Amerks 24/25 - Young Talented Roster

[PromoTheRobot]

29 minutes ago, Weave said:

You are in the mud.  Makes you a pig too.

I'm not the one weaving a story from whole cloth about why I'm here or what it represents.

[Porous Five Hole]

14 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I'm not the one weaving a story from whole cloth about why I'm here or what it represents.

😀

[matter2003]

On 2/24/2025 at 7:24 PM, ska-T Palmtown said:

That makes me wonder ... has there ever been the NHL goalie equivalent of Trent Dilfer? "We just need our goalie to manage the game and not lose it for us?" that actually won the cup?

Chris Osgood? Won 3 cups for the Wings, finished 2nd in the Vezina once early in his career buy clearly never was even close to being considered one of the best goalies of his era.  Red Wings teams just were so good they didn't need him to be great, just make some key saves when they need it.

Edited 7 hours ago by matter2003

[PromoTheRobot]

13 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Chris Osgood? Won 3 cups for the Wings, finished 2nd in the Vezina once early in his career buy clearly never was even close to being considered one of the best goalies of his era.  Red Wings teams just were so good they didn't need him to be great, just make some key saves when they need it.

Luck also plays a role.

[matter2003]

3 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Luck also plays a role.

Luck always plays a role. many times much bigger than most realize.

[ska-T Palmtown]

@matter2003 after carefully reviewing the virtually non-existent criteria I set forth in this challenge, I have decided to reluctantly accept Osgood.

I still think he (and Cam Ward) were no where near the level of "WTF?" in being starting 'tendies that Dilfer was being a starting QB, but they might be the closest we get?

[matter2003]

5 minutes ago, ska-T Palmtown said:

@matter2003 after carefully reviewing the virtually non-existent criteria I set forth in this challenge, I have decided to reluctantly accept Osgood.

I still think he (and Cam Ward) were no where near the level of "WTF?" in being starting 'tendies that Dilfer was being a starting QB, but they might be the closest we get?

I posed this question to ChatGPT and this is what it gives back...Osgood is #2 on it's list, Ward #3 so we were both in the ballpark 🙂

1. Antti Niemi (2010 - Chicago Blackhawks)

• Niemi was decent but far from elite. He posted a .910 SV% and 2.63 GAA in the playoffs, which are respectable but not stellar.
• The Blackhawks were an absolute powerhouse with stars like Toews, Kane, Keith, Seabrook, Hossa, and Byfuglien leading the charge.
• Chicago was so dominant that they let Niemi walk after the Cup win and still won two more Cups with different goalies (Crawford).

2. Chris Osgood (1998 & 2008 - Detroit Red Wings)

• Osgood was a solid goalie, but he was never considered among the NHL’s elite.
• In 1998, the Red Wings were loaded with legends like Yzerman, Shanahan, Fedorov, Lidstrom, and Konstantinov.
• In 2008, Detroit was again dominant, featuring Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, and Lidstrom, with Osgood simply doing enough to get the job done.
• His 2008 playoff numbers were great (.930 SV%), but many argue he was just a passenger on a stacked team.

3. Cam Ward (2006 - Carolina Hurricanes)

• Ward won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP, but that was largely because there weren’t many standout skaters.
• His regular-season numbers were bad (3.68 GAA, .882 SV%), and he wasn't even the starter until the playoffs.
• The Hurricanes were an underrated juggernaut, featuring Staal, Brind’Amour, Cole, and solid defensemen like Wesley and Hedican.

4. Bill Ranford (1990 - Edmonton Oilers)

• Won the Conn Smythe, but this was still Messier’s team after Gretzky left.
• Edmonton had Messier, Kurri, Tikkanen, and an elite blue line with Kevin Lowe and Steve Smith.
• Ranford was never really a top-tier goalie outside of this one playoff run.

5. J.S. Giguere (2007 - Anaheim Ducks)

• Unlike his heroic 2003 Cup Final run (where he won the Conn Smythe despite losing), Giguere in 2007 was more of a passenger.
• The Ducks had Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger in their prime, plus Teemu Selanne and a young Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf.
• Giguere had good numbers but wasn’t the reason they won.

Edited 5 hours ago by matter2003

[ska-T Palmtown]

2 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

3. Cam Ward (2006 - Carolina Hurricanes)

• Ward won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP, but that was largely because there weren’t many standout skaters.
• His regular-season numbers were bad (3.68 GAA, .882 SV%), and he wasn't even the starter until the playoffs.
• The Hurricanes were an underrated juggernaut, featuring Staal, Brind’Amour, Cole, and solid defensemen like Wesley and Hedican.

 

The second bullet under Ward actually makes me lean towards him. Forgot ALLLLL about Niemi.

I guess a reasonable argument could be made that in his starting years with TB, Dilfer's number were "decent"? 

69 (heh heh) TD and 85 INT seems closer to bad than decent. More like Ward's 3.68 and 0.882 ... woof.

[matter2003]

8 minutes ago, ska-T Palmtown said:

The second bullet under Ward actually makes me lean towards him. Forgot ALLLLL about Niemi.

I guess a reasonable argument could be made that in his starting years with TB, Dilfer's number were "decent"? 

69 (heh heh) TD and 85 INT seems closer to bad than decent. More like Ward's 3.68 and 0.882 ... woof.

Martin Gerber was the starter in the regular season and posted much better numbers than Ward, but he sh** the bed in the playoffs in 2 starts and Ward played much better the rest of the way. Went 15-8 in the playoffs with a .920 save percentage and 2.14 GAA.

Gerber went 1-1 with a .856 save percentage and a 3.52 GAA in his 2 playoff starts although he came in relief of Ward 4 other times, giving up a stunning 13 goals on 90 shots.

Edited 4 hours ago by matter2003

[K-9]

2 hours ago, matter2003 said:

Luck always plays a role. many times much bigger than most realize.

Yep. And thus the old adage, “I’d rather be lucky than good.”