Hobey Baker

Lenny was mentioned, with a picture, today in the USA Today as being one of nine finalists picked by one of their sportswriters. I have a feeling he will easily make the top ten, how could they not pick the best goalie in the country, and have a sneaking suspicion he might even be one of the final three. Kinda think Peter Sejna will take the whole thing, and Zach Parise would have a good chance if he weren't just a freshman.

Jason wrote:

and Zach Parise would have a good chance if he weren't just a freshman.

And if he hadn't put up just 8 points in the last month and a half.

I think the entire UND team has put up about 8 points total in the past month and a half.

Funny things happen when you stop playing Niagara, Canisius, and Bemidji St.

Adam wrote:

I think the entire UND team has put up about 8 points total in the past month and a half.

Funny things happen when you stop playing Niagara, Canisius, and Bemidji St.

Hmmm....cupcakes.

[Q]I have a feeling he will easily make the top ten, how could they not pick the best goalie in the country[/Q]

I'll tell you how they could not... Lenny plays in the oh-so-pitiful ECAC, and he plays behind a defense that allows just over 20 shots a game. Can't you see the rationalizations already?

Here's the USA Today item, by the way... the online version being sans photo.

[www.usatoday.com]

Beeeej

Notice that LeNeveu is the only ECAC player and sophomore nominated according to this USA Today writer.
Go Lenny!

I'm irked when sports people keep saying that LeNeveu's numbers are inflated because of the great defense he plays behind. The fact is, he still saves a ridiculous amount of shots he faces, and no doubt Cornell's big wins would not have been as big and as often with your average goaltender. There is more than one defenseman on a team, but there is only one goalie. With that logic, people might as well say the reason he faces so few shots is because the offense is so good and they control the puck the majority of the time. There is no doubt that he would have even more of an impact on a team with a less-than-stellar defense, but then perhaps his numbers would be inflated and people would say he isn't so good, kinda like a pitcher in Coors field or a great pitcher on a team with a really lethargic offense. You can only win games if your team scores. Understandably, the better a team does, the more the individual accolades follow. I just think he should be recognized for his performance, and not that of the rest of his teammates, since it is an individual award. I mean, to an extent, you can never completely separate anyone's performance from that of his team's.

I look at it from a different perspective. He faces so few shots because are defence blocks the majority of the crappy ones. Our defence, like any other defence, does get beat, and does give up some high quality scoring opportunities. For the most part the shots he faces are of a higher caliber. Although he sees fewer shots, the saves he has to make have to be higher in quality. His numbers don't get padded by lots of long shots from the outside like a HE goalies. I don't think that we should have to defend him. He has the highest save percentage in the country. Thus, he stops a higher percentage of higher quality shots than ANYONE IN THE COUNTRY.

There is only one other goalie in college hockey that can be mentioned in the same sentence as Lenny and that's Mike Ayers of UHN. He is currently second in all categories (Save %, GAA, and Shut outs) and is still not in the same league as Dave. In a head-to-head comparison of games versus common opponents you can see the truth.
(For the sake of this comparison one of our two against Yale = one of their three against BU and our two games v. Dartmouth have been averaged)

Mike Ayers:                                                David LeNeveu:
  	Saves		GA		W-L-T		Saves		GA		W-L-T	
UVM	  28		  1		W		13		0		W  
BU	  22		  3		W		24		1		W
BU	  38		  5		L		26		1		W
BU*	  37		  0		L      (v. Yale)14		2		W 
Yale	  21		  0		W		31 		0		W
Clarkson  29		  2		W		16		0		W
Darmouth  20		  1	        T    (avg 2 set)15		2             (W & L)  T

		Save %          GAA               Sh               W-L-T
Mike Ayers      0.942          1.71               2               4 - 2 - 1

David LeNeveu   0.959          0.86               3               6 - 0 - 1

These are the numbers for the best goalie in the land. . .think what you wish

We all (I think) agree that Lenny is a phenomenal goalie. I think his strengths are often overlooked by many - he rarely gives up a rebound, and when he does they are usually in a place that isn't too dangerous.

In any case, my point is that I don't think we need to paralyze ourselves with this analysis. He is ridiculously gifted and we are winning a ridiculous amount of games. I am of the feeling that it is irrelevant how he compares to other goalies in the nation.

I want to win the freakin' Frozen Four! Lenny is the way we are going to have to get that done. This is all that matters to me. I don't care if he has an .800 save percentage in the NCAAs, I just care that he stops the shots that matter.

This has been (and hopefully will continue to be) a terrific season.

Let's go Red!