We have a hockey team?

[WTFchris]

14 games left and he's at 26 wins. Realistically he could have 35 wins. Esposito, Sawchuck and Dryden all won 38+ in their rookie years (and are all in the HOF I am sure). I can't remember any rookie Goalie being close to that recently.

Lundqvist was a Vezina finalist in his rookie year with 30 wins.

Goalies to win it recently:
Mason 33 wins
Raycroft 29 wins
Nabokov 32 wins
Broduer 23 wins
Belfour 43 wins!

[Zekyl]

Belfour played 74 of 82 games his rookie year. That's insane.

Howard is at 26-15 right now. If the Wings pick it up during the playoff push to finish out the season and Howard keeps his averages, he could end up at:
35-17 .. 2.35 GAA .. .924 SV%

ESPN has his projected record at 31-18 for the season.

I don't know how much they'll look at how poorly our defense has played this season. He's only got 1 shutout, which is going to hurt him a bit. He's in the top 10 in Wins, GAA, SV%, and shootout shots against and saves (we seem to have a lot of those).

I don't think he'll win it unless we have an oustanding finish to the season, but I think he'll get a lot of consideration.

[Vinny]

I don't think he'll win it unless we have an oustanding finish to the season, but I think he'll get a lot of consideration.

Who's his real competition though? Matt Duchene has 47 points and 23 goals which is great but nothing spectacular. Tyler Myers has 36 points as a defenseman. Howard has 27 wins after tonight, gotta think he's close to a lock if he gets to 32.

[Zekyl]

Good point. I guess it's a bit of a toss up at this point. I thought Myers had a bit more impressive numbers. I think he's top 20 in goals, assists, points and minutes for defensemen, which isn't bad, but not as good as I thought.
But Howard isn't even top GAA or SV% for a rookie with 30+ games played. Rask (Boston) has a 2.09 GAA and .928 SV%.
Not saying Rask is a better goalie by any means, and the numbers definitely aren't everything, but people take those things into account when they're voting.

[WTFchris]

BTW, Colorado, Buffalo and Detroit are only separated by 4 points total, so team performance should not be an issue.

I think Myers has the slight edge, but a strong finish by Detroit could give it to Howard. You have to factor injuries into his record for sure. He could easily have another half dozen wins with a healthy team around him all year.

[Vinny]

Howard is looking like the suck.

[Tahoe]

We must be getting close to the playoffs. I hope he gets better. Does he have a long-term contract?