Colorado's Anderson continues rise to goaltending elite; Florida fans ponder "what if"
by Donny Rivette on Apr 19, 2010 11:06 AM EDT
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PrintFifty-one saves in a playoff overtime victory. And a shutout. Just another night for ex-Panther Craig Anderson, who is today earning comparisons to Patrick Roy's near-miraculous performance in game four of the '96 Finals against...well, that's not important.
A feat of this magnitude is certain to drag out the tired and worn debate over whether Florida should have retained Anderson and dealt current starter Tomas Vokoun last summer. Hindsight makes the choice appear an easy one, but it was more than a simple decision in favor of one over the other.
His contract expiring, "Andy" had made abundantly clear his desire to become a club's number one goaltender at the conclusion of the 2008-09 season, a successful campaign in which he went 15-7-5 with a 2.71 GAA and .924 SV% with three shutouts over 31 appearances (career-high 27 starts) while backing up Vokoun.
"Tvo", with two years remaining in a four-year deal, finished the season 26-23-6, sporting a 2.49 GAA, .926 SV%, and six shutouts in 59 appearances (55 starts).
Anderson was due a hefty raise from the $550,000 he had previously earned, while Vokoun - a proven veteran starter with consistently good numbers on mediocre teams - was locked in at a $5.7M cap hit.
Did the Panthers feel Andy couldn't carry the load over a full season? Management knew going in that 2009-10 was set to be a rough ride, scoring-wise, which may have tipped the scale to Vokoun's "advantage". Armed with the knowledge that realistically the Cats were quite probably geared to spin their wheels for another year, hanging on to the longtime NHLer was the proper route to travel. Going further, Jacques Martin's departure obviously played some limited role in the outcome; perhaps Randy Sexton didn't want to shake things up too radically, too quickly. Whatever.
Personally, I don't believe Anderson could have positively altered the ragged course of this year's Cats; just don't see that would have been any more successful than Tvo. The Avalanche have been a Cinderella story where every piece clicked in unison. Nothing clicked in Sunrise.
All things being equal, Vokoun had some stinkers but generally played to - and above - his abilities, regardless of his 23-28-11 record; seven shutouts are ample evidence of exceptional play, especially considering the revolving-door defense in front of him.
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Without Question the Answer is NO!
Unless Anderson was going to score goals from the other end of the ice there is little he could have done to alter this season.
Nonetheless, Florida made a mistake in sticking with Vokoun and letting Anderson go. Anderson is younger, makes less money and proved last year to be every bit as capable (and at times superior) as TVo. That fluff/freak goal that Vokoun let in a few weeks back wasn’t the first. His horrid concentration against guys near the blue line led to a 2-1 regulation loss to Columbus last year in a game that was 0-0 or 1-0 (Panthers lead) for more than 50 minutes. Niether goal was fired from inside of 20 feet and the winner was from just inside the blue line on a breakaway (clear field of vision) with our defender closing in from the side (means the guy would shoot it or dump it in but he wasn’t gonna hold onto it). An alert (half-concscious) effort there and we get the minimum of 1 point and make the playoffs last year.
Now, Anderson is showing his grit in the playoffs and we are 1-2 offseasons away from getting rid of Vokoun anyway.
NY Jets = NFL's Chicago Cubs
There's a fine line between hopeful and desperate. Just look @ Jets fans.
I’m not sure that matters. Anderson isn’t that much younger than Vokoun and the organization has several promising goalies in the system. This year was going to be a disaster no matter who was in goal, and probably next year as well.
Definitely this season, the fact that Colorado’s goal differential was +11 while Florida’s was -36 with the Panthers allowing only 11 more goals had a lot to do with their position now versus the Panthers’.
As for Vokoun missing those two blue line goals, he’s not the only goaltender with a weakness there. And in both cases, the shot was the result of a mistake by the defense. Yes, he should have stopped the one in the Columbus game, but the defense should have stopped the shot from being made in the first place.
Florida Panthers: Giving the league a punching bag since 2000.
Uh....
Anderson = 28 Years Old
Vokoun = 33 Years Old
5 years is a pretty big gap in Pro Sports. The Columbus shot the guy was covered enough. Our Defensemen was closing in on him near the blue line 1 on 1. Vokoun wasn’t prepared and let one go right through his legs. He made a lazy save attempt on the goal before it as well. The flip side is that if we put up more than a goal, we still get the point as well. This leads in to my next point.
