Ward vs Fleury

[lobo1969]

H2H keeper (W, SO,save%, saves, GAA) which goalie would you rather have over the long term? I feel it is very close between these two.

[Laendarian]

These guys are pretty close, I'd likely edge Fleury due to trade value and team quality though.

[TK12555]

Ward. He'll play more games, near Fleury in wins, and likely get better sv%, saves, and GAA.

[NinjaKiller]

Ward. He'll play more games, near Fleury in wins, and likely get better sv%, saves, and GAA.

Not so sure on this one. Fleury's SV% was similar last year (removing the poor start) and his GAA was less (2.32 compared to 2.56). Read an article recently talking about Michalek and his impact on Bryz's number when he left PHX and Fleury's numbers when he arrived in PIT.

PIT is a better team and plays better team defense. I'm just speculating here, but I feel Fleury is growing into his talent and becoming more consistent.

Having said all that...it is still very close and you really can't go wrong either way.

[NinjaKiller]

Not so sure on this one. Fleury's SV% was similar last year (removing the poor start) and his GAA was less (2.32 compared to 2.56). Read an article recently talking about Michalek and his impact on Bryz's number when he left PHX and Fleury's numbers when he arrived in PIT.

PIT is a better team and plays better team defense. I'm just speculating here, but I feel Fleury is growing into his talent and becoming more consistent.

Having said all that...it is still very close and you really can't go wrong either way.

Saves part is true though...missed that.

[mister_mcgoo]

Cam Ward is a MUCH better real-world goalie who hasn't had the benefit of an elite team to pad his stats...now that the Canes are improving and becoming a contender I think Ward is only going to get better and better as a fantasy option

[bondon]

Cam Ward is a MUCH better real-world goalie who hasn't had the benefit of an elite team to pad his stats...now that the Canes are improving and becoming a contender I think Ward is only going to get better and better as a fantasy option

Bingo..

Ward is a much better goalie (IMO) than Fleury is and I would take Ward over Fleury every time. Ward is always extremely underrated. The saves category just makes this a no-brainer in my opinion.

[mister_mcgoo]

meant to post this earlier but got distracted...if we compare the two of them over the last 3 years:

GAA - identical (both at 2.55)
S% - advantage Ward (.919 vs .912)
Saves/gm - advantage Ward (27.6 vs 25.2)
SOs - advantage Ward (10 vs 8)

the only thing Fleury has the advantage in is Wins but its not hard to figure out why that is...the Canes missed he playoffs twice the last 3 seasons, the Pens have won an extra 21 games over that period

[DerekReese]

I will go with Ward here too. Ward is an underated goalie and his numbers will keep getting better now that his team is getting better. Fleury on the other hand is not going to have as strong of team in front of him as Crosbys head and Malkins knees are both questionable. His numbers will suffer beacause of it. If there was ever going to be a down year for Pittsburgh this will be the year.

[lobo1969]

Bingo..

Ward is a much better goalie (IMO) than Fleury is and I would take Ward over Fleury every time. Ward is always extremely underrated. The saves category just makes this a no-brainer in my opinion.

This was pretty much my gut feeling on Ward. Fleury just has a (significant) advantage of having a better team in front of him. But it seems that Carolina is on the cusp of doing great things and Ward will benefit as well.