Ms. Goalie 2007

[farmdad]

I believe the finalists are announced today. What are your guesses?

To get things going......

Thunder-Warroad
Bowens Rubin-Blake
Elliott-Eden Prairie
Nixon-Blaine
Westberg-AHA or Brasuhn-Irondale

[farmdad]

I meant to add Mel Gerten-Simley to the list. She has had a great season!!!

[taz91]

It sounds like a good list to me although Thunder is from Cloquet, not Warroad. I think we will see Warroad's goalie on the list next year. If they look at the past years I don't think Brasuhn will make it. She is having a very good year.

[Puck Bag]

Plus arent' both goalies from EP juniors?

[Puck Bag]

Sorry - I'm bad - Elliott senior / Burke junior. Personally even though both have had outstanding seasons the last two years I think there are better senior goalies based upon the game time and shots faced and they don't have the EP team standing in front of them.

Just my opinion though - seen them both play and they are very good.

[MNHOCKEY1]

Come on Westberg?? How many shots does she face playing for Holy Angels. I pick Brashun for Irondale. I have seen her play 3 or 4 times this year and she is excellent!

[shescores]

Here are the finalists..........

Renee Brasuhn, Irondale — Posted a 1.63 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in 25 games.

Kristen Elliott, Eden Prairie — Posted a 1.15 goals-against average and .918 save percentage in 12 games.

Ashley Nixon, Blaine — Posted a 1.65 goals-against average and .939 save percentage in 25 games.

Savannah Osborn, Bemidji — Posted a 1.85 goals-against average and .917 save percentage in 21 games.

Paige Thunder, Cloquet/Esko/Carlton — Posted a 1.57 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in 25 games.

[brookyone]

Here are the finalists..........

Renee Brasuhn, Irondale — Posted a 1.63 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in 25 games.

Kristen Elliott, Eden Prairie — Posted a 1.15 goals-against average and .918 save percentage in 12 games.

Ashley Nixon, Blaine — Posted a 1.65 goals-against average and .939 save percentage in 25 games.

Savannah Osborn, Bemidji — Posted a 1.85 goals-against average and .917 save percentage in 21 games.

Paige Thunder, Cloquet/Esko/Carlton — Posted a 1.57 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in 25 games.

Like the Ms. Hockey nominees, all are extremely worthy. However, I personally feel it's a two player race between Thunder & Nixon. Merely my opinion.

[hockeytime]

Come on Westberg?? How many shots does she face playing for Holy Angels. I pick Brashun for Irondale. I have seen her play 3 or 4 times this year and she is excellent!

Liz Westberg definitely deserves more serious attention. Yes, she plays for a great team but she also leads the state (or very close to it) in not only goals against but also save percentage. My guess would be that it is a lot harder to have a stellar save percentage when you see less shots than more. That's not to say that she has not seen her fair share of shots. Holy Angels has played a pretty darn tough schedule this year. Also, I'm pretty sure that Lizzy doesn't get to play against some of the lesser opponents so that these stats are against the toughest on their schedule. I have seen Liz play in the off season. She should be listed among the tops in the state, for sure, IMHO.

[JJhockeySS]

It's very disappointing to not see Westberg as a finalist. It's too bad that MaxPreps doesn't track save %, because I would have a hard time believing anyone who played, and won games against some top 10 competition could match hers.

MNHOCKEY1 - I'm guessing they didn't go by saves or how many a goalie saw because according to MaxPreps Elliott only made 158 saves on the year.

Tough to see a kid who had a 0.96 GAA, 343 saves, and 95.3 Save % not get the due respect.

[MNHockeyFan]

Just wondering, are college coaches the ones who vote on this like they do for Ms. Hockey?

[ghshockeyfan]

I'd like to start an Honorable Mention list.

Liz Westberg & Mel Gerten are the first two that come to mind personally.

Liz Westberg played about half the games for AHA, but played many of them against the very best teams in the state on the AHA scheudle. Her stats show that she deserved serious consideration for this list.

I'm biased on Gerten, but when pretty much every opposing coach tells me she should be on the list after each game we play, that says it all.

I'm biased on both of these gals as they both began their HS careers playing for me.

Not a single Class A G on the list. Not that that should be part of the criteria, but unfortunate.

[ghshockeyfan]

Here are the finalists..........

Renee Brasuhn, Irondale — Posted a 1.63 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in 25 games.

Kristen Elliott, Eden Prairie — Posted a 1.15 goals-against average and .918 save percentage in 12 games.

Ashley Nixon, Blaine — Posted a 1.65 goals-against average and .939 save percentage in 25 games.

