Was Luongo good enough for everyone?

[Kasparov*]

If i had to choose a goalie for an imaginary team that i could draft any players from any year, it would be Hasek from 1998, the dominator in fine form. Extremely fun to watch! God i miss that

 

[Chelios]

What is it with you people trying to put down Brodeur as simply "a solid NHL goalie" and someone who will "neither win a game nor lose one"? I am not a fan of Brodeur or the Devils but I mean come on. I think that he is, hands down, the best goalie in the game today and firmly believe that when he retires will be regarded as the best goalie of all time. He has dominated this tournement as he dominated in Salt Lake City and has been the backbone of the Devils for almost a decade.

Those who use the Devil`s superior defense as an explanation for Brodeur`s stats really don`t have much of an argument since they play a defensive game because the entire franchise has been built around Brodeur and Stevens. The fact that he only faces 20 shots a game actually makes it harder on him since he has to stay sharp mentally through long periods with no work.

Add to all of this the fact that he has revolutionized the position with his puckhandling abilities to the point where the NHL is actually considering enforcing rules to neutralize this skill and create more offense.

IMO this guy is the best the game has ever seen.

 

[VanIslander]

Hasek never actually won the cup before he had Lidstrom and co in front of him.

Come on, that's splitting hairs: In Buffalo he put the team on his back and carried them to overtime of game six of the Stanley Cup Finals, when Hull's illegal skate-in-the-crease shot was mistakenly allowed to stand (it wasn't a goal).

That was after two years as the league's MVP player (even though his teammates often left him all alone on odd man rushes) with many NHL forwards saying they have never faced as dominant a goaltender, one who gets under your skin and convinces you that you can't score unless it's on a deflection or rebound.

Hasek and Roy are in another class compared to Brodeur. (sigh) I guess we will agree to disagree on that point.

 

[Jacques Plante]

Agreed, he's not there yet. But he's in Roy's class and if he continues on the pace he's on he'll surpass all Roy's records. He already has more cups. In the end, if this continues, Brodeur will be remembered as the greater goalie.

He probably will re-write the record book. Time will tell.

By the way Roy has 4 cups(86, 93, 96, 01), Brodeur has 3.(95, 00, 03)

 

[Classic Devil]

He probably will re-write the record book. Time will tell.

By the way Roy has 4 cups(86, 93, 96, 01), Brodeur has 3.(95, 00, 03)

Hah, oops. My mistake.
I'm not sure if I mistyped or if I was writing under false impressions.

 

[Brodeur]

Gotta love how a thread about Luongo turns into "Brodeur: Mediocre or not?"

Luongo played well. Unless Brodeur is 100%, I'd keep Luongo in net for Tuesday.

 

[VanIslander]

Gotta love how a thread about Luongo turns into "Brodeur: Mediocre or not?"

Luongo played well. Unless Brodeur is 100%, I'd keep Luongo in net for Tuesday.

Absolutely nobody here has said Brodeur is mediocre.

But we should listen to you, after all, your username is "Brodeur", yet you thought Luongo played well and you'd start Luongo in the final.

That's objectivity. And what we'll probably see.

Luongo has earned the chance to start in the final.

 

[Cole Caulifield]

Alot of goalies say that, but, of the few shots Brodeur recieves every night how many of them are quality ones. Almost all are from the perimeter.

It's still takes someone special to exceed in the devils system IMO. Brodeur was incredible for their 03 cup. He made awesome saves. Not from perimeter shots at all.

Brodeur had Stevens, Niedermayer, Daneyko, Madden, Elias and so on too. Probably a better team than the post 1986 Habs(1993 being the exception).

That's very true, and he's done that, but he hasn't acheived the level of greatness set by Roy.

Yup. Brodeur had great defensive teams in front of him. But my point was that every great goaltenders have had great defensive teams in front of them. Maybe the devils had a better team, but they faced better competition too. The '95 wings were scary and I think they faced the avs for the 2nd cup. Better than the flames of '86 and the kings of '93 IMO. So at one point it all evens out.

We could argue this till the cows come home. But let's wait till Brodeur's career is over before arguing who the best ever is. I'm not saying it's Brodeur. But with his achievements, he can definately be mentionned in the same breath. At this point I feel it's at the very least arguable. I don't think you can laugh at someone who think Brodeur is superior, or at someone who think Roy/Hasek are.

I'm not trying to attack you, just having a good debate. After all, were both Habs fans. Why don't we just agree Plante was the best

Indeed

 

[QuickDynamite]

He played about as good as I thought he would. I knew he wouldn't play great, but I knew he'd play good enough to win the game for Canada. He made some pretty huge saves. He is no Martin Brodeur though.

 

[Cole Caulifield]

Come on, that's splitting hairs: In Buffalo he put the team on his back and carried them to overtime of game six of the Stanley Cup Finals, when Hull's illegal skate-in-the-crease shot was mistakenly allowed to stand (it wasn't a goal).

That was after two years as the league's MVP player (even though his teammates often left him all alone on odd man rushes) with many NHL forwards saying they have never faced as dominant a goaltender, one who gets under your skin and convinces you that you can't score unless it's on a deflection or rebound.

Hasek and Roy are in another class compared to Brodeur. (sigh) I guess we will agree to disagree on that point.

I was not trying to put down Hasek. Hasek at his peak was probably more dominant than any other goalie. But Roy was more consistent, and Brodeur is even more consistent than Roy. They're all 3 different goalies with different abilities/styles and legacies. I just think Brodeur can definately be mentionned with those two right now. And yes we'll have to agree to disagree.

 

[VanIslander]

Hey, the discussion has been fun but I agree...

...the cows have come home.

