Nuckertuzzi wrote:darren wrote:Nuckertuzzi wrote:
. Is it too much to ask for 1 more game when Thomas gave it his all in each and every one his 7??
"Gave it his all", like when he threw away game 2 nine seconds into overtime in a Cloutier-esque manner?
Lou would have been publicly executed if he'd let that goal in.
The double standard continues.
The guy gave up 8 goals in 7 games, he wins the Cup and Conn Smythe largely due to that series alone and very deservingly so. It was a goaltending performance for the ages...and you use that one goal as an argument??? Weak, dude, weak. "Cloudier-esque"?..holy lord.
The 8 goal argument you guys keep clinging on to had a whole lot to do with Thomas's performance, you ever think of that? We never got the luxury of exploiting soft goaltending because it simply wasn't there save a select few instances. While Ryder was allowed to get wristers from the top of the circle go through our goalie and Marchand getting bad angle shots over his shoulder..just to name a few. Thomas hardly gave us easy ones to work with the way Lu did for them. Thomas took our will away and filled our heads with doubt while Lu handed it to them in spades. You know what a soft wrister over Thomas' shoulder would've done for our confidence? In a series that was about a head-to-head duel between two "equal" goalies Lu got schooled bigtime by the 37 year old and that my friends is the biggest reason we didn't win the Cup that year.
Giguere was a goaltending performance for the ages.
McLean was amazing in 94.
Vernon stood on his head in 88.
Roy (as a rookie) was lights out.
Dryden.
Kiprusoff in 04.
Cam Ward in 06.
You could make a list...
None of the goaltenders on that list had the defense in front of them that Thomas did. The guy was out of position so much it was hilarious. The only thing funnier was the pathetic offense that the Canucks mounted and the complete lack of awareness that Vigneault displayed in setting up their game plan. Tampa Bay totally exposed Tim Thomas' weakness in the conference final, he's too aggressive on the puck. If the NHL hadn't told the refs to put the whistles away so Colin Campbells boy could get to the finals, Tampa would have won game 7. Boston had no answer for their PP. Boston was TOTALLY ready for Vancouver's static perimeter game that only uses 2/3 of the ice. In 2011 Thomas would almost ALWAYS make the first save, he was in a zone that way, but if the rebound wasn't controlled, or if his defense let a cross ice pass squeeze through, it was a wide open net. I was screaming at the TV during that final wondering when Vigneault and the players would pull their heads out of their asses and see the wide open back door that they just never seemed to try. The whole put the puck on net and go for rebounds was a fantastic idea.....but it doesn't work when all you have is Burrows or Kesler all by themselves battling against the likes of Chara, Boychuk, McQuaid, Bergeron, Marchand, Campbell, Ference.....well 3 or 4 Bruins all at the same time anyhow. The stats that Thomas posted were incredible, but WAY too much of the credit goes to him and completely ignores the defense in front of him that let him see most everything, blocked what he didn't, and made sure that the shit he gave up was cleared away from danger.
The difference in that series was not the goaltenders, it was the teams in front of them and the suits behind the bench.