Is Bishop Tanking??

[Gentle Yeti]

Bishop was a Vezina-worthy stud until the Olympic break, when he must have ingested sieve slime or he's hiding a nagging injury. While last night was somewhat comforting, 3 or more goals against in 10 of last 13 games, what gives? Can we trust him as a long-term keeper goalie or was he an anomoly?

[Dobber]

He's the reason my lead in first place is shrinking and almost gone. But with Craig Anderson hurt I don't have a choice

I think the team focuses even more on offense now that MSL is gone

[Pengwin7]

I have long commented that... with new goalies, young goalies, recently dubbed as the #1 goalies... for these guys - performance hinges a lot on expectations.

For example:
Ben Bishop - TB. Playing on a TB team with no Stamkos.
Is TB expected to win? No.
Does Bishop play well? Yes.

Steve Mason - PHI. Playing on a PHI team that was awful with a $6m Bryzgalov?
Mason is getting $1.5m?
Are there major expectations for Mason to do well? No.
Has Mason done well? Yes.

Anton Khudobin - CAR. Playing on a bad CAR team where Cam Ward gets injured.
Are there expectations to make the playoffs with back-up goalie? No.
Has Khudobin done well? Yes.

Happens a lot... no pressure on the goalie, he does well.
I've commented a lot over the years that the Phoenix goalie(s) do well because nobody gives a shit about hockey in Phoenix.
No pressure = no expectations = play well.


Now... for Bishop.
Stamkos is back for TB.
They are in a playoff spot.
Everybody EXPECTS them to make the playoffs.
And all Bishop hears is: "You might win the Vezina". "Look what you've done for TB".
And the expectations are there for him to continue to win games for this team and stop pucks.

Different. world.
This is the step in a goalie's career when he either makes the jump... or fails (Mason-CBJ, J.Carey-WAS, DiPietro-NYI, Raycroft-BOS).

I'm not sure myself where Bishop's next phase will go...

[Big Ev]

Yes. Nobody else seems to care that his March numbers are pretty bad.

I think he's a keeper but I bet he has stats are like 2.6-27, and a 915-917 ish sv% next year. He is NOT a Vezina calibre goalie, and is not one of elite goalies in the league. He was playing over his head...it's that simple.

Bishop was helped by Tampa's D...now they don't seem to care about D.

[Gentle Yeti]

Great feedback Pengwin and Big Ev. I get one goalie keeper between Bishop, Schneider, and Bobrovsky, and the decision has been taunting me. Maybe I still keep him knowing he will have a good W/L record in Tampa, even if the peripherals aren't there?

[Pengwin7]

Great feedback Pengwin and Big Ev. I get one goalie keeper between Bishop, Schneider, and Bobrovsky, and the decision has been taunting me. Maybe I still keep him knowing he will have a good W/L record in Tampa, even if the peripherals aren't there?

Between Schneider & Bobrovsky for me.
Both guys have already made the "jump" over the part where people expect things from them and they still deliver.

I'm not investing in TB players.
It is no lock that Stamkos stays with TB long-term.
Marty is gone... I suppose we'll see how much Stammer likes TB.

Stamkos is UFA in 2016.
At that point, the league cap might be around $75m.
If that's the case... and Toronto comes in offering Stamkos 7years x $15m = $105m... can TB keep him?
(20% of $75m = $15 = max salary)

No telling if either Schneider (UFA:2015) or Bobrovsky (RFA:2016) will stay with their teams.

IMO, Schneider is the real deal and he'll sign elsewhere in 2015, with a contender.
I can foresee MIN going with Brodeur for 2014-2015 and then throwing their wallets at Schneider for 2015 & beyond.
MIN will be a cap-team in the West even with a rising cap.

Schneider would be my pick for a keeper goalie.

[mounD]

P7's analysis, or something along those lines, is basically what led me to cut bait with him earlier in the season for a pretty huge return in my dynasty league. I figured S.Mason + J.Gibson + Horvat + 1st round pick 2015 was basically the maximum value Bishop could possible command, so I pulled the trigger fearing a slump just like this. Needless to say, Bishop is a talented goaltender, but in the world of "expectations," it's a whole different ball game. I'm pretty happy I sold high there.

- - - Updated - - -

It would be between Schneider and Bobrovsky for me; I'd probably go with Schneider.

[nyr36]

A lot of misinformation in this thread. People just guessing as to why Bishop is slumping.
Tampa typically has great team D in front of Bishop. They clear a solid amount of rebounds away from the net and when they are playing their usual, have very few odd man rushes.
Bishop is a great first shot goalie when he is on his game. Not much beats him. His weakness is second and third shots as well as cross ice passing(leading to shots). He's not very athletic and to me moves slow in the net. It's Tampas great D work which covers up for his weaknesses.
He's been sub par for the past few weeks due to soft goals which he was normally making, and making look easy earlier in the year. A number of shots/goals I wouldn't at all file under lack of team D.

[2014olympicgold]

Tampas D is all based on defensive defensemen, and all are big guys pretty much. So they focus on clearing the net. If Bishop can see it, he will stop it. His size allows him to cover all the net on shots. He’s a bit of an aggressive goalie for being how tall he is, so 1^st shots tend to never go in. I haven’t seen him play in the last few weeks, but if he’s letting in these soft goals, maybe he is playing a bit passive in his crease and is sitting back a bit. Was he run pretty bad just prior to this slump?

Also, Tampa’s forwards back check like crazy now. Callahan is an obvious defensive forward, but Stamkos is too, and T. Johnson and Palat are exceptional for rookies. Fillpula is also from the wings who trained to play defensively smart. So I wouldn’t say Bishop is standing on his own defensively.

[agentzero]

Every goalie slumps and it's his first time carrying a load like this. He's no top 5 goalie, but he's a top half kind of goalie. I wouldn't expect 40W and 10SO from the guy, but 30W and 4 SO should be expected. His team is decent and when they play as a unit, he should succeed. Their play has been a little broken defensively lately, a little disjointed. They'll figure it out. Cooper is a good coach and Tampa is a good team. Not sure about the Callahan fit tho... Bishop should be seen as solid. Not elite, but solid.

[Gentle Yeti]

So Dobberite consensus is Schneider over Bishop? I find it somewhat surprising, but I'll roll with it.

[Shiva Blaster]

Nice pass, ya jackass!

[Stringer]

So Dobberite consensus is Schneider over Bishop? I find it somewhat surprising, but I'll roll with it.

Schneider would also be my pick.