Is Tim Thomas the most overrated player in the NHL playoffs?
Let me preface this by saying that I have never liked this guy and I am not doing this for controversy a la JCH on his first post. I have always felt that this dude should be playing Thursday Night beer league at Hockeytown and not in the NHL.
Ya his numbers were great this year, but he’s a product of a good system. He’s like the college quarterback that uses the option play. Joe McCabe would post better numbers than Thomas with Chara and the German blocking shots left and right, however Joe does have the advantage in the thumb department. Thomas has had to play better since the worst trade deadline deal of the year (Kaberle), but he is forced to make remarkable saves because he puts himself in dumb ass positions.
Everybody gets a fucking hard on for his flopping around style and how he does anything to make a fucking save. Well how bout just standing there and making the save instead of sliding around like a dick head. He slides out of position only to make a routine glove save and stand there like the statue of liberty.
And the “save of the year” that happened last night was a bunch of bullshit too. Thomas cuts down the angle by coming 12 ft out of his net only to have the Tampa defenseman make a decent play by shooting off the back boards. This left Thomas way out of position and forced him to dive to make what should have been a routine stop. Got to give him credit for having strong forearms though because he did bat the shit out of the puck. I must have been the only guy a Rolly’s not wanting to blow Thomas after that one.
You people can agree or disagree with what I have to say here but if you asked every NHL team to pick a goalie he would not be in their top 5. Come to think of it if they had a league wide draft Thomas would be probably be the 11th goalie off the board. One last thing, in this series before last nights game Timmy had given up 15 goals in 4 games the same amount as Dwayne Roloson who had been pulled twice. For you scoring at home that’s a 3.75 goals against including a shut out, looks like good numbers to me. Hate, Hate, Hate.
- True Sachem
Editors Note: Do we have new Bruins writer on our hands? Let me know.
im not a hockey guy. i still say put the fatest dude out there and nothing will get by him. its logic. there are some wide dudes out there just find the widest and if he takes up the whole net then there will be no goals. its just like if you could put a lid on the hoop in basketball.
also, my next hockey question is, if there was some dude out there that just had a crazy skill of moving around on ice in his sneakers would he be allowed to play? have been wondering that shit for years…
As a fromer goalie, cutting down angles is a huge part of your game. If it wasn’t for Thomas I don’t think the Bruins would be in the conference finals.
Lets take a look at some of his playoff stats
Wins = 11 1st out of all playoff goalies
Shots Against = 553 1st out of all playoff goalies
Saves = 515 1st out of all playoff goalies
Minuntes played = 1006 1st out of all playoff goalies
Goals Against Average = 2.27 which isn’t as good as 2.00 average he had for the season.
The dude is by no means overrated, the dude is should win his 2nd Vezina Trophy in 3 years. Yeah sure if you are building a franchise you wouldn’t draft Thomas because he is old, but the dude is still nasty.
Also it can’t be that great of a defensive system here if Thomas has faced the most shots in the playoffs. He has saved the D’s bacon on more than one occasion in the playoffs
wow i want a rebuttal true sachem… pabs bringing in a shit load of stats here… got no clue if they are right but some solid back up to his argument…. berrett? winky? turtle nut?
Got my stats here at the Official website of the Boston Bruins http://bruins.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8460703
When I bring stats, I bring them correct.
As a former goalie you were probably hit too many times in the head.He has 53 more minutes on the ice more than the next guy which naturally means he is going to have more saves if he plays almost a full game more than the next goalie. He is also tied with Luongo for the “wins” lead in the playoffs which is another horseshit stat. Obviously if there one game away from a Stanley Cup birth he is going to have more wins then a guy knocked out in the first round. If we are talking strictly the 4 goalies left in the playoffs he has been mediocre. Here’s the stats from the conference finals
Niemi, San Jose -1W 3L, 17 goals against, 121 Shots, 30.25 shot a game average
Luongo, Canucks- 3-1, 11 ga, 143 shots, 35.75 shot avg
Thomas, Bruins, -3-2, 16 ga, 175 Shots, 35 shot avg
Roloson/Smith, Tampa -2-3, 16ga, 178 shots, 35.6 shot avg
So Thomas is not averaging the most shots (actually avg. the second least in this round), his goals against is tied for 2nd out of 4 teams and he is tied for wins. BTW, got those stats off of your source there PABS.
Thanks way to mess up my nice rebuttal with your God Damn facts.
I still feel the Bruins aren’t where they are right now without Thomas in the net, and that is 5 wins from the Cup.
Sorry PABS didn’t mean to mess up your rebuttal but you fucked with my first blog. Don’t get me wrong, Thomas has been good in the playoffs, but I feel like he gets all his playoff attention from being a feel good story more than a good goalie. If god willing the Bruins win a cup I think the rightful Conn Smythe winner (thats the stanley cup MVP for the non-hockey guys) should be Bergeron because he has been their best player bar none this playoff and with everyone sucking off Thomas I dont think that will happen.
