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Fri Jun 13, 2008 10:44 am EDT

San Jose Sharks fans furious over Vezina vote, Brodeur win

By Greg Wyshynski

There really wasn't a hell of a lot of mystery to this year's NHL Awards. T-shirts or not, Alexander Ovechkin was going to clean up. Patrick Kane was a favorite to win the Calder. Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau was in a competitive category, but many anticipated his victory. And if Nicklas "Lindstrom" lost, we'd finally have that post-Stanley Cup riot in Detroit that was sorely lacking this summer.

The only real controversy from last night's awards? New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur winning the Vezina over Evgeni Nabokov of the San Jose Sharks, whose supporters feel like their man has been robbed.

Here's the official voting for the 2007-2008 Vezina Trophy, with points and 1st-2nd-3rd votes. Keep in mind that the League's The 30 general managers voted on the Vezina Trophy:

1. Martin Brodeur, N.J., 113, (15-12-2)
2. Evgeni Nabokov, S.J., 106, (13-13-2)
3. Henrik Lundqvist, NYR, 13, (1-0-8)
4. J.S. Giguere, ANA, 11, (0-1-8)
5. Miikka Kiprusoff, CGY, 7, (1-0-2)
6. Niklas Backstrom, MIN, 6, (0-2-0)
7. Roberto Luongo, VAN, 5, (0-1-2)
8. Cristobal Huet, WSH, 4, (0-1-1)
9. Carey Price, MTL, 2, (0-0-2)
Tim Thomas, BOS, 2, (0-0-2)
11. Chris Osgood, DET, 1, (0-0-1)

(What, exactly, did Pascal Leclaire do to piss off the world?)

As you can see, the vote between Marty and Nabby was damn close; a margin that Bleeding Teal felt was heartbreaking. But others believe Brodeur is currently shining up Nabokov's trophy.

Randy Hahn of the Seagate Broadcaster Blog wonders if Nabokov was robbed based on the numbers:

No disrespect to Martin Brodeur who is a great goaltender and all but are you kidding me? Evgeni Nabokov played in just as many games as Brodeur last season (77) and had 2 more wins (46), a lower goals against average (2.14) and had 6 shutouts to Brodeur's 4. How in the heck did Martin Brodeur win the Vezina Trophy as best goaltender in the league over Nabby? It makes you wonder if the Eastern Conference General Mangers even bother to stay up late enough to watch Sharks games. Say what you want about the stats. The single most important statistic for a goaltender is wins. Nabby led the league in W's. End of story.

He makes a fair point in regard to East Coast bias, especially with the unbalanced schedule. And there is the issue of reputation, as this is Brodeur's fourth Vezina in five seasons; Marty saw the same thing happen during Dominik Hasek's run on hardware in the 1990s.

But Brodeur posted a 44-27-6 record with a 2.17 goals-against average, .920 save percentage and four shutouts; he was second in wins (44) to Nabokov, who had 46. So let's revisit Hahn's basic point: Are wins the single most important statistic for a goaltender?

In 2006, Marty Brodeur led the NHL in wins with 43; Miikka Kiprusoff had 42. So why did the Calgary Flames goalie win the Vezina? Perhaps it had something to do with a 2.07 GAA to Brodeur's 2.57.

In 1997, Patrick Roy led the NHL in wins with 38. But Hasek won the Vezina with 37 wins and a 2.27 GAA to Roy's 2.32. And yet Brodeur lost the award with a 1.88 GAA. Good lord.

Wins are far from the standard for this award. But in Nabokov's defense, the reputation argument could be a fair one. Consider that Brodeur was voted to the second-team on the NHL all-star squads with 475 points; Nabokov was named to the first team with 523 votes.

This team is selected by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. Clearly, if the Vezina was theirs to decide, it would have gone to the Sharks keeper.

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95 Comments

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  1. Tacks
    1. Posted by Tacks Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:51 pm EDT

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    nabokov was robbed. if they actually watched brodeur and nabokov play, the former looked shaky quite often and the latter was making highlight reel saves throughout the season. but everyone knows more than we do, of course.
  2. Adam Jones
    2. Posted by Adam Jones Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:45 pm EDT

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    As a Devils fan who had Nabby on his fantasy team, I gotta say. Nabokov had the better year, hands down. Better stats, went farther in the playoffs, played in slightly worse division, but tougher conference, and had the pressure of finally being the clear #1 for the first time in his career.
    However, we did get to hear Marty be candid and essentially call Lou out to make some changes. Fingers crossed for Brian Campbell...
  3. Lauch
    3. Posted by Lauch Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:57 pm EDT

