Player Discussion Linus Ullmark

[ON3M4N]

What I find amusing is people try and discredit Linus by saying you can't just look at stats. Then when you ask them how many of Ullmark's game they've watched, you'll be lucky if its 2-3. Anyone whose watched Ullmark this season knows he's been lights out and a huge reason why the Bruins broke the record. He kept them in games when the rest of the team was playing like trash. Because he kept them in games the team was able to pull out a win.

Ullmark's numbers rival Price's when he won the Vezina and Hart back in '14-'15. Fast-forward to today and people think a goalie whose team barley makes the playoffs or missed the playoffs are more deserving.

 

[Alicat]

Yes, it is the only game he was pulled

 

[BruinDust]

What I find amusing is people try and discredit Linus by saying you can't just look at stats. Then when you ask them how many of Ullmark's game they've watched, you'll be lucky if its 2-3. Anyone whose watched Ullmark this season knows he's been lights out and a huge reason why the Bruins broke the record. He kept them in games when the rest of the team was playing like trash. Because he kept them in games the team was able to pull out a win.

Ullmark's numbers rival Price's when he wont the Vezina and Hart back in '14-'15. Fast-forward to today and people think a goalie whose team barley makes the playoffs or missed the playoffs are more deserving.

100% Case in point, that game in Calgary where Ullmark was the only reason the Bruins won that night.

I like Monty's quote - "I don't know if he's let in a poor goal all year."

Ullmark Makes Career-High 54 Saves in Bruins' Win Over Calgary | Boston Bruins

McAvoy scores OT winner, Orlov earns two goals, assist in 4-3 victory

www.nhl.com

 

[BMC]

Without Linus Ullmark standing on his head at times to keep the Bruins in a game there's no way the Bruins end up with 63 wins. No freaking way.

To deny Linus the Vezina for whatever excuse would be a complete travesty. He won 40 times in 48 starts. His GAA is 1.89 (this is Dominic Hasek territory) and he saved nearly 94% of the shots he faced. No other NHL goaltender even comes close to what Linus has accomplished this season.

To those who would say he benefited from the Bruins system: All goaltenders either benefit or suffer from their teams' style of play, so to single out Linus as some kind of exception is nonsense.

Linus should win the Vezina hands down and he should be given serious consideration for the Hart Trophy too.

 

[Dellstrom]

I especially love the “if Ullmark is so good, why does Swayman have such good numbers” argument.


We’re so spoiled to have had 2 top-tier goalies for like 15 years. A lot of teams have been looking for an average one for just as long.

I’m sure Sorokin and Helly will take a few 1st place votes but it won’t be close and deservedly so. Monster of a season. Great team in front of him and a favorable system, but you would need more than 2 hands to count the games he’s stole.

 

[BruinDust]

Without Linus Ullmark standing on his head at times to keep the Bruins in a game there's no way the Bruins end up with 63 wins. No freaking way.

To deny Linus the Vezina for whatever excuse would be a complete travesty. He won 40 times in 48 starts. His GAA is 1.89 (this is Dominic Hasek territory) and he saved nearly 94% of the shots he faced. No other NHL goaltender even comes close to what Linus has accomplished this season.

To those who would say he benefited from the Bruins system: All goaltenders either benefit or suffer from their teams' style of play, so to single out Linus as some kind of exception is nonsense.

Linus should win the Vezina hands down and he should be given serious consideration for the Hart Trophy too.

The Hart finalist should be McDavid, Pasta, and Ullmark. Those 3 (along with Karlsson) all had truly exceptional seasons.

 

[missingchicklet]

I’m sure Sorokin and Helly will take a few 1st place votes but it won’t be close and deservedly so. Monster of a season. Great team in front of him and a favorable system, but you would need more than 2 hands to count the games he’s stole.

And you'd need less than one hand to count the number of absolute softies he's let in. Incredible. Tuukka put up historically elite numbers, yet even he let in quite a few softies over the course of a season. I don't think I can recall a goalie in recent years who went an entire season with so few softies as Linus. The Bs have a great D and PK, but they certainly have given up a decent number of breakaways or lost men in coverage leading to great chances for the other team.

