2014 Frank Brimsek Finalists

The Latest 400 or so Topics

Moderators: Mitch Hawker, east hockey, karl(east)

Post Reply

Which of these two goalies will become the 2014 Frank Brimsek Award winner?

Mac Berglove - Elk River
8
27%
Hunter Sheppard - Grand Rapids
22
73%
 
Total votes: 30

pipersniper12
Posts: 632
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 8:26 pm

2014 Frank Brimsek Finalists

Post by pipersniper12 » Wed Feb 05, 2014 12:59 pm

Who wins the top goalie honors?
Hunt|Fish|Hockey

Tenoverpar
Posts: 514
Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2008 3:40 pm

f

Post by Tenoverpar » Wed Feb 05, 2014 1:00 pm

There's only 2 worthy Senior goalies? wow

Vapor
Posts: 129
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 5:22 pm

Post by Vapor » Wed Feb 05, 2014 1:18 pm

Both deserving goalies. Congrats to both. Bet it's a close vote.

sticksave
Posts: 74
Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2012 11:30 am

Post by sticksave » Wed Feb 05, 2014 1:20 pm

Good luck to both Berglove has my vote

hshockeyfan8
Posts: 215
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 10:51 am

Re: f

Post by hshockeyfan8 » Wed Feb 05, 2014 1:34 pm

Tenoverpar wrote:There's only 2 worthy Senior goalies? wow
They always only have 2 nominees. Don't know why.

Nuts&Bolts
Posts: 679
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:12 pm

Post by Nuts&Bolts » Wed Feb 05, 2014 1:43 pm

Saw a recent LPH and believe girls had 10 goalies nominated for the top award. No gender equality in high school sports awards I guess. :D

slyer
Posts: 243
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 8:33 pm
Location: anoka

Post by slyer » Wed Feb 05, 2014 1:51 pm

even though this is hard to say I think it goes to sheppard, a .901 save % won't cut it, not many senior goalies to look at

Sats81
Posts: 2732
Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2011 9:29 am

Post by Sats81 » Wed Feb 05, 2014 2:46 pm

Shepard. yes, should have more than 2 candidates.

alcloseshaver
Posts: 1494
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2012 9:29 am
Location: Met Center Press Box

Post by alcloseshaver » Wed Feb 05, 2014 3:28 pm

This award isn't just about numbers, they look at other factors. These were the 2 best goalies in the Elite league last fall. Berglove a little inconsistent this year but when on he is outstanding. Shepard has seen more rubber than a Goodyear plant but for 2 years has been the top goalie although he doesn't always control rebounds that well leading to more shots. Couple of 7AA goalies, good luck to both.

north_bear
Posts: 604
Joined: Thu Feb 24, 2011 10:25 pm
Location: G.R.

Post by north_bear » Wed Feb 05, 2014 5:30 pm

Gotta go with Shep! But I think it will be a close vote. Congrats to both on being selected, nice to see 7AA represented well here. Sheppard's numbers aren't as good as they were last year but they are still very impressive when you look at his defensive corps in front of him this year compared to last. If GR had an average goalie it would be a much different season.
Thunderhawk Fanatic!!

north_bear
Posts: 604
Joined: Thu Feb 24, 2011 10:25 pm
Location: G.R.

Post by north_bear » Wed Feb 05, 2014 11:40 pm

Shepard outstanding in goal tonight against Hermantown. Made huge, outstanding saves. Looked very poised and confident in net. Once he came racing out of his net about 30ft to beat a skater on a would be breakaway to the puck.
Thunderhawk Fanatic!!

sanryam
Posts: 209
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2013 1:21 am

Post by sanryam » Thu Feb 06, 2014 1:41 am

Shepard: .920 SV% 2.66 GAA
Berglove: .901 SV% 2.71 GAA

If you go by numbers alone, you'd have to go Shepard.

However, I will bring up two points in the case of Berglove:

1. Strength of schedule - It's no secret that Mac faced much stiffer competition. He had multiple spectacular performances against top teams: (examples)
Edina - .970 SV%, 32/33 saves
Duluth East - .933 SV%, 28/30 saves
Eden Prairie - .929 SV%, 26/28 saves

I will say, in the case for Shepard, he also had great performances against top teams like Edina (.938 SV%) and Elk River (.947 SV%), but he didn't have the tougher schedule the rest of the way that Berglove had to endure (Playing Edina twice, Blaine twice, Andover twice, MG twice, etc)

2. If you're a stats only type of person, keep in mind that Coach Roberts benched Mac 3 times against poor opponents (Osseo twice and Coon Rapids) to allow the backup goalies to gain some experience. Had Mac started these matchups, there is a great chance he'd bolster his SV% and GAA even more.

Shepard got to boost his numbers by starting every game, including against many poor Class A teams.

Does Strength of Schedule carry any weight? Is it enough to overcome the .19 SV% disparity and the .05 GAA difference?

Either way, there is no doubt these two are very talented. You can't be upset with either as winner.

north_bear
Posts: 604
Joined: Thu Feb 24, 2011 10:25 pm
Location: G.R.

Post by north_bear » Thu Feb 06, 2014 7:17 pm

For numbers on Shepard I have:
.920 save % 2.61 GAA

Shepard started every game because he is one the senior captains on this team and the best goalie option by leaps and bounds. Why wouldn't you start him? He is one of the leaders for this young team.

Yes, for the most part Berglove had a tougher schedule. I will say one thing about his recent game against a section opponent, Andover. Big game and he did not come up big. He let in 5 goals on 21 shots on net. Not very clutch.