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    I'm a big Devil's fan, for many years now. I can see that fans will think Nabokov was robbed. As the article suggests, Brodeur was robbed for several seasons in the past.
    What it comes down to, is that if you want the "best" goalie to win the award, then base it off of statistics....but then we'll have an argument over statistics.
  4. Chemmy
    4. Posted by Chemmy Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:45 pm EDT

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    Wins is a useless statistic to tell you how good a goaltender is.
  5. Lauch
    5. Posted by Lauch Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:57 pm EDT

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    chemmy - Not really. i think you'd have to look at all the statistics to really tell how well the goalie did. You may see many wins, but high GAA, which means the team had a good offense to back up the goalie...which you could say that the goalie wasn't as good as his wins portray.
    But team up alot of wins with a low GAA, and you're likely to say that the goalie carried the team.....
    It's like in Baseball.....batting average doesn't tell the whole story..how about on base percentage? slugging percentage? batting average with runners in scoring position? What good is a batter who only does well when there's nobody on base?
  6. Brodie30
    6. Posted by Brodie30 Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:46 pm EDT

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    It was an extremely close vote between the two. There was clear separation between them and the rest of the field. It's likely that Brodeur edged him because a lot of the league's GMs look at the Devils depth chart and ask, "how in the hell is this team not in last place?" and then they remember who is in net. But it was so close it just came down to Marty getting two more first place votes.
  7. Billy Sol
    7. Posted by Billy Sol Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:21 pm EDT

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    LeClaire had an excellent season and was also snubbed for the All-Star game.
    Columbus isn't exactly a respectable franchise, but we're getting there.
  8. Troy M
    8. Posted by Troy M Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:13 pm EDT

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    Bottom line Nabby had the better year no matter how you look at it. Marty is a great goalie no doubt, but come on...Nabby had the better year. It is an East coast bias. Nabby gets hurt being on a West coast team.
    Adam Jones, as for Nabby playing in a weeker Division I don't buy that at all. The tougher conference far outweighs your division arguement. San Jose had to play two of the toughest teams in the NHL in Dallas and Anaheim all yaer...enough said.
    Bottom line, both guys are great goalies, the two best right now maybe. They both deserv the award, Nabby just performed a lil better and should have won it.
  9. Adam F.
    9. Posted by Adam F. Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:01 pm EDT

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    Please... Nabokov was not robbed. Yea he had 2 more wins and a better GAA by .03, but he also faced nearly 300 less shots despite playing the same amount of games. Brodeur's save percentage was .920 compared to Nabokov's .910...
  10. SharksFan91
    10. Posted by SharksFan91 Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:25 pm EDT

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    Nabby should of won the trophy not Marty. The only reason Marty won the trophy is that the NHL favors Marty over Nabbs. I have been a sharks fan for about 6 years since I was got interested hockey and watching nabby over the years he has worked hard enough to get the trophy. Nabby has had the top saves in the NHL and played in way tougher division than Marty. Go Sharks!!! This off season the sharks need to trade away some of their old defense men and get some more scorers and LWs.
  11. Brodie30
    11. Posted by Brodie30 Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:46 pm EDT

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    How does Nabby play in a tougher division than the Atlantic, which sent 4 teams to the playoffs and occupied both Conference finals spots? Marty has to play against Jagr, Malkin, and Crosby 8 times a season and had the same numbers. The best scorers in the Pacific are on San Jose.
  12. Jeremy G
    12. Posted by Jeremy G Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:33 pm EDT

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    Proof that reputation plays a big role in award voting: Roberto Luongo receiving any votes for the Vezina. He's a great talent for sure, but this was not his year. I remember watching a Canucks-Blues game in which Hannu Toivonen badly outplayed Luongo and won the game for the 'Note. Come on. Toivonen. Give those votes to Pascal Leclaire, who's finally starting to justify his draft status.
  13. ethacker
    13. Posted by ethacker Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:56 pm EDT

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    Nabby had a better year than Brodeur. He should have won it. He is just not followed as much by GMs in the league. Also, it is probably better marketing for Brodeur to win it. And I have no doubt with the current league management that marketing trumps most other considerations.
    One measure where the Pacific Division is tougher is travel. You don't have an hour bus ride to play most of the teams in the division out there. If you don't think that's a factor, try taking all those flights in between hard-fought hockey games.
  14. Brodie30
    14. Posted by Brodie30 Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:46 pm EDT

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    Sort of like starting your first 9 games on the road while your new building is being finished?
  15. kmon26
    15. Posted by kmon26 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:52 pm EDT