Savannah Osborn, Bemidji — Posted a 1.85 goals-against average and .917 save percentage in 21 games.

Paige Thunder, Cloquet/Esko/Carlton — Posted a 1.57 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in 25 games.

I want to congratulate these outstanding goaltenders as they're very deserving!!! Congrats ladies!!!

[xwildfan]

GHS,

1. Which of these goalies played against the toughest teams and how did their team do against these teams?

2. Which goalie's team was outshot the most, but still came out victorious?

3. Which goalie was the most responsible for the most wins by their team, ie.. getting outshot 35-10 and still winning; not necessarily the goalie with the most wins.

4. Which goalie kept their team in the most games until the end?

I figure of all the posters, GHS would probably have the answers to the above ?'s.

I would give the award to the goalie who would have been designated as the number one star in the most games including losing efforts.

[shooter]

Here are the finalists..........

Renee Brasuhn, Irondale — Posted a 1.63 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in 25 games.

Kristen Elliott, Eden Prairie — Posted a 1.15 goals-against average and .918 save percentage in 12 games.

Ashley Nixon, Blaine — Posted a 1.65 goals-against average and .939 save percentage in 25 games.

Savannah Osborn, Bemidji — Posted a 1.85 goals-against average and .917 save percentage in 21 games.

Paige Thunder, Cloquet/Esko/Carlton — Posted a 1.57 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in 25 games.

Great group of goalies - it will be great to see who the winner is and how they all do in playoffs!

[hotdog]

Ms. Goalie is based more on career than what the girls have done this year. At least that is my interpretation!

Based on the top 5, I would say career was a large factor.

I think you're right in saying college coaches pick these 5 goalies.

[hockeynut99]

This list is an absolute joke without Liz Westberg's name on it.

She has played in 19/26 games this year, against all of AHA's toughest opponents. Her save % is north of 95%. Her GAA is 1.21. Her record is 17-2-0.

She beat Nixon of Blaine in both games, by scores of 6-3 and 5-1. You can't tell me she doesn't see more shots than Eden Prairie's Elliot, so that argument makes no sense.

What I do sense though is anti-private school bias, very similiar to Mr. Hockey voting.

[xk1]

I think it's time to move on, hockey is about team achievements, not individual awards. The people nominated all deserved to be and any such list will always omit some other that may be just as deserving. Nothing is accomplished by degrading the list or it's creators.

[ghshockeyfan]

GHS,

1. Which of these goalies played against the toughest teams and how did their team do against these teams?

2. Which goalie's team was outshot the most, but still came out victorious?

3. Which goalie was the most responsible for the most wins by their team, ie.. getting outshot 35-10 and still winning; not necessarily the goalie with the most wins.

4. Which goalie kept their team in the most games until the end?

I figure of all the posters, GHS would probably have the answers to the above ?'s.

I would give the award to the goalie who would have been designated as the number one star in the most games including losing efforts.

I'd go with Nixon #1 right now, but this is a great list of candidates.

[hockeynut99]

I think it's time to move on, hockey is about team achievements, not individual awards. The people nominated all deserved to be and any such list will always omit some other that may be just as deserving. Nothing is accomplished by degrading the list or it's creators.

The list is there...out in the public...with names of the nominees. It is published as a means of recognizing only one individual for outstanding achievement in comparison to her peers. In that context, I believe your statement is ludicrous.

[hotdog]

[quote="hockeynut99"]This list is an absolute joke without Liz Westberg's name on it.

She has played in 19/26 games this year, against all of AHA's toughest opponents. Her save % is north of 95%. Her GAA is 1.21. Her record is 17-2-0.

She beat Nixon of Blaine in both games, by scores of 6-3 and 5-1. You can't tell me she doesn't see more shots than Eden Prairie's Elliot, so that argument makes no sense.

What I do sense though is anti-private school bias, very similiar to Mr. Hockey voting.[/quote]

Totally disagree...

What has Westberg done before this year? Elliott splits games and she cannot be blamed for that. In a similar same situation, Next year you will see two goalies from Eagan on this list... Two years ago Hanlon from Blaine split time with Nixon (who by the way is going to win this award)... Westberg didn't beat Nixon, AHA beat Nixon.

According to Sports Huddle/MaxPrep
Elliott:
9th: 1.65 GAA
10th 1.20 GAA
11th .887 GAA
12th 1.14 GAA

Westberg:
9th 3.64 GAA
10th 3.81 GAA
11th 1.98 GAA
12th .956 GAA

This year it looks like Westberg is playing well, but what about the previous 3 years? That is what college coaches may be looking at. If this is the case than it's a no brainer!