I would agree with the Bergeron for MVP if they win it all. The dude has been playing great in all parts of the game. Great offense, great defense, and out of this world on faceoff’s.
It always blows my mind when I think about the fact that he is only gonna be 26 in July.
isnt he the one who has had like 45 concussions though?
All those stats pabs gave comes form playing the most games so far in the playoffs, all but GAA. More games played means more minutes more shots and if your a good goalie more saves, however True Sachem, if your a building a team maybe you wont pick thomas first cause he is like 37, if he was younger he would be top1-2-or 3
And True Sachem if you recall, before this year everyone said “Yeah thomas is great buthe cant perform in the playoffs” He has been doing that so give credit where credit is due
no one was knocking at Thomas’ door when he was younger bc he sucked. that was my point. dude made the NHL when he was 28 and played four games, then became a starter when he was 31 (there was a lockout year in there). He was never good until the 2008-2009 and this season, which he will probably win Vezinas in both. Take out those two seasons and he is average. Played every pro league in the US and Canada and even Europe. Fuck I think I saw him lace them up at Kasabuski once or twice. Not quite sure who “everyone” is that was saying he is great but couldn’t get it done in the playoffs. this is only his third shot at it and he is average in the regular season. guy has gotten it done this year to this point but dont crown him as the next coming of Gerry Cheevers just yet.
Gerry Cheevers hahaha
I agree that he’s overrated during the playoffs. He was incredible in the regular season. He’s had some bad games during the playoffs but he’s had some good ones too. He stole a couple of the Montreal series with huge saves. He had a huge save last night that saved the game. I’m with Pabs, I don’t think the Bruins are here without him, but I also don’t think he’s been great in the playoffs. I would also daddy that if they win the cup Bergeron gets the Conn Smythe.
P.S.- No way could Joe McCabe do half as good.
so can you play hockey in sneakers or not?
I agree 100%. If the Bruins had someone like Henrik Lundqvist, they might have won 60 games this season. Very few good shots get through against Thomas. The guy hardly has to do anything. He’s the most overrated Goalie in NHL history. I could have under a 3.00 GAA if I was the goalie of the Bruins!!! I’ve never played goalie outside of Deck hockey! The Bruins defensive system had the great GAA this year, not Thomas.
On the biggest stage in hockey,which is the stanley cup finals (sarcasm) tim thomas has 2 first stars of the game a 2nd star of the game and a 3rd star of the game…a .964 save percentage, a gaa of just above 1, getting an average of about 36.5 shots per game against the best team in the NHL this year….yeah this guy is really shit
Oh and joe you need skates to play hockey you are getting pucks shot at you up to 100 mph come on bro think before you say something lol
You are an idiot.
This blog is holding up well over time huh?
Did you see the Game 2 OT winner? Or the Game 5 goal? He can play great in spots but has a tendancy to give up the soft/ weak ones because of his playing style. The games he played well in are 3 and 4 which were blowouts, he played good in Game 1 and 5 and deserves credit because his team did not help him out and he was average in Game 6 but did not have to be great. So ya I guess this has stood up over time if you (JCH) had an ounce of hockey knowledge you would know that he is an off and on goaltender who can steal a game or give up a shit one
Ok…
Tim Thomas is 5’11″. He is a very small goalie compared to the other goalies. If you tell him to just sit in his net and make the save, you are an idiot. He would get sniped every other shot because players are good enough to just shoot it over his shoulder. Thomas is forced to be aggressive to cut off the angle and give himself a chance to save the shots going top shelf. University of Michigan’s goaltender, Shawn Hunwick, is the same way. Because of their size they are forced to be aggressive.
To be 4 inches shorter than every other goaltender in the league and still set the record for best save percentage… no, he’s not overrated.
the blog that changed the playoffs…
Thomas just set the record for Saves in the playoffs, and tied the record for the number of shutouts. I think he has proved “overrated” he is not.
Tim Thomas just won a Stanley Cup. He shut out the ”Vancouver powerhouse” in game seven. He allowed 4 goals in 4 games on the road in the finals. Yes i agree with you that Chara and Siedenberg had a huge part in that but other great goalies have their guys that help them so you cant make that argument. Thomas was the best goalie this year. A Stanley Cup Champion MVP goalie.
Hindsight bitches. This was a time piece check the date on that son of a bitch. I admit in later rounds he proved himself worthy of the hype.
I demand an apology. Just cause you play in washed up over 30 leagues at Hockeytown doesn’t gie you more hockey knowledge than me
I may be washed up and play at hockeytown but im a hair under 25. Imagine that washed up at 24. On a side note i am looking for post-hockey employment and this blogging thing isnt paying the bills any openings at your firm ?