sterling 1,990 Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Why Labatte Deserves Another Shaw and You Don't Here we are again for one last time. Alex Labatte has another good year, one that likely should have been better than it was statistically. Here you have a goalie ranked in the middle of the pack in terms of goals allowed average and near the top in save percentage. Labatte's save percentage was .922, ranking him third overall behind the leader Skylar Rift who had .926. Labatte's goals allowed average was 2.10, fourth best in the league. Now those stats don't jump out at you dramatically, but let's onion this shit up a little bit to take a closer look at how things really were this season. Why does Labatte deserve another Shaw Trophy despite being on the best offensive team in the league? It's because the Calgary Wranglers don't statistically deserve to be anywhere close to where they finished in the standings. The Wranglers don't even come close to icing an entire roster. The team played the entire season with five forwards (Rybak and Wozniak the two league leaders in points are the key pieces), two defensemen (Marcellin the only player of note here) and one goalie for a roster total of eight players. That means Calgary's second line had more computer players on it than it had real players. The team was a respectable 55 overall, the lowest of any of the competing teams this season. Quebec in comparison had two full lines, that means six forwards, four defensemen and a goalie. Their roster was 57 overall. The point difference between the two teams in the standings? Four. Calgary had 52 wins to Quebec's 55. Let's look at Helsinki. The Titans had the best roster this season with an overall of 58. They also were able to ice two full lines with six forwards, four defensemen and a goalie. Helsinki finished with 52 wins and 110 points on the year. Calgary allowed 150 goals, Quebec 146 and Helsinki 141 despite the obvious difference in skill between the three teams. Equally noted, the Cologne Express had a 57 overall team and more than two lines in total with seven forwards, four defensemen and two goalies. The Express had 44 wins and allowed 152 goals despite their superior roster to Calgary. The Legion, with a better roster (56 overall and two full lines with a good defence) finished with 45 wins and allowed 143 goals. What was the difference between all of these contenders? Was it Calgary's superior offence? Perhaps it was, but it is important to note that the superior offence often left Labatte in shitty situations. Calgary's defence was piss poor with Calgary D1, D2, D3 and D4 having quality seasons over Lars Lessio. The Wranglers allowed nearly 27 shots on goal per game, more than any of the other aforementioned contenders in the VHL this season. The Wranglers also played poor defensive hockey, lodging the fewest penalty minutes in the league and accumulating the second fewest hits per contest this season. Calgary ranked middle of the pack in terms of penalty kill. Labatte, meanwhile had to be spectacular at times. The goalie single-handedly won 13 games for his team with shutouts, far ahead of the next closest goalie. The save percentage and goals allowed average may be lower than some of his competition, but no one can deny Calgary's much higher place in the standings than they should have been. There is no way the Wranglers should have dominated the Toronto Legion or Cologne Express head to head like they did. There is no way the Wranglers should have finished with 109 points and yet they did. Labatte is your man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamond_ace 3,106 Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Not that 55 is a huge drop from 56, 57, and 57, but I agree with the fact that you had more to do than the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Moderator Baozi 1,635 Posted November 26, 2013 Head Moderator Share Posted November 26, 2013 Davos has 53 btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamond_ace 3,106 Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Davos has 53 btw. He said contenders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squinty 116 Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Appearance 0/1 - Comic Sans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotAVHLM-GM 1,858 Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Content: 0/6: Calgary has better players and it seems that quality > depth. LeBeau therefor deserves credit for his actions this year. Have a happy retirement though Labatte Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higgins 3,617 Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Not the best save %? Next Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOOM 8,406 Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Appearance 0/1 - Comic Sans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Moderator Baozi 1,635 Posted November 26, 2013 Head Moderator Share Posted November 26, 2013 He said contenders. Davos has 53 btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,534 Posted November 26, 2013 Admin Share Posted November 26, 2013 He said contenders.Need to make it past round 1 just for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jericho 917 Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Not the best save %? Next 10/10 for Martin Starr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sterling 1,990 Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share Posted November 26, 2013 The main point being Calgary has no defence, compared to three other goalies with full defenses and full forward lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devise 4,475 Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 The main point being Calgary has no defence, compared to three other goalies with full defenses and full forward lines. You should look at rosters more closely. We played with two defenders on our roster. Valiq...and Valiq. Tomas Valiq is not a D, Higgins and Jardy changed him to that in the sim. Our lines show us having two D. Just saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,534 Posted November 26, 2013 Admin Share Posted November 26, 2013 Marcellin is beast tbh. This is a close goalie battle though. I do feel like your arguments are best suited for MVP. More on this in Edition 168 of your old article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sterling 1,990 Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share Posted November 26, 2013 fact of the matter is Calgary has one actual defenseman and two players on its second line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jericho 917 Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 fact of the matter is Calgary has one actual defenseman and two players on its second line yeah, but you said that quebec had 4 defensemen, when we have two. Also, your first line earned more points than most teams combined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higgins 3,617 Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Helsinki has 2 D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamond_ace 3,106 Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 fact of the matter is Calgary has one actual defenseman and two players on its second line No actual defensemen, if you take into consideration the fact that Marcellin is a converted forward Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,534 Posted November 27, 2013 Admin Share Posted November 27, 2013 No actual defensemen, if you take into consideration the fact that Marcellin is a converted forwardWell in that case we might as well give the Labatte to a real defenceman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Moderator Baozi 1,635 Posted November 27, 2013 Head Moderator Share Posted November 27, 2013 Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squinty 116 Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Well in that case we might as well give the Labatte to a real defenceman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomsday 4,034 Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 Content: 3/3 - Too bad Labatte has been statistically the worst goalie in the post-season after four games. Ouch. Grammar: 2/2 - Looks good here. Appearance: 1/1 - I should not give you anything for not only using Comic Sans, but making it red. Overall: 6/6 - Nice catch Blanco Nino, but too bad your ass got serrrrvvvvvvvvvved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Da Trifecta 1,896 Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Content: 3/3 I actually enjoyed reading this. It's good to read about players prior to my arrival. Grammar: 2/2 I didn't pick up on anything Appearance: 1/1 Looks good here Final: 6/6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sterling 1,990 Posted December 5, 2013 Author Share Posted December 5, 2013 Looks like Doomsday has been owned again. First the Civil War, now Labatted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomsday 4,034 Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 Looks like Doomsday has been owned again. First the Civil War, now Labatted Was wrong here, but I'm kind of on the right side for the Civil War. Unless you're colorblind, then I can forgive that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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