While I completely agree that the future is bright at Goalie for us but my point was that if you are going to get comparable goaltending from Anderson for <$4 million, why not sign Anderson and cut Vokoun loose? You could then put TVo’s salary to use on geting a decent to good scorer that we desperately need in Free Agency.
TVo and Anderson finished 2nd and 3rd in save % two years ago and we still missed the playoffs by 1 stinking point. I think you could make the case that Anderson + a scorer would have taken us farther than how we did this year but still couldn’t have made anything out of this season with all the injuries. While I like Vokoun, he tends to be incredibly streaky which is why DeBoer put him in to 31 games two years ago. Vokoun faces tons of shots every night due to incoherent play at the forward position and gives up more goals than he would if he had a more competent defense out there but you can say the same for Anderson.
NY Jets = NFL's Chicago Cubs
There's a fine line between hopeful and desperate. Just look @ Jets fans.
by TheFinReaper on Apr 19, 2010 2:06 PM EDT up reply actions
the Panthers need to worry about acquiring some players who respectfully referred to as “top 5” on a team, not this joke squad that Randy Sexton is trying to fool us with.
by HockeyAndLoathing on Apr 19, 2010 11:50 AM EDT reply actions
Canes fan here, and I just wanted to state that, from the outside looking in, theres NO WAY yall should trade Vokoun. Screw the whole “fluky bounce cost us a playoff spot” that Fin Reaper is talking about above. If a fluky bounce ends your season, then well it probably wasnt meant to be anyways. Look at his stats, your not just gonna replace 2.55 gaa .925 svg pctg!, and 7 Shutouts. The save percentage vs. gaa screams HIGH shots against = weak defense. The losing record with goalie numbers like this screams weak offense. That being said, Vokoun is yalls BEST player. Like a good starting QB you take it for granted when you got it, and can spend an eternity trying to replace it. Well, ALL THAT being said, it would make life here in Caniac Nation much easier, so yea, trade him!
To set the record straight...
1.) I like Vokoun and recognise that he is our best player.
2.) I am not advocating that we get rid of him.
3.) I am not pinning our not getting into the playoffs on Vokoun (he had several opportunities to get us there but he also had several opportunities to keep us out so it goes both ways)
4.) I am well aware that we need an offensive upgrade which was the main reason to move Vokoun two years agao. We need scoring and it’s easier to get that without diverting $8 million to one guy when you have a comparable player behind him.
5.) I am taking nothing for granted which is why I can see that Vokoun’s stats don’t tell the whole story. Vokoun is phenomenal but too streaky. When he hits rough patches he can have some horrendous nights (4+ goal games, getting lifted) and when he is on he is virtually unsolvable and won’t surrender anything short of a goal on a lucky bounce or a defensive breakdown.
Fun Fact: T-Vo had a better Sv % but faced 152 fewer shots than Anderson. Anderson saved 2047 shots while Vokoun only faced 2081. Put Vokoun in another 8 games and lets see if he matches or exceeds Anderson. Both guys had 7 shutouts but Anderson didn’t have any games where he saw fewer than 15 shots like Vokoun did.
NY Jets = NFL's Chicago Cubs
There's a fine line between hopeful and desperate. Just look @ Jets fans.
by TheFinReaper on Apr 19, 2010 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions
Absolutly no question here. Answer is NO.
Look back at before mid March and even the owner of this site mentions how T-Vo KEPT us in the hunt of the playoffs for as long we possible. Vokoun was one huge reason why we were in contention prior to March or so.
The fact that we’re bringing up one bad goal is ridiculous frankly. One goal is one goal.
So no, I have no what-ifs. The team around him sucked and how many games did we see FLA get outshot by over 10+SoG? Come on… no blaming Vokoun.. blame the team around him.
I voted yes, and here is why
If Andy was our #1, that would mean that Vokoun was gone. If Voky was gone, that means we likely would have traded him for a scorer, which is what the rumors were last season. I still believe that the biggest mistake from last season was not making this deal and signing Anderson long term. We would have had a very good goalie for cheaper then Vokoun, as well as a top-line (or even top 2 line) player that would likely have added 80ish points and helped get our younger guys more involved.
