The Most Influential Position in Hockey

[psycat]

Pens are probably the closet to an exception. So basically you better have at least one or two studs on the blue line or the best player in the world.

Actually arguably the two best centers in the world. The obvious answer to the poll is goaltender btw, center winning is ridiculous but then again hfboards are prone to overvalue centers which shows in player rankings etc aswell.

 

[SotasicA]

Goalie likely has the bigger effect in any particular game, but at the same time it's the deepest position. Nearly every team has a good goalie and there are plenty of capable backups waiting in the wings. Centers are prized more because there's not enough elite #1 centers to go around.

I would definitely pick the center because it's much easier to pick up a good goalie.

This poll did not specify it's about the NHL only.

Think about all levels of play. It's not easy to find quality goaltending in my beer league. The moment somebody gets a real goalie, they will rout every other team. Games go from 8-6 to 2-6.

 

[SotasicA]

The Oilers have the two best centers in the world and can't crack the playoffs.

 

[Trap Jesus]

Goalie and it's not even close. A bad performance means you just lost the game. Any other player can afford a bad day and teammates could still pick up the slack.

Also the most obvious position when it comes to stealing a game. Don't allow any = can't lose.

I think there are two ways to look at it though. On one end, a goalie is clearly the mot influential position on a game-to-game basis. They can single-handedly steal or lose games for a team.

The issue is that "elite goaltending" doesn't really exist anymore. We just watched a career back-up in Korpisalo be the biggest reason for taking down one of the best offenses in the league. The guy 2 seasons removed from winning the Vezina (Rinne), never got a chance to sniff the crease in the play-ins this year despite the much more inexperienced Saros playing poorly in front of him. The guy a lot of people consider the best goalie still (Price) has been dead-on average for save % the last 3 seasons at .910, with 2 of those 3 seasons being below the league average.

It's very random year-to-year, there's very little consistency. When you're talking about elite goaltending, I don't really think there's a big difference between that and the league average "replacement level player" at the NHL level.

 

[SotasicA]

We just watched a career back-up in Korpisalo be the biggest reason for taking down one of the best offenses in the league.

You mean NHL All-star Joonas Korpisalo be the biggest reason for taking down a top heavy offense full of soft chokers and danglers?

 

[SotasicA]

The guy 2 seasons removed from winning the Vezina (Rinne), never got a chance to sniff the crease in the play-ins this year despite the much more inexperienced Saros playing poorly in front of him.

Rinne turns 38 in November.

The guy a lot of people consider the best goalie still (Price) has been dead-on average for save % the last 3 seasons at .910, with 2 of those 3 seasons being below the league average.

Those "a lot of people" are idiots. He IS mediocre.

It's very random year-to-year, there's very little consistency

Not random at all, if you're not clueless about goaltending. You can improve your team significantly by getting quality goaltending. But there is this notion that it's "too hard to predict". It's hard, but that's just because goalies don't follow the same standard curve of improvement and decline as skaters. Some goalies peak earlier, some later and some very late. And the peak can last only 1-2 years. It is delicate. Like female orgasm. Some also peak several times.

Very much is predictable if you pay attention to each goalie closely. But even at its most random, it is still the most important and impactful position in hockey. It's like the quarterback position in football. Hockey games are like duels between two goalies, with the rest of the players bringing noise and added randomness to the battle.