What's the tell tale stat?

[pat 0]

I say Save Percentage.

[wolfshadoww 0]

They all have flaws, but I like save percentage best.

Pro:It pretty much shows if the goalie is doing his job.

Con: At the same time, quality of shots matter too which can through this one off like either of the other two. A goalie facing a lot of hard shots will more than likely have a worse save percentage than a goalie facing easy shots (duh). Doesn't mean the goalie getting the easy shots is necessarilly better if they aren't really getting tested.

GAA can have a bit more to do with the team. How many shots is the goalie getting on a game basis? If the save percentage is good, the GAA should follow.

As far as wins are concerned, a good goalie can be on a crap team and have a ton of losses. A crap goalie can be covered up by a good team and have a bunch of wins.

[Chadd 916]

save% is also driven by the team in front of you. If they give up odd man rushes or breakaways, it's a hell of a lot different than NJ over the last few years where you could only shoot from the outside and never got a rebound chance while you were still on your feet.

[hockeyherb 1]

Even though I'm sure they're all pretty highly correlated, I'll still take the wins. The other numbers are just stats but the wins are what get you to the Cup.

[pat 0]

That's a good point about save pct. affected by perimeter shots.

[tokes 0]

Even though I'm sure they're all pretty highly correlated, I'll still take the wins. The other numbers are just stats but the wins are what get you to the Cup.

Wins show you 80% team 20% goalie, save percentage + GAA are like 80% goalie 20% team. I don't think you can take ONE stat and say "wow, he's a good goalie", but I think GAA and save percentage looked at in tandem are the best.

[hockeyherb 1]

Even though I'm sure they're all pretty highly correlated, I'll still take the wins.  The other numbers are just stats but the wins are what get you to the Cup.

Wins show you 80% team 20% goalie, save percentage + GAA are like 80% goalie 20% team. I don't think you can take ONE stat and say "wow, he's a good goalie", but I think GAA and save percentage looked at in tandem are the best.

I understand that the stats make a goalie look good or bad, but I liken it to a QB on a football team. I don't need the guy that has the best QB rating or most TD passes or most yards, but as long as he's a winner and comes up big when it's most needed, that's the guy I want. Like a Tom Brady - never on top of the stats for QBs but he shows up when it's most important.

Maybe he shines during a shoot-out, maybe he's clutch in the 3rd period when his team is holding a lead, but some guys just have that something special that makes them winners.

Just my humble opinion.

[Jason Harris 31]

I agree that a clutch performer is valued over all other athletes, but Winning Percentage doesn't necessarily show who's the clutch performer. Brodeur is obviously one of the greatest goalies ever, but I'm confident the Devils have probably been among league leaders in lowest shots against, so I think his career statistics wouldn't be as good if he played for a different team.

I think Save Percentage is the most telling statistic of the goalie, although I realize some shots are harder to save than others. Still, when a team is outshot 47 to 31 yet wins 3-2, I tend to feel the goalie stole that game for them.