It's hard for me to wrap my brain around how consistently focused Ullmark has remained over the entire season. No slumps. Just consistently excellent goaltending save for a very small number of games. His mental game this season is as good as it gets.

 

[ON3M4N]

I especially love the “if Ullmark is so good, why does Swayman have such good numbers” argument.


We’re so spoiled to have had 2 top-tier goalies for like 15 years. A lot of teams have been looking for an average one for just as long.

I’m sure Sorokin and Helly will take a few 1st place votes but it won’t be close and deservedly so. Monster of a season. Great team in front of him and a favorable system, but you would need more than 2 hands to count the games he’s stole.

When you point out that he's been good since entering the league their heads explode and they revert back to Boston just being a good team.....even though other fans said the Bruins were old and would be fighting for a wild card spot. It's really funny watching the mental gymnastics they play.

 

[NDiesel]

When you point out that he's been good since entering the league their heads explode and they revert back to Boston just being a good team.....even though other fans said the Bruins were old and would be fighting for a wild card spot. It's really funny watching the mental gymnastics they play.

See a lot of people saying they have 3 #1 dmen to downplay Ullmark....guess they missed that Orlov wasn't here more than half the year and McAvoy was out at the start. Anything to discredit Linus though...

 

[Over the volcano]

See a lot of people saying they have 3 #1 dmen to downplay Ullmark....guess they missed that Orlov wasn't here more than half the year and McAvoy was out at the start. Anything to discredit Linus though...

Its a funny one too considering he broke the team record for saves in a game this year.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

The Hart finalist should be McDavid, Pasta, and Ullmark. Those 3 (along with Karlsson) all had truly exceptional seasons.

Not sure how you can have two players from the same team be finalists for the Hart. There are a number of players that are more worthy of the Hart than Pasta this season.

Karlsson?? He's a -23. Sharks couldn't have been much worse if missed the whole season.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

What I find amusing is people try and discredit Linus by saying you can't just look at stats. Then when you ask them how many of Ullmark's game they've watched, you'll be lucky if its 2-3. Anyone whose watched Ullmark this season knows he's been lights out and a huge reason why the Bruins broke the record. He kept them in games when the rest of the team was playing like trash. Because he kept them in games the team was able to pull out a win.

Ullmark's numbers rival Price's when he won the Vezina and Hart back in '14-'15. Fast-forward to today and people think a goalie whose team barley makes the playoffs or missed the playoffs are more deserving.

Who are these people?

 

[NDiesel]

Who are these people?

I've seen it on the main board, which is par for the course though.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

I've seen it on the main board, which is par for the course though.

Well, there you go.

 

[missingchicklet]

I've seen it on the main board, which is par for the course though.

There have also been media folks from TNT and various sports nets say as much in intermission shows when discussing who should get the Vezina, especially over the past month. I don't usually pay much attention to intermission shows when watching non-Bs games, but listening to some of the nonsensical Vezina takes has definitely made me turn my head a few times.

 

[BruinDust]

Not sure how you can have two players from the same team be finalists for the Hart. There are a number of players that are more worthy of the Hart than Pasta this season.

Karlsson?? He's a -23. Sharks couldn't have been much worse if missed the whole season.

I could care less about his +/-, or anyone's +/- for that matter. The guy is 2nd in pts. this year at EV behind only McDavid (75 vs. 74) Think about that for a second when you consider how exceptional McDavid's season was.

First D to 100 pts. since the mid 1990s. Even Bourque never cracked 100.

What Karlsson did offensively for a D-man this year is truly exceptional. I can't give him a MVP vote because players from teams that DNQ shouldn't win Hart Trophies. But as far as individual performances go, Karlsson is Top 5 in the NHL this past season.

When you have a team that is near top of GF by such a significant margin, and also is leads in GA by a similar significant margin, you can have a forward and a goalie from the same team finalists for MVP. I think the exceptional-ness of the Bruins season needs to be taken into account.

It's a rare thing but it's happened before. In 1988 for example, Fuhr finished #2 behind Lemieux, Wayne was actually No. 3 that year behind his own goaltender.

Honestly I'm staring here at a list of the top scorers and who is more deserving than Pasta of MVP consideration other than McDavid? Sorry I don't see one. The guy just posted 18 goals in his past 21 games and accounted for 25% of all Bruins goals during that timeframe. Overall he's scored 20% of their goals this year, literally the exact same % as McDavid whose team is leads in GF.

