Digging in the Crates: Flexin' On 'Em

Howdy, pals!

We are back with the next segment of the Goalies of the AHL. One segment of an article and the primer post later, we are up to 1000ish reads and a lot chatter. Not as much direct hate as I anticipated (though I'm sure I'll see it) and a LOT of great conversation between goalies. This segment was by far the hardest as it had have a few guys worthy of discussion left off the list. Shoutout to @GreatHAMbino67 @Too Much Twoco @Mindhunter114. These are all based on stats through Week 5. If I were doing them through today it might be a different story.

For those of you who are new to the thread and would like to know HOW these were calculated please reference the Primer .


Let's get into the FLEX tier:

10.) @Agger23 18/50

Ooof, if Aggy had played 1 more game throughout the first 5 weeks he would have have thrown his lot in with the starters. 23 games through 5 week is a size-able sample so I'm comfortable with where he is. The clear cut starter on Hershey's duo (with the spot starts going to @a Living Pylon who's a statistical monster) Aggy checks in on the lower half of every catergory 9th in Sv% 78.8 on 12.7 Shots Per Game that is good for 6th. 2 SO and a 2.6 GA on the HIGHEST Salary in this tier all contribute to the stats showing another carry candidate. With a Volume of 2.08 which is good for 7th he's more often then not in what I like to refer to as the 'Comfort Zone' of 10-14 shots in a game. If I could I'd run a few more for Pylon and see if he can stretch his success over a bigger role,

9.) @I6I Polar I6I 19/50

It took me way too long to think that you had I's instead of l at the start of your tag, a good 30 seconds I was like 'Why can't I find your name' then I had the light bulb go off. Polar is an interesting case of facing a healthy SPG of 13.63 but having the 2nd lowest Volume of 2 even. With 2/3 of his games where he faces 14 or less shots he's generally not tested at the level of other measured goalies. He did get the call to the Show this week, which I think everyone but @Tatar l21l and @Darcy Kuemper (200+ games in the A, apiece) aspire to make it to. With a average Sv% of 80.3 and a 2.65 GA let's see if can continue a solid if not uninspiring season in the N. Good luck, bro.

8.) @iTub3 22.5/50

Originally left off the first draft of this Tier, when I went back and gave guys their due diligence I decided to include him. The original idea I had before everything morphed and evolved in real time was shining the light on the hidden gems, he certainly fits the mold. The numbers aren't super kind to him, hence the 8th overall ranking here, but he's kept Tuscon in most of his games this year. Last in Sv% by .1 at 78.7 he is under fire almost every game with 15.13 SPG. With a Volume of 2.56 and a relatively low Salary of 1mil (especially for this tier) he is a very valuable piece piece in the crease. The plucky tendy who kind of could is my favorite story so far. Behind an ok at best team he is turning in an admirable performance.

7.) @I Crease Fire I 24.5/50

The poster child for the trend of these stats. Solid counting stats with 81.4% on average 12.57 SPG and a 2.23 GA. I originally thought he'd crack the top 5, but I was wrong. By the numbers this is clearly a product of being on a great team. He is 4% over his life time average which is a MASSIVE jump, especially with someone who has such a large body of work, a shade under 200 goalie games. He is enjoying a solid season, but with only 21 games that feels like picking and choosing, he's clearly a step below the truly thumb-tastic tendys.

6.) @hotwinglol

Spicy selection slots to round out the bottom 5, hotwing is another victim in this ranking because of the ease of his actual games. By this point in the program we should all be in agreement that while there ARE outliers, the trend is this: Less shots means less goals. He cruises in at the lowest Volume rating at 1.9 and the 2nd lowest SPG at 12.15 he is comfortable in the paint. He has a mind boggling 16/20 games under 14 shots. The team in front of him suppresses shots at an elite level across all tiers. Regardless, his 81.5% is above average and he is making the saves he needs to make to win games. More like Mild sauce.

5.) @Denisov x 42 31/50

The first spot on the top 5 is the last slot before the absolute slugfest in the top 4. Den is definitely on behind this team. Sporting a 81% on the 2nd highest SPG 15.76 he is entering the Waxi-sphere of being constantly under fire. 1 game of single digits shots is the exclamation point on his 2.9 Volume. That is absolutely ridiculous. The fact that he has a winning record is a testament to to the offensive talent of the team and the tendy. He is dragged down 2.84 GA but that's what happens when you're getting bombed game in and game out. So keep on keeping on Deni-san.

4.) @danlizhot 34/50

4 points seperate the top 4 spots, it is so close you could take any of these goalies and no one could argue that they don't deserve to be in the discussion. Dan is sizzling right now. The definition of a late bloomer, he was a run of the mill plug in the CHL but now, he's a solid starting caliber goalie who misses on that Tier by 2 games. Boosted up by one of the best teams in the entire league, he is making management look brilliant. He clocks in at the 2nd best Sv% 82.8 and GA 2.03 on the lowest SPG at 12.14. He does have a few gem on resume with an average Volume 2.27.

3.) @GRG allstarbear 36/50

What a difference a team makes. Taking over my old job in Texas, he is making @xxCARUCHxx look good by granting my walking papers before the season started. Leading the league in Sv% at 84.1 and leading the tier with a GA 2.01 he is back stopping an upstart Stars squad who is giving up 14.10 SPG which is 42th most. The only thing really holding him back is the lone shut out and 1.25 mil contract coming in tied for 2nd lowest Salary Value.

2.) @xProzer 37/50

Top 3 in every category but GA: 82.1 % on 14.23 SPG. Prozer is an absolute stud behind the Devils. With an evenly distributed Volume of 2.45 he has seen it all in terms of quality and shitters. Another strong candidate who missed out on the starter Tier due to games played, he does have a strangle hold on the starting job and if he plays max game for the next 2 weeks he could creep into the next tier of players.

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1.) @mochez18 38/50

With 2 points seperating the top 3 goalies this is a hell of an accomplishment to be on top of such a packed top end of the tier. C The fact that he and Tatar were traded for each other over the weekend makes we wonder what was happening with both of these players that both teams were able to pull the trigger on trading two clear cut stud goalies. With a 82.9 Sv% on 15.78 SPG and a respectable-at-this tier 2.68 GA Mochez is going to be the un disputed starter in Utica behind a great team. While the Volume and SPG might go down, it shouldn't affect his % too much. This will be one of the better stat lines to watch over the final 4 weeks of the season. Is he the better option?

Thank you to everyone who took time to read, everyone who took time to debate, and to anyone who dosn't like my work: eat a fat dick. (There's my love for colon's again. What can I say, I'm an ass man.)
with 40 Goalies analyzed and 20 written about we are wrapping up this section in the 3rd and final part of the article later this week. Once we get through that, it will be on to what everyone cares about, The FORWARDS and DEFENSEMAN.

 

Nice write up, but 2 things:

1. Bad availability limits my playing time.

2. Product of being on a great team? We should be in a playoff stop then.

It's TRUE my team isn't "bad", but we are in the hardest division and I'm no Darcy Kuemper.

 

Your on the list dude. Be thankful lol

 

Don't hate the player hate the game. These are the stories the stats tell.

The games played in that division suck, I know that first hand.