Let's stop
.
.
.
(Psst...Kiprusoff is the best goaltender in the world in the year 2004; but Canada will win anyways)

 

[Cole Caulifield]

There was a good article written on Martin Brodeur this week that highlighted how you rarely see him making sensational saves since he's so technically sound and consistently sqare to the shooter from shift-to-shift. He had a cool quote reflecting on he's not generally at the top of his game when you see him having to dive all over the place or race back to an empty net like you see other netminders doing much moreso game in and game out. Patrick Roy was always one to significantly upsell big saves in games with grandiose gloves flashed high in the air afterwards regardless of how tough the save was for him. Brodeur doesn't do that kind of thing and for that I'm very, very happy.

I'd like to read it if you have a link.

EDIT : Nevermind found it on the devils board. Yup good article.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

He has dominated this tournement as he dominated in Salt Lake City and has been the backbone of the Devils for almost a decade.

Dominated in salt lake? He was quite average, and quite possibly the weak link of the team. Canada chose 3 goalies who just shouldnt have gone that year, and won gold for one reason and one reason only, and that was because Belerus beat Sweden.

 

[cassius]

I don't see why nobody is hot on Luongo here... he sported a higher save percentage in regular season play than Brodeur and is a great up and coming goalie.

 

[Chelios]

Dominated in salt lake? He was quite average, and quite possibly the weak link of the team. Canada chose 3 goalies who just shouldnt have gone that year, and won gold for one reason and one reason only, and that was because Belerus beat Sweden.

Wow. Did you even watch the games?

 

[Missionhockey]

Dominated in salt lake? He was quite average, and quite possibly the weak link of the team. Canada chose 3 goalies who just shouldnt have gone that year, and won gold for one reason and one reason only, and that was because Belerus beat Sweden.

Thats a stretch if I ever heard it. He wasn't spectactular, but he was solid enough for them to win. If you don't remember, CuJo was pounded by Sweden.

 

[justapantherfan]

bah I fell asleep when the game was 2-1 n woke up, 3-3 in OT.
luckly i recorded the game
Now, Cananda's d was shakey, the Czech's were strong, and Luoie let in 2 weak goals.
But over all, did Luoie save the day? was he good enough for everyone?

The D in that game almost looked like the Panthers.

 

[Lessy]

Luongo was solid. He made the saves when he had to. If Canada falls behind, they lose all kinds of confidence but Luongo didn't let that happen. He made the big save when he had to and now that his jitters are gone i'll take him in the final if Marty isn't 100%. Maybe he'll turn in another WJC final like performance if he got the start

 

[haakon84]

Luongo was solid. He made the saves when he had to. If Canada falls behind, they lose all kinds of confidence but Luongo didn't let that happen. He made the big save when he had to and now that his jitters are gone i'll take him in the final if Marty isn't 100%. Maybe he'll turn in another WJC final like performance if he got the start

Luongo was the reason Finland kept coming backin it. Canada would go up then a few minutes later Luongo would allow a subpar goal.

I find no coincidence in the fact that since Luongo was starting Team Canada let the same amount of goals in 1 game than in the whole tourney with Broduer behind the net. It is also no coincidence that this was the most amount of shots a Canadian goaltender faced.

Its like if you take a great defenseman out of the game say like Stevens or Lidstrom. Then replace him with an above average defenseman say Jovanovski. The whole team plays differently the offense and defense. The same thing happened here you took an all-time great goaltender who does everything right and put in an above average goaltender and the whole team played differently.

 

[jacksheit]

Luongo was the reason Finland kept coming backin it. Canada would go up then a few minutes later Luongo would allow a subpar goal.

shows how much u know, canada hasnt played finland yet....

 

[Rocky Saginuts]

I've figured out why Luongo sees so many shots in Florida:

1) he can't control rebounds - did you see how many times he deflected the puck aimlessly with his blocker arm. Brodeur not only deadens the puck when there's traffic, he can also basically PASS the puck with his pads to create break-outs.

2) Luongo can not get behind the net quickly enough to trap shoot-ins. I honestly think that was the major factor in the Czechs time of possession advantage. Brodeur stops all of those, and the D is set up to move the puck out quickly.

If you taped that game, watch for that. Drove me frikkin crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We need MARTY BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jacksheit]

1) he can't control rebounds - did you see how many times he deflected the puck aimlessly with his blocker arm. Brodeur not only deadens the puck when there's traffic, he can also basically PASS the puck with his pads to create break-outs.

Incorrect, Luoie, directs all rebounds either to the corners or the side of the net

 

[haakon84]

shows how much u know, canada hasnt played finland yet....

I meant the Czechs but thats besides the point. Luongo was not that good and not even close to Brodeur's level.

 

[Rocky Saginuts]

Poor response JackS. Picked out one point, and argued it half-assedly. First of all, there SHOULDN'T BE so many rebounds. Second, if the rebounds are directed aimlessly to the nearest corner, that doesn't do us much good when the Czechs are the first ones there all the time.

What about his lethargy on shoot-ins. What does you brilliant hockey mind say about that? Jeez, can't wait to hear this.....

 

[haakon84]

I've figured out why Luongo sees so many shots in Florida:

1) he can't control rebounds - did you see how many times he deflected the puck aimlessly with his blocker arm. Brodeur not only deadens the puck when there's traffic, he can also basically PASS the puck with his pads to create break-outs.

2) Luongo can not get behind the net quickly enough to trap shoot-ins. I honestly think that was the major factor in the Czechs time of possession advantage. Brodeur stops all of those, and the D is set up to move the puck out quickly.

If you taped that game, watch for that. Drove me frikkin crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We need MARTY BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very good point.