If this was a team fighting for a playoff spot, he'd be getting praised for carrying a team into a playoff spot. So he's not an MVP candidate because he plays for a really good team?

Truth is, Pastrnak probably isn't getting enough praise for his performance this season. I'm not delusional, he's not winning the Hart (McDavid has it locked up). But he should be nominated, as should Ullmark.

 

[UncleRico]

Without Linus Ullmark standing on his head at times to keep the Bruins in a game there's no way the Bruins end up with 63 wins. No freaking way.

To deny Linus the Vezina for whatever excuse would be a complete travesty. He won 40 times in 48 starts. His GAA is 1.89 (this is Dominic Hasek territory) and he saved nearly 94% of the shots he faced. No other NHL goaltender even comes close to what Linus has accomplished this season.

To those who would say he benefited from the Bruins system: All goaltenders either benefit or suffer from their teams' style of play, so to single out Linus as some kind of exception is nonsense.

Linus should win the Vezina hands down and he should be given serious consideration for the Hart Trophy too.

Crazy that Hasek was putting up those numbers in 65 games a year.

I do think Ullmark should win it, but I also believe there should me a minimum amount of games played to win certain awards. Not even playing in 60% of the teams games does make it challenging for Ullmark.

 

[NDiesel]

Crazy that Hasek was putting up those numbers in 65 games a year.

I do think Ullmark should win it, but I also believe there should me a minimum amount of games played to win certain awards. Not even playing in 60% of the teams games does make it challenging for Ullmark.

Times are changing though goalie tandems are here to stay, the highest GP this year is 64, and comes from a fringe team who needs to play their starter every game to qualify. I arbitrarily looked at the 1999-2000 season and 75 GP was the most and 7 goalies played more than this year's top guy.

Linus is 16th in the league for GP. I have a hard time believing that even if he played 15 more games he wouldn't still be dominating in all the pertinent categories.

50% of games played IMO should be enough if you're as dominant as he has been.

 

[ON3M4N]

Who are these people?

The crazies on the main board

 

[BruinDust]

Crazy that Hasek was putting up those numbers in 65 games a year.

I do think Ullmark should win it, but I also believe there should me a minimum amount of games played to win certain awards. Not even playing in 60% of the teams games does make it challenging for Ullmark.

What would it be for goaltenders? Only 7 guys in the league this year cracked 60.

Even 50 seems too high. Ullmark played 49.

I could live with 40 but let's be honest, no goalie who plays less than 40 games is getting nominated anyways.

The two guys getting consideration sounds like Hellebucyk and Sorokin. He played 15 less games than Hellebucyk and 13 less than Sorokin. Yet he still has more wins than both while posting superior GAA and SP. Should they get more votes than Ullmark based on just appearing more?

It's been a decade now since we've seen a 60+ appearance goaltender win a cup. Should Ullmark not win a Vezina because his team is trying to win a championship and manage his load?

 

[Mr. Make-Believe]

What would it be for goaltenders? Only 7 guys in the league this year cracked 60.

Even 50 seems too high. Ullmark played 49.

I could live with 40 but let's be honest, no goalie who plays less than 40 games is getting nominated anyways.

The two guys getting consideration sounds like Hellebucyk and Sorokin. He played 15 less games than Hellebucyk and 13 less than Sorokin. Yet he still has more wins than both while posting superior GAA and SP. Should they get more votes than Ullmark based on just appearing more?

It's been a decade now since we've seen a 60+ appearance goaltender win a cup. Should Ullmark not win a Vezina because his team is trying to win a championship and manage his load?

Yeah I agree. It’s all a bit of hogwash.

Those guys have been great too. Can’t discount that. But all the extra games are (in this case) are more Ls.

Ullmark is a cinch here. Honestly Montgomery should be as well.

 

[BruinDust]

Yeah I agree. It’s all a bit of hogwash.

Those guys have been great too. Can’t discount that. But all the extra games are (in this case) are more Ls.

Ullmark is a cinch here. Honestly Montgomery should be as well.

Hellebucyk has carried the Jets the past month +, they've been riding him hard right to the finish line. I don't think they have any chance at a cup after using him so heavily just to get in, but he's been amazing for them.

