No it absolutely is true. Not only were they much weaker on defense but also on offense. Those mid 2000 teams were miserable and had around a 0.00 SRS. I can't believe this revisionist history. Sure they were just as good after losing 2 HoF defensemen.
When did I say they were just as good? I said they didn't fall off a cliff, and based off of purely objective statistical data, relative to the rest of the league, they clearly didn't. Yeah, their SRS was lousy, they sucked offensively...
Also, if you would have watched the Devils that year instead of just looking up advanced stats, you would know that Brodeur started off the season ('05-'06) miserably. He then turned it around and ended extremely hot, propelling the Devils into contention. He had taken a year off after the lockout and was rusty when the season began but I guess 4 Vezinas in 5 seasons is not good enough here. See Brodeur was consistently a top 3 goaltender throughout his career, not someone like Lundqvist.
He started that season going 14-14-3 and ended going 29-9-4. Lundqvist only played 51 games and finished with a record of 30-12-9. He definitely deserved the 3rd place Vezina nomination and very well could have been #2. Brodeur only beat him by 7 votes and you could make the case his second half of the season was as good as Lundqvist's whole season. On top of finishing strong, the next season he set the wins record. So in a span of 123 games Brodeur went 77-32-11.
Nope, don't watch too many Devil games so it only makes sense to use statistics that, while not foolproof, are fairly accurate indicators of individual/team success...certainly better than our own views, most of which are heavily influenced by our biases and preconceived notions.
I would imagine the end of year all star voting is based on overall body of work over the season, so why should his miserable start, as you put it, be ignored, regardless of the reasoning? Not trying to take shots at Brodeur, I think he's within the top 3 to play the position. More of a matter of you loving to bring up the end of year all star selections in Lundqvist threads and right off the bat the same issues you have with Vezina, ASG, etc. can be argued here.
When Ranger fans point out how middling many of the teams were in front of him you go on the attack. The fact is, and having not missed a Ranger game post lockout, they were an average defensive team statistically prior to AV bringing it down in the gutter and the eye test indicates just that...whereas you claiming those post-lockout Devils defenses were no good is a bit harder to believe.
And Lundqvist not constantly being a top 3 goaltender might have something to do with increased parity at the position. The only difference is, Hank is the only constant. You paint Lundqvist as a "top 5ish" Goalie but who can you ague is better once Brodeur's play fell off?
Lol no...It's more like you guys have a superiority complex. And that's all you got- because you couldn't buy championships and now you can't outright win championships the only other thing you can do is pump the tires in a homegrown player to appear to be more special than they actually are.
Believe me, Devils fans are much happier being able to actually attend games and not have them shelled out to corporations. Also happier to have watched a truly generational goaltender and not some fringe HoF'er who could never close the deal. And both fan bases will gladly take the championships than being forced to watch some homers like Sam Rosen and Valiquette.
Ugh, the Rangers are constantly in the bottom half of the league in terms of playoff scoring, in fact their playoff scoring over Lundqvist's career is downright bad. Couple that with them being below average defensively in the playoffs, it's quite easy to see why Hank doesn't have a cup. Despite that, Hank's personal playoff stats are phenomenal and his track record in Game 7s and elimination games are absolutely insane. Crazy notion, team has to be good to win things...
And lol at taking shots at Sam Rosen, class act who is no less complimentary of the opposition. I wish he was more objective like Chico Resch.
