thinking about the "weird" (for lack of a better word) saves that he makes...

Just a theory. This is what I spend my time thinking about.

[Rylan]

I can understand that rationale Mikey.

[mikey287]

I can understand that rationale Mikey.

Just trying to bring some different perspective.

[shmenguin]

That's certainly an interesting theory. And I mean that in a good way.

[Rylan]

I wish there were more stand-up goalies in the NHL. Or at least have Hasek come back and start for some NHL team.

[shmenguin]

But yeah...I'm not gonna get into a debate with a scout about goaltending. There is too muh technical stuff that I don't know. But ill say this much. I watched Brodeur really closely in that Philly series. You can't convince me that he wasnt a softy waiting to happen. Philly just couldnt manage to get pucks through.

Maybe he's just unorthodox. But I can't reconcile that with some of the stuff I've seen.

[newarenanow]

Great win by the Kings. Hopefully they can end it on home ice for their fans on Wednesday.

[brwi]

But yeah...I'm not gonna get into a debate with a scout about goaltending. There is too muh technical stuff that I don't know. But ill say this much. I watched Brodeur really closely in that Philly series. You can't convince me that he wasnt a softy waiting to happen. Philly just couldnt manage to get pucks through.

Maybe he's just unorthodox. But I can't reconcile that with some of the stuff I've seen.

He's been rather so-so and that's simply not good enough to make it all the way to the finish and win the SC. NJ has overcome some of the soff goals he let up earlier but I also don't think that even if he was standing on his head that it would have made much of a difference as the Kings are simply 100% "ON" and have been since the last month of the season with no let up in sight.

[Steve]

[DudeMan2766]

I think the worst thing about LA winning the Cup is now a bunch of celebrities are going to act like they've been Kings fans their entire lives.

[Malkamaniac]

Can't wait to buy that LA Kings swag.

[newarenanow]

I guess I still don't understand the Brodeur hate. Maybe hate is a strong word, and he deserves some criticism, but honestly, when reading threads about goaltenders in particular, it seems that some people's expectations are that they remain perfect all of the time, and will us a hot goaltender like Quick as an example.

Every goalie, even the best, over a long period of time, are going to have bad games, bad goals, and bad stretches. To me though, it's the overall body of work. What they do over the long period. People compare them using stats, and there is typically a hot goaltender at the top. But I think it's one of those "eye test" type things that need to used as well. Does the goalie step up in the clutch more often than not? What is his style of play? etc, etc.

To me, Brodeur at 40 is still one of the top goaltenders in the league. And I think his play has been a big part of the Devils making a suprising run to the Cup. Especially in Games 1 and 2, I mean he only gave up 4 goals total, 2 in OT. I don't know what more you can ask for. To me, that doesn't scream "mediocre". To me, that means either his team can't score, or the other guy is playing just one notch above him, which is not always a bad thing. You can have 2 great goaltenders squaring off. One is going to win though.

I don't know. I'm just rambling, but it seems like some people have expectations that even the best goalies have to consistently play at the peak of the hottest goalie in the league at all times in order to be considered a great goaltender. To me, those expectations are not realistic.