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    Nabby was robbed. Did anyone notice that NOT ONE award went to a team West of the Mississippi River? Does hockey even EXIST in the minds of these voters in the West. Sure the Stanley Cup champ has come from the Western Conference 6 of the last 10 years, and probably (if you are objective) 7 of the best 10 teams in the NHL were from the Western Conference this year. But it's all about the East, the obviously inferior conference. The other "excuse" was Brodeur had a weaker defense in front of him. Ridiculous. The Sharks D for most of the year was two veterans (Rivet and McLaren) and four guys who's combined NHL experience is about 10 years. Last argument. Brodeur had to face "Jagr, Malkin, and Crosby" Well Nabokov had to face Iginla, Zetterberg, Datsyuk. No doubt, the voters of the Vezina REALLY blew it.
  16. shrk33
    16. Posted by shrk33 Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:21 pm EDT

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    Nabokov deserved to win this year! In my opiniong the results should have gone Nabokov, Lundquist, and then Brodeur.
  17. rlp12273
    17. Posted by rlp12273 Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:44 pm EDT

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    Please SJ fans, Brodeur is way better. Tell me how the Devils have one of the better records and cant score at all? One word, BRODEUR!!! Without him, the Devils would be picking first every year in the draft. Besides, SJ is not a hockey city anyway--its too hot--like your tempers after your goalie got "robbed". Talk to Brodeur about getting robbed, Hasek may have been good, but not so much better than Brodeur to win the Vezina and the Hart. Give me a break!!
    Cry me a freakin' river SJ fans----once Brodeur retires, then it will be Nabbys time--you have a few more years to wait for that. In the mean time, go milk a cow or something.
  18. chad c
    18. Posted by chad c Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:34 pm EDT

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    SJ is not a hockey city! becuase it is too hot! Obviously you have never been out of your mom's basement. SJ has the largest adult hockey league in the US. More and more people are playing hockey here. Sharks ice has the most rinks in one spot west of the Mississippi. Sharks game are almost always sold out. We love hockey in SJ. Why don't Devils games sell out?
  19. Adrian A
    19. Posted by Adrian A Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:25 pm EDT

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    I'm also pissed about Brodeur winning this. In addition to Nabby having better numbers, the playoffs clearly showed he faced much better competition. Detroit, Dallas and the Sharks are better than anybody in the East that Brodeur faced on a regular basis. The Academy Awards could have done a better job of choosing a winner.
  20. youreallcrazy
    20. Posted by youreallcrazy Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:58 pm EDT

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    Rip12273...
    Milk a cow? Wow...Milking cows is not something that happens in San Jose on a regular basis.
    Also your reasoning is completely flawed concerning the "robbery." Just because people were stupid and voted incorrectly a few years ago doesn't mean it should happen again...but who am I to tell this to a person who is obviously so well versed in the art of supidity?
  21. rlp12273
    21. Posted by rlp12273 Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:44 pm EDT

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    Chad C---How many Stanley Cups has SJ won? Zero. Again, not a hockey town. Adults that play hockey? Are they trying to relive their youth? AARP leagues dont count-neither does inline skating. BTW---I live in CA, so I know all about Sharks ice, have been there a time or two and know what goes on there.
    Adrian A---The voting is done before the playoffs dumba$$, so dont bring that into the equation. Again, realize that the GMs vote on this award. Glad its not the fans because then it will just be a popularity contest and the real goalies will be overlooked. Academy Awards are the only thing the state can win, not Vezinas--that goes to East Coast teams.
  22. rlp12273
    22. Posted by rlp12273 Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:44 pm EDT

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    CS---It was a joke moron. BTW, SJ is not far from the cow towns of CA--trust me, I know.
    Oh yeah, was is supidity? Sounds like it may apply to you. Try hooked on phonics next time.
  23. Tommy
    23. Posted by Tommy Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:55 pm EDT

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    I'm a devils fan and I think either could of won it. But I can see why Marty won it, he had terrible D infront of him in most games and had to do pretty much everything himself, he always faced more shots too and he had the better save percentage.
  24. scott
    24. Posted by scott Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:47 pm EDT

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    Nabby definitely got robbed. Not only did he have a better GAA and more wins he also led the league in games decided by 1 goal. He was clutch when he needed to be. He pulled the sharks through a lot of games when their offense was playing way below the level they are capable of.
  25. Josh N
    25. Posted by Josh N Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:41 pm EDT

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    Nabakov was clearly superior to Brodeur. However, most of Nabakov's games don't finish til 1-130 in the morning eastern time. Well, I suppose it will take a conference championship or a Cup to push Nabakov over the finish line for this prestigious award.

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Puck Daddy is an NHL blog edited by Greg Wyshynski. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

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