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Most Underrated Player
by PuckStopsHere on 03/16/10 at 09:36 AM ET
Comments (8)
Often when a player is presented as the most underrated in the NHL, it is a player that few people have heard of who is doing a good job for his team. That is not the case right now. Most people who have some interest in hockey have heard of Tomas Vokoun of the Florida Panthers. They have never thought of him as arguably the best goaltender in the NHL.
The case for Vokoun as a top goaltender is simple. He has been the best goalie statistically in the last several years. Fear the fin compiled saves percentage numbers since the lockout and finds Vokoun’s .923 saves percentage is four points higher than any other goalie on the list. In that time, Tomas Vokoun has had no Vezina Trophy nominations. The problem is that nobody has noticed him as he has toiled in obscure hockey markets of Nashville and Florida. He hasn’t been able to get wins while playing for these teams. These teams have had neither the offence nor the defence to make his job a success.
Of the goalies on the fear the fin saves percentage table, Vokoun has faced the most shots per game.
Tomas Vokoun has only made the playoffs once in his career. In 2006/07, Vokoun’s Nashville Predators qualified for playoffs and were bounced in five games by the San Jose Sharks.
Taking a look at this season, Vokoun falls second to Buffalo’s Ryan Miller in saves percentage, but has not come up in most Vezina Trophy debates.
I think Tomas Vokoun is well on his way in a Hall of Fame track career (he is no Hall of Famer - but a logical projection of his numbers could likely get him there). The main question about projecting Vokoun’s numbers comes from the fact he is now 33 years old and may soon show signs of decline. The main question in many casual hockey fan’s minds might be has Vokoun won anything - but that question is largely unfair. Nobody would be a winner playing behind the teams that Vokoun has been on. He made them look respectable enough to usually remain in the playoff race most of the season. Without Tomas Vokoun, both Nashville and Florida would have had some finishes at or near the bottom of the league. Tomas Vokoun has been a significant difference maker, who has won a lot of games for his teams, but since there have been few others on those teams who had much value; it has been largely unnoticed or overlooked.
Filed in: | The Puck Stops Here | Permalink
Tags: Florida+Panthers, Nashville+Predators, Tomas+Vokoun,
Comments
Sorry you almost had me until the words “Hall of Fame” came out of your keyboard.
Posted by JT Lancer on 03/16/10 at 10:39 AM ET
I vote Wayne Simmonds on account of nobody knowing who the heck he is, but Voukoun’s a very good goalie.
Posted by steve on 03/16/10 at 11:26 AM ET
Vokoun is really good. It’d be nice to see Vokoun on a winner just to reward him for his hard work. Hall of Fame is usually based on merits as well, not just stats, unfortunately for him. Hall of Fame track career? Maybe. If he wins a Cup or a Vezina or something before he’s forty, I could see him there.
Posted by Matt Fry from Winnipeg on 03/16/10 at 11:41 AM ET
Vokoun is definitely an unsung goaltender. Unquestionably top 5 in the league I think, but many wouldn’t think of him.
Chris Mason has less impressive numbers, but I think he’s a guy you have to look at in the same light. Quietly putting together solid seasons on teams that don’t get as much attention.
Posted by Da lil Guy from Ottawa on 03/16/10 at 05:28 PM ET
Just an observation:
Roberto Luongo enjoyed superb regular season save percentage numbers with Florida earlier in his career. Now Tomas Vokoun is offering an encore. These two similar feats are years apart, and are being done with different on-ice and coaching personnel. Nevertheless, it does beg the question: Is there something in the Florida Panthers’ style of play that helps their goaltenders achieve high save percentages (i.e. lower quality of shots allowed, etc.)?
Conversely, is there no commonality whatsoever and this is merely a case of Florida being blessed with two world class goaltenders?
It’s worthy of a more detailed statistical review.
Posted by Matthew McCallum from Redding, California on 03/16/10 at 05:59 PM ET
I dont see any common thread between the Luongo Florida teams and the current one. The only players left on the roster from the Luongo days are Nathan Horton, Stephen Weiss, Rotislav Olesz and Gregory Campbell. They are a group of forwards without strong defensie reputations and all were quite young when Luongo was around. Coaching staff and management has been turned over.
Add to this the fact that there was a year between Luongo and Vokoun where Ed Belfour and Alex Auld played without any significant success (Auld nearly played himself out of the league with his failures and Belfour did play himself out of the league - although that was as much due to salary cap and reputation issues).
I think that makes a pretty clear case that they are two good goalies and their success is not related.
Posted by PuckStopsHere on 03/16/10 at 06:15 PM ET
Not regarding your comment above, I think overall, this post was pretty good.
As far as Mason…Vokoun used to scare me, Mason never has.
Posted by moore00 from Columbus, OH/Grand Rapids, MI on 03/16/10 at 10:35 PM ET
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Vokoun is a fantastic goalie.
Wings’ fans saw a lot of him in Nashville.
He missed a lot of games with a blood clot a couple years ago, which really set him back.
Now the Eastern Conference gets to see him.
If he was on a better team, or in Toronto or any Canadian team, he would get a lot more notice.
Posted by w2j2 on 03/16/10 at 09:52 AM ET