I think Ullmark, Monty and Bergeron should all be locks for individual awards. How can they not give Bergeron the Selke after his team doing what it has done this year with him as the No.1 center-man?

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

I could care less about his +/-, or anyone's +/- for that matter. The guy is 2nd in pts. this year at EV behind only McDavid (75 vs. 74) Think about that for a second when you consider how exceptional McDavid's season was.

First D to 100 pts. since the mid 1990s. Even Bourque never cracked 100.

What Karlsson did offensively for a D-man this year is truly exceptional. I can't give him a MVP vote because players from teams that DNQ shouldn't win Hart Trophies. But as far as individual performances go, Karlsson is Top 5 in the NHL this past season.

When you have a team that is near top of GF by such a significant margin, and also is leads in GA by a similar significant margin, you can have a forward and a goalie from the same team finalists for MVP. I think the exceptional-ness of the Bruins season needs to be taken into account.

It's a rare thing but it's happened before. In 1988 for example, Fuhr finished #2 behind Lemieux, Wayne was actually No. 3 that year behind his own goaltender.

Honestly I'm staring here at a list of the top scorers and who is more deserving than Pasta of MVP consideration other than McDavid? Sorry I don't see one. The guy just posted 18 goals in his past 21 games and accounted for 25% of all Bruins goals during that timeframe. Overall he's scored 20% of their goals this year, literally the exact same % as McDavid whose team is leads in GF.

If this was a team fighting for a playoff spot, he'd be getting praised for carrying a team into a playoff spot. So he's not an MVP candidate because he plays for a really good team?

Truth is, Pastrnak probably isn't getting enough praise for his performance this season. I'm not delusional, he's not winning the Hart (McDavid has it locked up). But he should be nominated, as should Ullmark.

Sorry, bad reading comprehension on my part. Thought you were touting Karlsson for the Hart. Agreed, he's had an exceptional year. But it's still a difficult feat to score over 100 points and be a -23. Only Paul Coffey could do that,

And yes, 1988 is an example of two guys from the same team as finalists for the Hart. Nice catch. Though I still don't see how that's right. Gretzky factor, I guess.

As for better picks than Pasta for the Hart, I'd say both Matthew Tkachuk & Jason Robertson were more valuable than him.

 

[UncleRico]

What would it be for goaltenders? Only 7 guys in the league this year cracked 60.

Even 50 seems too high. Ullmark played 49.

I could live with 40 but let's be honest, no goalie who plays less than 40 games is getting nominated anyways.

The two guys getting consideration sounds like Hellebucyk and Sorokin. He played 15 less games than Hellebucyk and 13 less than Sorokin. Yet he still has more wins than both while posting superior GAA and SP. Should they get more votes than Ullmark based on just appearing more?

It's been a decade now since we've seen a 60+ appearance goaltender win a cup. Should Ullmark not win a Vezina because his team is trying to win a championship and manage his load?

Like I said I still think Ullmark should win it.

50 games is 60% of the season. 55 is 2/3 of the season. But yes playing more is more valuable than playing less.

Again I think ullmark deserves it because I think his numbers are that good, but if it were a little closer I think 15 games is a very significant difference. Hell 15 games is almost an extra 1/3 of ullmarks season.

 

[BruinDust]

Sorry, bad reading comprehension on my part. Thought you were touting Karlsson for the Hart. Agreed, he's had an exceptional year. But it's still a difficult feat to score over 100 points and be a -23. Only Paul Coffey could do that,

And yes, 1988 is an example of two guys from the same team as finalists for the Hart. Nice catch. Though I still don't see how that's right. Gretzky factor, I guess.

As for better picks than Pasta for the Hart, I'd say both Matthew Tkachuk & Jason Robertson were more valuable than him.

I thought about Tkachuk as a candidate. He's carried Florida, potted 40 goals, but his teammate Vergaeghe got 41 goals. Meanwhile Pasta's 33 goals ahead of Boston's 2nd highest scorer (Bergeron). But he's a solid candidate. I'd also put Rantanen in there. No Landeskog at all. MacKinnon and Makar have missed time yet Rantanen is uber-consistent and lead the league in EV goals. He just puts up points every night with or without those two.