Brodeur edges Nabokov for Vezina

June 12, 2008   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

I was going to start by reporting that Devils’ netminder Martin Brodeur edged San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov for a fourth Vezina making it back-to-back for the future Hall of Famer.

Well, I did anyway as Marty received 113 votes to Nabby’s 106 while Ranger goalie Henrik Lundqvist was third with only 13 votes. To be honest, the order wasn’t much of a surprise as everyone pretty much knew this was a two horse race between the established franchise goalie and the first-time candidate from Russia who finally got recognized for how well he performed.

Still, I can’t help but wonder what these GMs are smoking. Lundqvist got 13 total votes. That is crazy. He did lead the league in shutouts and didn’t play on a great defensive team. I don’t care what the final stats say. Any D headlined by Michal Rozsival, who stunk for large portions of the season isn’t strong by any stretch. And both Fedor Tyutin and Dan Girardi struggled at times. By the end of the year, rookie Marc Staal was our best defenseman.

Something seems very awry here. Henrik wasn’t winning the award. I knew that going in. But come on. Brodeur isn’t that much better than him. Sorry. This isn’t Ranger bias either. Even if Marty did have an AHL calibre D, it’s remarkable to think that Lundqvist didn’t receive a few more votes. Last I checked, Paul Martin’s better than anyone we got on our blueline too. Oh well.

As noted before, I would’ve gone with Nabokov who led the league in wins and didn’t have much offensive support either. However, he did play on a better team which probably factored in. Still, I can’t help but wonder if Brodeur having the Canadian support helped him win the award again. You have to figure it helped in the voting which figured to be close.

Both netminders had outstanding seasons. I guess it largely depends on how you feel. Still, Brodeur winning the league’s top netminder a fourth time looms large and only adds to his legacy. He’s now two behind Dominik Hasek who just retired. It’s now three Stanley Cups. Four Vezinas. And Olympic Gold. Not too shabby a resume for a player who will soon own the league’s wins and shutout record.

The question becomes for how much longer can he perform at this high a level? With the way the Montreal native keeps himself in shape, why can’t he continue his elite play until retirement? The guy is a great athlete and doesn’t get hurt much. You just wonder why he continues to play as many games as he does when it probably would make more sense for the Devils to get their backup in a bit more so Marty’s fresher for the second season.

Oh well. That’s one for Hasan and other Devil fans to take.

As Has noted, it appears the vaunted Versus did another bang up job getting the right show to air earlier tonight. What a network baby! Honestly, I’m no longer surprised and have no words.

Why bitch about it? It’s never going to change. I guess we’ll just have to continue to deal.

We’ll have more on the awards later.

Also, be sure to check out my NY Hockey Report show live tonight on the East coast from 11:30 on. I’ll be recapping the Stanley Cup winner as well as awards and coaching changes.

The number to call in is 646-716-7209. So if anyone wants to talk puck, you’re more than welcome!