Jump to content
The Official Site of the Vancouver Canucks
Canucks Community

Healthy goaltending rotation or soon to be Nilsson's spot?!!


NHL97OneTimer

Recommended Posts

Hard to believe this, but the Toronto Sports Network (TSN) just put the Canucks ahead of Toronto in the weekly rankings:

 

http://www.tsn.ca/the-7-eleven-power-rankings-kings-of-the-hill-1.900263

 

We all remember how last season started and ended, but interesting nonetheless.  On to the topic though.......at the start of the season I had thoughts that Nilsson may take Markstrom's spot as the #1 by the end of the year.  A few games into the season, TSN is highlighting him already:  "Anders Nilsson is 3-1 with a .943 save percentage (1.89 GAA) – second-best in the league behind Jonathan Quick". 

 

So the question is, how many games does coach Green officially take a stance on the #1 tender?  It's beautiful having a good rotation with two goalies staying warm, but we all know what happens when there's a (slim?) chance of making the playoffs.  I also think that goalie rotations in the playoffs is typically a plan to fail.  Too early right now, but my bet is by the 30 game mark, we start seeing a pattern of a #1 and #2.....and I think it will be Nilsson coming out in front.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If Nilsson keeps playing like this... it's his spot. 

 

His only "bad game" was when the Bruins put 3 goals into the net on a 5 man penalty. It sounded a lot like that game was a general team derailment, so I don't hold it against him 100%. 

 

If you discount that game his numbers have been unreal. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Matt_T83 said:

Also didn't someone point out Markstrom has yet to have an NHL shutout, ever? Not sure if that's true -- haven't researched it. But Nilsson has 2 shutouts this season already.

True about Marky, and zero shutouts.  I thought Nilsson would become our number one, when we signed him.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I expected Nilsson to challenge for Markstrom's spot. Based on his statistics, he was the better goaltender last year. Only difference is he has slightly less experience, but only by about 40 games or so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Neither have proven to be a #1, not in previous years nor this one.  We may not even know by the end of the season who's better, or even if either (or both) are #1 calibre.  But right now, two goalies playing well is hardly something to have any concerns about.  The likes of Calgary, Winnipeg, and Toronto should be so fortunate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kind of a tough situation.  Marky was more or less gifted the #1 spot by Green so it is his to lose.  I think as long as Markstrom plays lights-out like last night it remains that way, but over the course of the season I believe Nilsson will prove that he is the better goalie.  Markstrom is all about consistency, and he just doesn't tend to have it.

 

The problem is that with the near-#1 contract Markstrom signed it is to our advantage to give him lots of games/experience so he can improve over the course of it, which is why I think Green is gifting him the games even though Nilsson's record is clearly better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, CanuckinEdm said:

Nilsson was very good in Edmonton for a bit then fizzled out, I don't think he has the mental side of the game to be a #1 im perfectly fine with both guys playing around the 40ish game mark. 

 

Good observation but he was aware of this as well and that's why he enlisted the help of a physiologist to help him deal with stressful situations.  Read that the guy he's working with has worked with everybody from athletes to soldiers.  Hopefully his helps him stay calm in the critical situations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, kloubek said:

which is why I think Green is gifting him the games even though Nilsson's record is clearly better.

 

12 hours ago, aGENT said:

Small sample size comes to mind...

Green isn't gifting anyone anything. Markstrom played damn well last night and largely has all year. I don't think you could be more out in left field with your assessment :lol: 

 

They're two different goalies with their own respective strengths and weaknesses. Neither of whom has shown consistency thus far in their careers. Them playing something like a 55% / 45% games split is likely ideal for them, the team and that ^^^ reality.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, aGENT said:

 

Green isn't gifting anyone anything. Markstrom played damn well last night and largely has all year. I don't think you could be more out in left field with your assessment :lol: 

 

They're two different goalies with their own respective strengths and weaknesses. Neither of whom has shown consistency thus far in their careers. Them playing something like a 55% / 45% games split is likely ideal for them, the team and that ^^^ reality.

How do you figure?  Green came right out and said at the start of the season that Markstrom was our #1 goalie.  That's about the most obvious gift I can imagine.  Plus his number of starts backs up that sentiment.  

 

As for Markstrom playing well - yes, last night he was great and I said that.  I also said he was inconsistent, so let's look at his record so far this season, shall we?


.943, .952, .842, .815, .889, .909, .952, .931.  So he played 4 games where he was great, one game he was average to slightly below average, and three games where he was clearly below average with a couple of those being truly brutal.  So your assessment that he has played well all season is... well... simply wrong.  Last season was much of the same level of inconsistency - I won't bother to give you all the stats as I think my point is clear.

 

Now, you also bolded the part where I was that Nilsson's record is better, which you are also disputing.  Well, Nilsson's stats are .943 and 1.88, as opposed to Marky which is .911 and 2.41.  Once again, you are totally wrong. The difference is obvious.

You are right though by quoting that the sample size is small, but we can only assess based on what we've seen. Nilsson has been the better goalie this year so far, and if it wasn't for his one game where our team completely botched the penalty kill and Boston scored... what... 3 times (?) his record would be even better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, kloubek said:

How do you figure?  Green came right out and said at the start of the season that Markstrom was our #1 goalie.  That's about the most obvious gift I can imagine.  Plus his number of starts backs up that sentiment.  

 

As for Markstrom playing well - yes, last night he was great and I said that.  I also said he was inconsistent, so let's look at his record so far this season, shall we?


.943, .952, .842, .815, .889, .909, .952, .931.  So he played 4 games where he was great, one game he was average to slightly below average, and three games where he was clearly below average with a couple of those being truly brutal.  So your assessment that he has played well all season is... well... simply wrong.  Last season was much of the same level of inconsistency - I won't bother to give you all the stats as I think my point is clear.

 

Now, you also bolded the part where I was that Nilsson's record is better, which you are also disputing.  Well, Nilsson's stats are .943 and 1.88, as opposed to Marky which is .911 and 2.41.  Once again, you are totally wrong. The difference is obvious.

You are right though by quoting that the sample size is small, but we can only assess based on what we've seen. Nilsson has been the better goalie this year so far, and if it wasn't for his one game where our team completely botched the penalty kill and Boston scored... what... 3 times (?) his record would be even better.

No, I'm not actually disputing the bolded. I'm saying your sample size is ridiculously small to make any such determination of who's played better or who may be better on a given night, against a given opponent.

 

They're both good but inconsistent '1B' goalies with individual strengths and weaknesses. Marky is more active and athletic and relies on reads and reaction. Nilsson is more stationary, bigger and largely relies on positioning and simply being in the right spot with all that size to block the puck.

 

And from all the interviews I've seen, Green has said anything but. He's said they're both solid goalies and will both be competing for games. 

 

And FWIW, I said Markstrom has played well, largely this year. #Reading comprehension.

 

And one of those 'bad' games was just as much about the team in front of him as his own plays from my recollection. Same goes with Nilsson's 'bad' game in Boston.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...