Do people still believe Halak isn't a world class goalie?

[Darth Milbury]

Alot of people are overating what Jaro did for the Habs in 2010. He was amazing, but people are forgetting that Cammy was scorching hot, the D blocked everything in sight.

Im not taking anything away from the guy, but he is the not the only person that deserves credit for that improbable run.

Nobody claimed that.

One poster claimed that Halak had never shown a capacity to win in the playoffs. Others pointed out that he had.

That's the extent of it. We are not arguing that he was Ken Dryden beating the Bruins.

 

[And You Feel Shame]

Can you not understand how other fans, especially rivals, might find it difficult stomach all of the bombastic, over-the-top threads about your club 45 games into the first relevant season you've had in 20 years?

Actually, no, I cannot. There are something like 3 threads currently going on about the Islanders in this forum. I'm not a fan of the superlatives, but this one isn't even started by one of ours. I do not understand why other fanbases seem to think that Islander fans shouldn't be allowed to post. How does previous lack of success invalidate the success we are having this year? And why should that preclude our wanting to get non-NYI fan's opinions of what we are all seeing?


As for this thread, virtually all Islander fans in here have expressed that they think Halak is essentially adequate, but a big improvement over what we are used to.

And I do try to ignore them in general, but very often the Rangers are somehow dragged into the discussion. Even when they have nothing to do with the current topic.

Like you've just done in this thread.

Seriously, please explain for me why your dislike of the franchise somehow invalidates our fan's revived interest in talking about this team's strengths for a change. It seems like every time there is a thread about the Islanders on here, there's a subset of people who think that we haven't earned the right to post anything at all.

 

[Burke the Legend]

Even steady, average goaltending is a huge improvement the Isles, and welcome.

I find a lot of people who are either fans of teams that have had top 10 goaltending forever, or people who maybe have never played hockey, don't understand the misery that shoddy goaltending brings to a team. Really blows to never know when that 50 foot unscreened wrister will whistle past your tender, and the anxiety of it happening throws off your game, you overcompensate on plays in ways that generally will backfire.

 

[Darth Milbury]

Even steady, average goaltending is a huge improvement the Isles, and welcome.

I find a lot of people who are either fans of teams that have had top 10 goaltending forever, or people who maybe have never played hockey, don't understand the misery that shoddy goaltending brings to a team. Really blows to never know when that 50 foot unscreened wrister will whistle past your tender, and the anxiety of it happening throws off your game, you overcompensate on plays in ways that generally will backfire.

Yup. Our number one last year was freakin' Kevin Poulin. The Isles have gone from having a AHL guy as our number one to having a good to very good Halak. Sure, we're happy about it.


I'm still worried about his durability, but that is another issue.

 

[lorwood]

When I think about all the years I have been watching this game I don't know if there are any goalkeepers playing today that could stand up to some of the net minders from the past. Sure at this level they are all "world class" but are there any Tretiak's playing today? No. And as an Islander fan I can tell you that I saw one goalie win not only four Stanley cups but also 19 straight playoff series. Think that's going to happen again, ever? Halak is a good goalie having a very good year. That's all that anyone should expect at this point.

 

[Derrty]

Only if you are recognizing world class as an NHL caliber player.

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

Only if you are recognizing world class as an NHL caliber player.

I don't think it makes sense at all to say that there are around 700 "world class" players playing in the NHL, so obviously there has to be a line somewhere that distinguishes some sort of difference. Of course, people are free to tailor their definitions to whatever they're trying to say in the end. Lord only knows what such a term means to the OP.

But if "elite" and "world class" mean the exact same thing to anyone, then they're too lazy to bother contributing to the conversation. Any other industry advertising "world class" anything isn't necessarily claiming to be among the absolute best or exclusive of whatever it is (i.e. "elite") - it's more of a "minimum standard" (or set of standards) concept of excellence as opposed to an absolute top rung of a top echelon thing in most cases.

Olympians are commonly referred to in general as "world class athletes", for example, even if being "elite" in their country still puts them on a lower rung of talent/ability than the "true elite" at the top of their sport. Manuel Osborne-Paradis is a world class skier, for example, despite not being among those that would be considered "elite" (Hirscher, etc.)

 

[Brunomics]

I think you could win the cup with any of the top 12-14 goalies in this league(Halak included).

