|
Henrik Lundqvist |
Games
|
W
|
L
|
T
|
GAA
|
SV%
|
SO
|
|
Regular Season
|
70
|
37
|
22
|
8
|
2.34
|
.917
|
5
|
|
Playoffs
|
10
|
6
|
4
|
-
|
2.07
|
.924
|
1
|
The King. The face of the franchise. Henke. God? Well, I dont know about the latter, but for sure the other things have always been associated with Henrik Lundqvist. A kid who seemingly overnight became a star who is probably twice as popular as Jeter is when comparing the popularity percentage rather than the raw amount of people. And even though he is charismatic, good-looking, and very likable those things are almost side-bars to me. The reason Henrik Lundqvist is so beloved is because he might be the best goalie ever to wear the Rangers sweater. I know, I know, we’re only talking 2 seasons, and we have zero rings during those season, and we have guys by the name of Giacomin and Richter who might scoff at that, but there is still some basis to this argument. Clearly, Henrik needs to perform at this level for the remainder of his career, and clearly he cant be injured long term nor can he bolt for another team, however what he does have is insane ability, and a thirst to win.
As you can see by my metrics above, I clearly think a lot about his game. Henrik brings to the table near flawless positioning, and reaction time that makes the term “lightning quick” seem too slow. Ever seen Henrik move laterally? Neither have I, he’s just so fast it seems like he teleports from one side of the goal to the other. Henrik is probably the best down low goalie in the entire NHL. If you shoot low on him, that butterfly is just going to gobble the puck up, but what is even more remarkable about Henriks game is his rebound control ability. Remember the guy I mentioned above? Mike Richter? If there was ever a problem in his game (besides his ability to handle long shots) it was his rebound control. Henrik actually excels at this, he maneuvers rebounds to the corners with picture perfect precision. He gobbles up anything shot at him above his pads, and it seems like he has glue all over his pads because the pucks just seem to stick to him.
Like any butterfly goalie Henrik is susceptible to the high shots to the corners of the goal. But besides Brodeur (who isn’t a butterfly goalie) what goalie isn’t? Henrik still has an elite level glove and blocker (for his style) and he has a sick ability to go in and out of the butterfly almost instantaneously which helps him grab many of the shots up high. The thing though is that most every player in the NHL is taught from the time they learn to skate to shoot low. Shooting low generates rebounds. Shooting low helps deflections, shoot low, shoot low, SHOOT LOW! Well Henrik is saying the same thing, please, please shoot low, because it plays into his greatest strength, stopping the pucks down low.
But, as you can see from the metrics above, he does have an achilles heel, and that, is stick handling with the puck. Frankly my score of 80 was probably a bit generous. Henrik is in the lower echelon of stick handlers, and may actually be right there at the bottom. He is awful with the stick. Remember the gaffe he had in the playoffs against the Sabers that nearly cost us a game? How about when he tried to score a goal and instead put the puck right onto the stick of the other team costing the team a goal? Or the countless other times hes made questionable plays back there. Its a bit nitpicky, and he often time makes the right play which is just to stop the puck, or throw it up along the boards, but he clearly is not good at that. Which is fine, of all the aspects of a goalie, the sitckhandling is probably the least important. Everything else, Henrik is either the best in the league, or in the top 5.
2 years in the league, 2 Vezina nominations, and if he started the season last year even at 75% of the way he ended it, he would have won the Vezina. Henrik also seems to genuinely thrive on pressure. A gold medal winner, and countless times leading his teams in international play all the way coupled with a tremendous showing in this postseason means the future is bright for the Rangers. All we need is to lock up Henrik to a Wangesque 7-10 year deal. Yes, I would sign him to a contract that long (not 15 years though)
-Inferno