Shepard has been dealing with a very young, inexperienced and at times sloppy defensive group in front of him all year. There is 1 returning D man from last year, the other D man played forward last year and switched to D this year. He is facing over 32 shots per game. Even against class A teams he is seeing a considerable amount of shots.

Here are some stats from some games where he was the difference; either in winning or keeping it from a blow out.
GA saves SV%
1 38 0.974 Flake
3 35 0.921 roseau
4 60 0.938 Edina
7 42 0.857 Eden Prairie
2 36 0.947 Elk River
1 40 0.976 Brainerd
1 33 0.971 CEC
3 39 0.929 Moorhead

He took 64 shots from Edina, 64!! Made 60 saves and carried the team to OT. He did give up 7 goals the next night to EP but he still saw 49 shots from them. That's a lot of shots. He came back the next night and was outstanding against Elk River.

I know stats certainly don't tell the whole picture for both goalies. You really have to watch them play. Looking at numbers doesn't do a whole lot. Each are very athletic and play the position with poise and skill. Best of luck to both but my vote goes to Shep.
Thunderhawk Fanatic!!

greenway1969
Posts: 792
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 8:29 am

Post by greenway1969 » Thu Feb 06, 2014 8:08 pm

For Shepherd to have those numbers with the (how shall I say this) less than adequate defense in front of him in truly impressive. He has to make many high quality saves a game and he has been equal to the task. He saved Rapids in the Hermantown game. With Hermantown up 2-0 he made two spectacular saves that could have easily made it 4-0 in favor Hermantown. I don't know if he is better than Bergloff but he sure is worthy of the award.

ShootNScore88
Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2012 9:59 pm

Post by ShootNScore88 » Thu Feb 06, 2014 10:17 pm

I vote for None of the Above. Shepherd will most likely win it based upon his entire high school career. His stats are right where you would expect a good goalie to be; not a great goalie. He is the best goalie in a very mediocre class. Minnesota does not produce great goalies.

alcloseshaver
Posts: 1494
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2012 9:29 am
Location: Met Center Press Box

Post by alcloseshaver » Thu Feb 06, 2014 10:39 pm

north_bear wrote:For numbers on Shepard I have:
.920 save % 2.61 GAA

Shepard started every game because he is one the senior captains on this team and the best goalie option by leaps and bounds. Why wouldn't you start him? He is one of the leaders for this young team.

Yes, for the most part Berglove had a tougher schedule. I will say one thing about his recent game against a section opponent, Andover. Big game and he did not come up big. He let in 5 goals on 21 shots on net. Not very clutch.

Shepard has been dealing with a very young, inexperienced and at times sloppy defensive group in front of him all year. There is 1 returning D man from last year, the other D man played forward last year and switched to D this year. He is facing over 32 shots per game. Even against class A teams he is seeing a considerable amount of shots.

Here are some stats from some games where he was the difference; either in winning or keeping it from a blow out.
GA saves SV%
1 38 0.974 Flake
3 35 0.921 roseau
4 60 0.938 Edina
7 42 0.857 Eden Prairie
2 36 0.947 Elk River
1 40 0.976 Brainerd
1 33 0.971 CEC
3 39 0.929 Moorhead

He took 64 shots from Edina, 64!! Made 60 saves and carried the team to OT. He did give up 7 goals the next night to EP but he still saw 49 shots from them. That's a lot of shots. He came back the next night and was outstanding against Elk River.

I know stats certainly don't tell the whole picture for both goalies. You really have to watch them play. Looking at numbers doesn't do a whole lot. Each are very athletic and play the position with poise and skill. Best of luck to both but my vote goes to Shep.
Berglove not exactly working with a stellar D crew either.

nwhockey
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 3:22 pm

Post by nwhockey » Thu Feb 06, 2014 11:33 pm

Well one way to look at it is we can quantify performance against top opponents by filtering by top 20 teams (as defined by the current Let's Play Hockey Rankings). To maintain objectivity, let's hide their names and teams. Additionally, for comparison's sake, let's include a few of their other colleagues (defined as senior goaltenders with at least 12 starts, and a save % of over .900 on teams ranked in the top 20 (forgive me if I accidentally forget someone)). Here is how it plays out after tonight's action:

# Save% GAA Shots/Game %OfStartsAgainstT20 Save%Againstt20

1 .920 2.61 32.13 26.1% .9031
2 .900 2.79 27.06 64.7% .8803
3 .912 2.30 26.25 62.5% .9054
4 .919 2.07 25.95 75.0% .9138
5 .910 2.42 26.33 33.3% .8974
6 .910 2.09 23.32 13.6% .8842

Under a "blind taste test", which goalie would you take?


I'll let you decide, but here is the corresponding list:
1 Sheppard, GR 2 Berglove, ER 3 Illgen, HM 4 Rohkohl, Cake 5 Olson, Andover 6 Anderson, Rosseau

Looking only at statistics, these might not even be the perfect 2 to choose from, and shows that there must be some other factors (opposed to solely current season performance) when nominating the finalists (prestige, past season performances, reputation, # of years as a starter, appearance in Elite League (whether that is even fair or not)...etc) . However, if you want to decide between both players, Sheppard is probably the better candidate when adjusting even for strength of schedule.

alcloseshaver
Posts: 1494
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2012 9:29 am
Location: Met Center Press Box

Post by alcloseshaver » Thu Feb 06, 2014 11:42 pm

Great job on the numbers.
I think Shepard is a lock to win it, looks like by the numbers that we could have nominated more than two candidates. Great honor for Berglove, good kid and student, also a good leader for his school and team.

Post Reply