That's all that matters.

 

[NYR89]

I think you could win the cup with any of the top 12-14 goalies in this league(Halak included).

That's all that matters.

Agree with this. Halak is a good goaltender playing on a good team. From a statistical standpoint, his save percentage doesn't compare with the other guys that are at the top of the chain, but he's got the wins. Wins are all that matter.

 

[GOAT AINEC]

Unfortunately for Ranger fans Halak just has their number.

.976 (Rangers)
.862
.818
.875
1.000 (Rangers)

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

Unfortunately for Ranger fans Halak just has their number.

.976 (Rangers)
.862
.818
.875
1.000 (Rangers)

Lifetime 10W-4L, 0.924 SV%, 2.43 GAA, 2 SO against them.

 

[Brooklanders*]

I assume the OP is a Detroit fan.

But the "very" cautious Islander fans are all over this thread supporting the fact that Halak is all-world.

Can you not understand how other fans, especially rivals, might find it difficult stomach all of the bombastic, over-the-top threads about your club 45 games into the first relevant season you've had in 20 years?

And I do try to ignore them in general, but very often the Rangers are somehow dragged into the discussion. Even when they have nothing to do with the current topic. As such, I follow the threads.

Its extremely hard to disagree with anything your saying.
I'm tired of all the gloating.

Win the cup then talk about how great or how average Halak is.

IMO he's maybe 12-14 best goalie in the league.

 

[crasherino]

Halak is one of the 13 top ten goaltenders in the league.

 

[Darth Milbury]

Its extremely hard to disagree with anything your saying.
I'm tired of all the gloating.

Win the cup then talk about how great or how average Halak is.

IMO he's maybe 12-14 best goalie in the league.

About where I see it too.


Sad that a 12 - 14 goalie is such a huge step up, but be that as it may.

 

[THE HOFF]

He's streaky.

this. these crazy Mean streaks... when we were alternating price and halak it was ridiculous. With time, even a diehard halak fan like myself can understand that he probably can't sustain a workload like top goalies do ~60 games, but If you've got a great backup say... jones... or anyone who can cover for 30 games... you're laughing comes playoff time imho.

 

[Rise from the Ashes]

He is definitely a star goaltender who reads the play well, is extremely athletic, well-positioned, and composed. He is not good at playing the puck and is susceptible to point shots and/or any shot up high from the slot area. He is also never proven to be able to be "the guy", meaning, a 65 game starter (without being injured).

The Islanders better search for an adequate back-up or they may risk wearing him down.

World class goaltenders:

Carey Price
Jonathan Quick
Pekka Rinne
Henrik Lundqvist
Roberto Luongo
Semyon Varlamov
Craig Anderson (when he is playing well, which happens to be once every two seasons).

I'd say Rask, Bobrovsky, Schneider, Andersen, Fleury, Crawford, Holtby, Halak, Elliott, and Howard are close to this class, but not quite in it.

In my opinion, what makes a goaltender 'world class' is if they can single-handedly bring their team to the playoffs and maintain extremely consistent numbers every season.

IMO

 

[Blues88]

I guess it depends on what you mean by "world class".

When he's on, he's incredibly difficult to beat and has some of the best lateral movement ability in the game. I think his glove hand is league average for starters and that's usually where he gets into trouble.

I don't believe he stays consistent or healthy enough to be a "world class goalie" like OP is suggesting. Happy for him that he's doing well, and hope he finally makes a prolonged appearance in the post season to see how he follows up that performance from 2010.

 

[janecky]

Based on where he is at the moment, Halak is probably an average starter. That's nothing to sneeze at. Not every goalie can be one of the very best. The average starter is better than about a third of the starters in the league, but he's not Dominik Halak yet.

Also, workhorse starters are always underrated in goalie discussions just like backups are often very overrated. Halak hasn't established himself as a workhorse starter yet. Need to play 60 games a year for a couple of years to be that. The most he's played is 57, and in his career he's played 50+ games only twice. Lundqvist is King Henrik because he's an elite workhorse goalie. Halak has had some injury issues in the past that have prevented him from reaching his ceiling so we'll have to wait and see if it's different now.