Optimistic view…yes. But optimism and being a Panthers fan don’t often collide, so I take what I can get.
Peninsula Is Mightier:Your SB Nation Miami Heat Blog Community
"My parents would always say, `It doesn't matter if it`s a guy picking up the garbage or the President of the United States, treat everybody as you would want to be treated.'"- Dan Marino
I agree with the strategy, but yeah that is a really optimistic view.
At best we win a few more games (we lose some where CA let’s another goal in over Vokoun, but win some where we didn’t score any goals but would have with the scorer we got in the trade) but the end result would have been another year out of the playoffs with a crappy draft pick. There really is just no way to account for the loss of ice time to Booth and Horton.
NY Jets = NFL's Chicago Cubs
There's a fine line between hopeful and desperate. Just look @ Jets fans.
by TheFinReaper on Apr 20, 2010 8:22 AM EDT up reply actions
Fallen Core
I disagree. Horton, Booth, and Weiss are part of the problem. they have not performed above expectations. There is nothing overly special about them. This is why depite five years of spectacular goaltending, there have been no playoffs for the Panthers. The three of them do not make a number 1 line. They have fallen off the wayside every year either at the beginning or the end of the season. There is no leadership between them.
One of them has to go to rebuild.
What are you disagreeing with?
No one said those guys are superstars, but if you take out their points and don’t replace the production you are still going to be inferior without them as opposed to having them in there. For example Booth actually exceeded his career average in pts per game (barely). Having him in there all year wouldn’t have changed the final outcome but add another 12 goals + 12 assists to the team and their would’ve been more wins on the year.
The sad truth is that even though they have not exceeded expectations, they are the best we have which is the real reason why we haven’t sniffed the playoffs in a decade.
NY Jets = NFL's Chicago Cubs
There's a fine line between hopeful and desperate. Just look @ Jets fans.
by TheFinReaper on Apr 20, 2010 11:04 AM EDT up reply actions
Vokoun is the best but Anderson has the cheapest contract
Sorry, I disagree with those who say that Vokoun lets easy shots into the net that cost games. Uh, 2-1 games, that is the Panthers horrible offense that is losing the games. All goalies are known to have an off night. Plus, goaltending does not necessarily win divisions, please see the Caps and Hawks for proof.
The only mistake really made was: Sexton made a bad choice by keeping the big contract player because we needed to have money to sign more forwards. But really, would that have changed anything? Would a scoring forward like Hossa or Gaborik sign with FLA? Not willingly.
Offensive problems are the #1 problem. When your forwards are afraid to go to the net, are out of position on defense in front of the net, are not shooting goals into empty nets, are waiting for defenseman to carry the puck to the net. The offense is on life support. This offense will not win hockey games. Don’t blame your star goalies either Anderson or Vokoun for this problem.
You guys can have Salei back this summer if you want. Brett Clark will be looking for a job too. He blocks tons of shots. Take a look at Marek Svatos. He outstayed his welcome in Colorado and is in desperate need of top 6 minutes to be effective. He may thrive in the East.
Also, thanks for Andy. And I say that as a huge Vokoun fan.
If we don't get our sauce, we ain't watching the game!
There was the deletion of Skrastins which still hurts; he and departed Dennis Seidenberg could have made a formidable under-the-radar unit.
by Donny Rivette on Apr 20, 2010 10:38 AM EDT up reply actions
Losing defencemen made the difference
Having Anderson wouldn’t have changed anything. Bottom line, we can’t score and haven’t been able to since Bure was traded. Olli had a few good years, but basically had no help. He was traded and the Panthers expected the development of Horton and Weiss to carry them.
Bad idea, and that’s the problem more than goaltending. Losing 2-1 or 3-2 on a soft goal isn’t the goaltenders fault. Remember we went a total of 21 games where we scored 2 goals or less.
That’s the problem.
I find it amusing...
that in his 1st game after the Panther fans post something about cheering for him, he loses in OT. Yay Panthers curse!
Peninsula Is Mightier:Your SB Nation Miami Heat Blog Community
"My parents would always say, `It doesn't matter if it`s a guy picking up the garbage or the President of the United States, treat everybody as you would want to be treated.'"- Dan Marino
It's called....
The Ex-Panther Factor. I wrote about it earlier this week.
Watchout Vancouver, you have 5 of ’em
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