There are some impressive early numbers among the NHL's goaltending brethren. Most of them have been put up by the usual suspects, but there are some blasts from the past you might not expect to be among the early Vezina Trophy contenders, as well as a newcomer to the starting ranks.
It's early, and every game can drastically affect a netminder's save percentage and goals-against average, so ranking these guys involves a bit of a combination of strong personal stats along with the victories. Bonus points are given to guys performing without much in the way of goal support.
We feel for Frederik Andersen, who has been one of the best goalies early this season by the numbers but has a noose of an Anaheim Ducks team around his neck so has just two victories thus far. And being stuck in a platoon doesn't help guys such as the St. Louis Blues' Brian Elliott, Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen in Dallas or Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek of the Detroit Red Wings.
In the end, tiebreakers in the real world will go to the voters' personal preferences—that's where reputation often comes into play.
There are a lot of games to play for this award to ...
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Article written by Steve Macfarlane
Ranking the Top Early Candidates for the 2015-16 Vezina Trophy
November 5th, 2015 by Steve Macfarlane Leave a reply »
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