With regard to other recent Islander goalies, I think there's some underrating going on. Nabokov from a couple of years ago was good, but people only remember the playoffs where he was atrocious, but that's Nabby. Before that they had Roloson who was good behind a rebuilding team in 2009, but had to go because he was pissed off at what he perceived to be not high enough standards. And before Roloson they had DiPietro on the cusp of becoming a workhorse starter (2007-ish?), but he broke down and died a slow death as an NHL goaltender. If Roloson of 2009 vintage was behind this Islanders team, he'd be just as good as Halak in my opinion, and he had that Oilers playoff run on his résumé. That said, the Islanders had three terrible goaltending years in the last six years. One was last year with Nabokov inconsistent and injured and Poulin and Nilsson inadequate. One year was when they traded Roloson, DiPietro broke down again, Nabokov refused to go there, and Maloney gave them Montoya who was terrible at first but then stood on his head. And one year was the AHL goalie year where they had Joey MacDonald and Yann Danis splitting the games after DiPietro was shut down early. So having a starter like Halak on a long-term contract is not too shabby for the Islanders, as long as he stays healthy.

 

[rumrokh]

Agree with this. Halak is a good goaltender playing on a good team. From a statistical standpoint, his save percentage doesn't compare with the other guys that are at the top of the chain, but he's got the wins. Wins are all that matter.

Halak is a solid player, but he could stand on his head every night and still lose or let in softies and still win. Wins are a team stat.

 

[ottawa]

He let in 13 goals before the night he had a great game and held the Rangers to 1. Then this thread was created...tonight he let in 4. This is why you should have held off on making a thread lol

 

[Tripod]

He is definitely a star goaltender who reads the play well, is extremely athletic, well-positioned, and composed. He is not good at playing the puck and is susceptible to point shots and/or any shot up high from the slot area. He is also never proven to be able to be "the guy", meaning, a 65 game starter (without being injured).

The Islanders better search for an adequate back-up or they may risk wearing him down.

World class goaltenders:

Carey Price
Jonathan Quick
Pekka Rinne
Henrik Lundqvist
Roberto Luongo
Semyon Varlamov
Craig Anderson (when he is playing well, which happens to be once every two seasons).

I'd say Rask, Bobrovsky, Schneider, Andersen, Fleury, Crawford, Holtby, Halak, Elliott, and Howard are close to this class, but not quite in it.

In my opinion, what makes a goaltender 'world class' is if they can single-handedly bring their team to the playoffs and maintain extremely consistent numbers every season.

IMO

Honest question....why isn't Mason included in that class as well? Since goining Philly:

2012/13 .944 SV%
2013/14 .917 SV%
2014/15 .922 SV%

Overall with Philly .921SV%

And plays behind a much worse and than most of those guys. Just curious.

 

[jarmoismyhero]

Well that's just not true in the least. I'm not even sure how to respond to it.

Anyways, Halaks numbers this year aren't really good. A goalie's record is as irrelevant as a pitchers record. It makes no sense to even use it.

I never thought he got a fair shake here, just saying his numbers are not impressive.

Why is it you do not think he got a fair shake? He has not proven the durability to play full year so the time share worked great with Elliot. Even with the time split he was going to be the number 1 in the playoffs but he could not stay healthy.

I guess you could say being traded and going with Miller however to that point what differentiated Elliot and Halak had the Miller trade never happened?

The Miller trade turned out to be a disaster as he was not good in the playoffs but did anyone have confidence in Halak to be the guy?

Bottom line is he is around 15 or so right there with Elliot and he was given opportunities it is just unfortunate that when it came playoff time he could not stay healthy. That is my biggest concern with Halak and until he can prove the durability I think most would label him a good starter but not near elite.

 

[capebretoncanadien]

Halak when on his game is up there with the very best.

I was sad to see him go but not sad to see his POS agent go.

Halak is gonna rip some %^& up with the Islanders book it.

 

[TT1]

too streaky, his style/size make it so that he cant play consistently for an entire season. he tires out very quickly and it always shows in his stats, every season he starts off hot but his play deteriorates as the season goes on.

 

[MattMartin]

too streaky, his style/size make it so that he cant play consistently for an entire season. he tires out very quickly and it always shows in his stats, every season he starts off hot but his play deteriorates as the season goes on.

Actually, he is not very good in October. He is what he is, a very good goalie, but, nowhere near the elite class IMHO. I am very happy he is what the Islanders with that being said.