Two questions (I don't know) have either of these goalies gone to Lake Placid, or made it past Phase 1? From what I know, college coaches do the voting on National Development.

Ms. Hockey and Ms. Goalie are career awards: not single season, or half season awards. Season awards are what ALL State, ALL Tourney and ALL Metro are for.

[hockeynut99]

Sorry my stats this year were off. Westberg's GAA is .956 this year. Less than 1.0 !!!, almost unheard of in any league.

Westberg is the best senior goalie I have seen this year, and I have seen all of them on the list. Elliot plays for a better team than does Westberg, especially the last four years, which in my opinion will definitely improve her GAA average. Did you notice it was lower last year, when arguably E.P. had a better team?

Where does it state that the award is based on compilation of the seniors goalie's four year achievements? Is that in writing somewhere? If so, I would appreciate you providing the link. This is always the same debate we hear every year relating to the Mr. Hockey award. And most often the winner of that award is the player who had the best stats his senior season and only respectable stats in seasons previous.

The list is a joke without Westberg on it.

[ghshockeyfan]

This list is an absolute joke without Liz Westberg's name on it.

She has played in 19/26 games this year, against all of AHA's toughest opponents. Her save % is north of 95%. Her GAA is 1.21. Her record is 17-2-0.

She beat Nixon of Blaine in both games, by scores of 6-3 and 5-1. You can't tell me she doesn't see more shots than Eden Prairie's Elliot, so that argument makes no sense.

What I do sense though is anti-private school bias, very similiar to Mr. Hockey voting.

Totally disagree...

What has Westberg done before this year? Elliott splits games and she cannot be blamed for that. In a similar same situation, Next year you will see two goalies from Eagan on this list... Two years ago Hanlon from Blaine split time with Nixon (who by the way is going to win this award)... Westberg didn't beat Nixon, AHA beat Nixon.

According to Sports Huddle/MaxPrep
Elliott:
9th: 1.65 GAA
10th 1.20 GAA
11th .887 GAA
12th 1.14 GAA

Westberg:
9th 3.64 GAA
10th 3.81 GAA
11th 1.98 GAA
12th .956 GAA

This year it looks like Westberg is playing well, but what about the previous 3 years? That is what college coaches may be looking at. If this is the case than it's a no brainer!

Two questions (I don't know) have either of these goalies gone to Lake Placid, or made it past Phase 1? From what I know, college coaches do the voting on National Development.

Ms. Hockey and Ms. Goalie are career awards: not single season, or half season awards. Season awards are what ALL State, ALL Tourney and ALL Metro are for.

Compare/Contrast the teams played for as well as shots faced, Min played, etc.

Stats don't lie, but when you don't look at ALL the details it's easy to make a case one way or another.

Any college coach that is worth anything will look at quality of team in front of a goalie as well. I think the above discussion neglects this critical consideration.

NOTE - I don't want to take ANYTHING away from any of the FINALISTS. I just want to add that there may be a few players that deserve SOME mention - i.e. honorable mention!

[ghshockeyfan]

Sorry my stats this year were off. Westberg's GAA is .956 this year. Less than 1.0 !!!, almost unheard of in any league.

Westberg is the best senior goalie I have seen this year, and I have seen all of them on the list. Elliot plays for a better team than does Westberg, especially the last four years, which in my opinion will definitely improve her GAA average. Did you notice it was lower last year, when arguably E.P. had a better team?

Where does it state that the award is based on compilation of the seniors goalie's four year achievements? Is that in writing somewhere? If so, I would appreciate you providing the link. This is always the same debate we hear every year relating to the Mr. Hockey award. And most often the winner of that award is the player who had the best stats his senior season and only respectable stats in seasons previous.

The list is a joke without Westberg on it.

FWIW - Westberg deserves serious consideration for any list with top goalies on it.

That being said, and please note there are some AMAZING senior goalies out there this year (Many on the Ms G list), I still believe that Nixon is #1.

[SEMetro]

It's really tough to determine the quality of a goalie on top tier team - especially when they only face 25+ shots 3-5 times per year. How can you give an award to a goalie that faces the usual number of shots most goalies get - but only a handful of times?

When you only face around 10 shots in a 51 minutes stop time game - that usually reflects the opposing team can't get it out of their own end - and most of the shots in these games are just clearing the zone or long range "dump it in" shots. These games don't tell you much about the goalie.

Not that it is the kids fault - but it is easy to see the problem the graders face.