[News] Bishop, Rask and Varlamov Named Vezina Finalists

[Hatter]

Tuuka will pull this one out most likely. Great goalie.

[OzSome]

Any of these 3 can win it and deservingly so. Varlamov looks good in Colorado this season. Something negative to him this season though but it is personal stuff when cops arrested him for allegedly beating up his girlfriend. It is off-ice so I think whoever judging this award might just ignore that.

Ben Bishop was lights out in Tampa this season. With Stamkos injured most of the season and Marty St. Louis being unhappy, i am surprised Tampa did that well this season and even made the playoff. Part of Tampa success was Ben Bishop. He went down late in the season and did not play in the playoffs and Tampa got swept by the Habs.

Rask. I think Boston are expected to do well this season. They have all the talents in the lineup and the team did great. I think playing for Boston who is loaded with talents might be the only thing that will prevent Rask from winning the Vezina this season. Boston Bruins stole this guy from Toronto. I remembered the trade when Toronto acquired G Andrew Raycroft and Leafs management and coaches was thinking G Justin Pogge was ready to take the rein as a starter.

Tough call. I might be leaning towards Ben Bishop though. So 1. Bishop, 2. Varlamov and 3. Rask. Votes will be close though.

[Coach]

Rask deserves it IMO, in spite of the great team in front of him, he is the best of the 3 overall.

[OzSome]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Rask deserves it IMO, in spite of the great team in front of him, he is the best of the 3 overall.

I am not saying he does not deserve it. I agree Rask is the best goaltender among the 3. He's been consistently playing well ever since he took over the starting position in Boston. I am just saying some of the judges might use the talent in front against their judgment. By the way, when i wrote the order on my list, those are based what I think the judges will pick and not my list. If I have the vote, I will pick Tukka Rask. Unfortunately we do not have any say on it.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by OzSome

I am not saying he does not deserve it. I agree Rask is the best goaltender among the 3. He's been consistently playing well ever since he took over the starting position in Boston. I am just saying some of the judges might use the talent in front against their judgment. By the way, when i wrote the order on my list, those are based what I think the judges will pick and not my list. If I have the vote, I will pick Tukka Rask. Unfortunately we do not have any say on it.

I think most of the time it's given to the best overall goaltender. Something like Bobrovsky's one-off last year is not really common I don't think.

[Arsenal14]

Another example of why you should always bet on the "field" if you're able for the Vezina. Bobrovsky last year, Bishop/Varlamov this year generally would have been included.

[Erick Estrada]

Rask is a very good goaltender and you know he's going to be in this conversation annually but Varlamov probably was more important to the Avalanche. I don't lay claim to seeing a lot of Avs games in the regular season but it's pretty apparent by watching the first round of the playoffs that their blueprint for success is based on him standing on his head.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Oh how I miss the days of the franchise goaltenders that would battle year in and year out for the Vezina.

We had no idea how good we had it in the 90s. Roy, Brodeur, Hasek, Joseph, Vernon, Belfour, Kolzig....all steady stars that anyone could count on for years and years. Probably the golden age of goaltending.

Apart from a few guys like Lundqvist (and previously Kipper), it seems like you really can't count on a goalie to be your long-term star anymore. Perhaps guys like Price, Quick and Rask will keep it up, but it seems like the whole position is even more of a crapshoot than usual.

[Henry Fool]

Rask has never had a poor season. Career average save percentage of .928 (.933 in the playoffs) in 196 games is beyond most starters' best seasons. The only reason he hasn't been a Vezina candidate before is the number starts.

He's only entering his prime but he has been astonishingly steady at the highest level for years. Apart from one .918 season, in the four other seasons he's between .929 and .931.

[$ven27]

Raycroft for Rask... Oh Toronto

[Locke]

Originally Posted by $ven27

Raycroft for Rask... Oh Toronto

...No Good?

[dammage79]

And no mention of Carey Price. Oh well, I'm sure the Boston/Montreal series will settle the battle of the best goalies.

[Hockey_Ninja]

Remember when everybody laughed when the Avs traded a 1st for Varlarmov?

[TKB]

Originally Posted by dammage79

And no mention of Carey Price. Oh well, I'm sure the Boston/Montreal series will settle the battle of the best goalies.

Yup I was just about to mention that Price could of been one of the final three. He also had a very strong season.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by $ven27

Raycroft for Rask... Oh Toronto

And one Justin Pogge, after 6 years in the AHL, spent last season playing in Italy and this past year in Sweden

[Hugh Jahrmes]

Originally Posted by Scoutski

Surprised about the lack of Lack, thought he was top 3 this year for sure.

On the Canucks maybe