There’s a thread on here asking if someone should start Lundqvist or Pavelec. That’s how well Pavs is doing right now.
At the start of this season, Ondrej Pavelec was the clear starter for the Winnipeg Jets. He had the big contract and the pedigree, so to speak. His backup, Michael Hutchinson, only had three NHL games under his belt heading into this year so when he started stealing starts from Pavelec, many were a little surprised. Don’t get me wrong, Hutchinson had proven that he was ready for a backup role with his play in the AHL heading into this season, but he still had a lot to learn in the NHL. He did that quickly, and turned his season into a Calder Trophy type of year but lately, he’s struggled and this has opened the door for the resurgence of Pavelec, and he’s taken full advantage of his new found opportunity.
Pavelec and the Jets are in the thick of things for the wildcard slot in the Western Conference playoffs. Currently, they are two points up on the Los Angeles Kings for that coveted placement and the Jets can thank Pavelec for fending off the defending Champs. In the month of March, Pavelec has an 8-2 record and is sporting a stellar 0.951 save percentage over those ten games, which also saw him winning the NHL’s First Star of the week award during his current run. Needless to say, Pavelec has found his groove. He’s not just knocking off lower tier teams either. During his six game winning streak he helped defeat Tampa Bay, San Jose, St. Louis, Montreal and Edmonton. He also shut out Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. That’s no easy feat.
For goalies, it’s all about confidence. When you are confident, the rest of the team see’s that and feeds on that. Once you start playing better, the rest of the team normally will follow and improve their confidence as well. This appears to be the case in Winnipeg. Pavelec is playing with a lot of confidence and it’s oozing over in the locker room and on the ice. As long as this confidence holds, the Jets are tough to beat.
The Jets are basically playing playoff hockey and cannot afford to take too many nights off down the stretch. There are other teams breathing down their proverbial necks for one of those last precious playoff spots. It’s strange that they are doing this on the back of Ondrej Pavelec, who has never led the Jets to the playoffs in his four seasons there. In fact, Pavelec has been a mediocre goalie during his NHL career. He’s eight games under 0.500 for wins/losses for his career and considering he’s been watching a good part of the season from the bench, he’s on pace to set career highs in both goals against average and save percentage.
How long Pavelec can keep this up is still to be seen. It will be interesting to see how much rope head coach Paul Maurice will give Pavelec after he has a bad game. Will he stick with his veteran or will he go back to his young goalie that has put up some stellar numbers in his first NHL season, but faltered down the stretch. Maurice was recently quoted saying Pavelec is playing the best hockey of his career, and it’s hard to argue with that statement. There are six games left in the regular season for the Jets, and all but one are against current playoff teams. One of them is a back to back so there’s a good chance Pavelec won’t start them all, but he has gained the confidence of his coach, and sometimes that’s all it takes. It sure worked in Hutchinson’s benefit for most of this season.
10 Team, Points Only, Cash League
25 Man Roster (no position), top 20 point getters count at end of month
Keep 20/25 at seasons end, Cut 5 to FA for redrafting
Goalie points W=2pt L=-1pt SHO=2pt
Stamkos, Tavares, Eichel, Mercer, JRobertson, RThomas, Kucherov, Nugent-Hopkins, Tuch, KConnor, Necas, Point, Konecny, SJarvis, Cozenz, Morrissey, Bouchard, Josi, Novak, Tolvanen, Peterka, SBennett
G- Vasilevskiy, Sorokin, Oettinger
"Cleavage is like the sun. You can look, but dont stare.. Unless you're wearing sunglasses."
There’s a thread on here asking if someone should start Lundqvist or Pavelec. That’s how well Pavs is doing right now.
12 Team, H2H, Keep 6 (in Bold)
G, A, Pts, PPP, FW, SOG, Hits, Blocks
W, Saves, S%, GAA, Game Started
2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 1Util, 2G, 5BN, 2IR, 1IR+, 1NA
C:
LW:
RW:
D:
Util:
G:
I still don't think this is long-term. He randomly caught fire and is over .906 for just the second time in his career.
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Having Hutchinson play so well is a big factor in Pavs elevating his game I think. It shows what Pavs is capable of, but sustaining that level of playebvover a long-term sample size is what I question most. He has never really proven it over the long haul. I remember last year he had a good run for a while, and now again this year he's on a run, but he's never been able to put it altogether, not yet anyway. Maybe having Hutchinson pushing him for his job enables us to see Pavs stay consistent. I've always liked Pavs, even though he's let me down quite a few times, I keep hoping for success.
10 Team, Points Only, Cash League
25 Man Roster (no position), top 20 point getters count at end of month
Keep 20/25 at seasons end, Cut 5 to FA for redrafting
Goalie points W=2pt L=-1pt SHO=2pt
Stamkos, Tavares, Eichel, Mercer, JRobertson, RThomas, Kucherov, Nugent-Hopkins, Tuch, KConnor, Necas, Point, Konecny, SJarvis, Cozenz, Morrissey, Bouchard, Josi, Novak, Tolvanen, Peterka, SBennett
G- Vasilevskiy, Sorokin, Oettinger
"Cleavage is like the sun. You can look, but dont stare.. Unless you're wearing sunglasses."
