r/canucks • u/Artemchubarov Official Thomas Drance • Sep 10 '19

ASK ME ANYTHING I'm Thomas Drance from The Athletic Vancouver: Imitator of obscure Russian-born ex-Canucks grinders on Twitter, one-time CanucksArmy overlord, author and former NHL PR guy - AMA

Hey /r/Canucks! Thanks for hosting me over your lunch hour.

Happy to be here with all of you and I'm looking forward to talking some hockey and excited to answer any questions you can dream up. Shoot your shot!

And if you want to use my discount code to subscribe to The Athletic and support what we're getting up to this upcoming season, you can do so here: http://www.theathletic.com/welcomethomas

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18

u/EvilBrew Sep 10 '19

In your mind, what's the most controversial opinion you have about the Canucks, NHL, or hockey in general?

27

u/Artemchubarov Official Thomas Drance Sep 10 '19

I'm very skeptical of people who aren't in the Rollie Melanson/Ian Clark/Frankie Allaire class to see goaltending talent. I basically think the eye can't tell. After all the difference between a .910 goalie (on the fringes of the league) and a .930 goalie (perennial Vezina candidate) is 15 additional saves over every 1000 shots faced. Or, assuming 28 shots against per game, .42 additional goals permitted on a per game basis.

Greg Maddux (the pitcher) famously said that the eye can't really see the difference between 85 and 95 MPH, which is why he was able to have so much success. I trust that the guys who've done this for years and have a track record developing and improving elite goaltending talent know what they're doing, but I also don't really believe that the eye can see the difference between .42 additional goals permitted per game.

26

u/OldBigsby Sep 10 '19

As a goaltender my entire life and a goalie coach for 8 years I have to strongly disagree with you, you're looking at it from a purely statistical point of view which is kind of eliminating the eye-test all together.

Team defense plays a huge part in what a goalies stats look like whether they improved or not (Elliott going from Colorado to St. Louis and Dubnyk from Edmonton to Minnesota are good examples). Whereas a goalie can strongly improve but their stats stay more or less the same (Markstrom is a prime example).

I understand what you're saying but there's always improvement to be had when watching nothing but the goalie and their movements.

And yes, half a goal per game is a big difference.

19

u/Artemchubarov Official Thomas Drance Sep 10 '19

Hey I noted it as my most controversial opinion for a reason. It's v. probably an insane POV, but it's one I believe!

12

u/OldBigsby Sep 10 '19

Fair enough.

13

u/mulgs Sep 10 '19

The difference between a .910 goalie and .930 goalie can also be some of the following:

1) Shot quality allowed by team

2) rebound response by team

3) quality of d men in front of said goalie

4) team style of play

5) shot frequency

Vezina candidates seem to be paired with top flight defensive pairs