Funny how ficle confidence is with some people. The compitetion could also be the thing that kills a players confidence. Goalies are the oddest people on the ice, and even tho you’d think internal competition can bring out the best in people, some may not be able to deal with the type of stress. Even tho they have to be 92% perfect night in and night out to be successful.
12 Team, H2H, Keep 6 (in Bold)
G, A, Pts, PPP, FW, SOG, Hits, Blocks
W, Saves, S%, GAA, Game Started
2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 1Util, 2G, 5BN, 2IR, 1IR+, 1NA
C:
LW:
RW:
D:
Util:
G:
The guy's career sv% is like .907 until he shows this type of play consistently (2+ seasons in a row) I would argue against him even being an average starter in the NHL. Below average, yes. I think this is merely a hot streak.
http://www.hockey-reference.com/play...pavelon01.html
BEER RULES - 16 team H2H keeper. Dress: 3C, 3LW, 3RW, 6D, 2G Reserve: 5; 20 farm players
Stats: G, A, STP, +/-, GWG+, H+B, PIM, W, SV, SV%, SO
C: Hischer, Zib, J.Hughes
LW: Guentzel, Svechnikov
RW: Bratt, Pastrnak
D: Hamilton, Weegar
G: Merzlikins, Samsonov, Murray
Rookies: Too many awesome prospects to list
Yahoo - Keep 3, 12 team H2H.
Stats: G, A, PTS, +/-, PPP, SHP, PIM, GWG, HIT, SOG, W, GAA, SV%, SV, SO
Keepers: Zibanejed, Connor, Svechnikov
Twitter for this Associate editor at DobberProspects: @FHPQuinn
I can't list my 2nd main keeper as there are too many players, but it is a keep all H2H points-only league
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Numbers aside... he's probably just on a hot streak... watching him play is nothing that impressive to me :/
[SIZE=1][I] 10 Team H2H Roto (Start 3C,3LW,3RW,5D,4Bench,2G in bold)
C: Kopitar, Getzlaf, Haula
LW: Vrana, Svechnikov, Bertuzzi
RW: Brown, Kase, Rakell
D: Burns, Giordano, Hedman, Gustafsson, Josi
G: Vasilevskiy, Rittich
"Bench":
IR: Malkin
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10 Team, Points Only, Cash League
25 Man Roster (no position), top 20 point getters count at end of month
Keep 20/25 at seasons end, Cut 5 to FA for redrafting
Goalie points W=2pt L=-1pt SHO=2pt
Stamkos, Tavares, Eichel, Mercer, JRobertson, RThomas, Kucherov, Nugent-Hopkins, Tuch, KConnor, Necas, Point, Konecny, SJarvis, Cozenz, Morrissey, Bouchard, Josi, Novak, Tolvanen, Peterka, SBennett
G- Vasilevskiy, Sorokin, Oettinger
"Cleavage is like the sun. You can look, but dont stare.. Unless you're wearing sunglasses."
Using one game to say he's made a resurgence doesn't really jive with me.
e.g., Sam Gagner had an 8 point night, that made him outstanding that day.
Pavelec's style doesn't enable him to make many second or even third saves. Too frequently off balance and out of position. That definitely can lead to some highlight reel saves using his raw athletic talent..but more often than not, it seems that it could have been much simpler to make that save had he exhibited more control. Carey Price is one of the best, if not the best, at doing that.
Last edited by potatoetree; March 31, 2015 at 1:12 PM. Reason: had more thoughts
[SIZE=1][I] 10 Team H2H Roto (Start 3C,3LW,3RW,5D,4Bench,2G in bold)
C: Kopitar, Getzlaf, Haula
LW: Vrana, Svechnikov, Bertuzzi
RW: Brown, Kase, Rakell
D: Burns, Giordano, Hedman, Gustafsson, Josi
G: Vasilevskiy, Rittich
"Bench":
IR: Malkin
10 Team, Points Only, Cash League
25 Man Roster (no position), top 20 point getters count at end of month
Keep 20/25 at seasons end, Cut 5 to FA for redrafting
Goalie points W=2pt L=-1pt SHO=2pt
Stamkos, Tavares, Eichel, Mercer, JRobertson, RThomas, Kucherov, Nugent-Hopkins, Tuch, KConnor, Necas, Point, Konecny, SJarvis, Cozenz, Morrissey, Bouchard, Josi, Novak, Tolvanen, Peterka, SBennett
G- Vasilevskiy, Sorokin, Oettinger
"Cleavage is like the sun. You can look, but dont stare.. Unless you're wearing sunglasses."
Yes I read your entire post. And I watched a majority of those games. I was not that impressed with his play over that time span ( for reasons stated in my previous post), save for a few games (as you and ericdaoust have mentioned) where he was the difference maker. Furthermore in my original post, I said "numbers aside", which means just because his stats have improved relative to his mediocre career averages, I believe after watching him play that he has not in fact "resurged"
[SIZE=1][I] 10 Team H2H Roto (Start 3C,3LW,3RW,5D,4Bench,2G in bold)
C: Kopitar, Getzlaf, Haula
LW: Vrana, Svechnikov, Bertuzzi
RW: Brown, Kase, Rakell
D: Burns, Giordano, Hedman, Gustafsson, Josi
G: Vasilevskiy, Rittich
"Bench":
IR: Malkin
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Follow Frozen Tools on Twitter @FrozenTools
Follow me on Twitter @DH_EricDaoust