Jump to content

Scott Wedgewood's new goalie mask


iamtheprodigy

Recommended Posts

Wedgewood has two top ten finishes in SV% in the OHL and is currently toiling in the ECHL. He's proven nothing so far, although it would be nice to see him get some time in the AHL this year. It will always come down to who they think deserves the job - I imagine they are aiming for Kinkaid to become at least a backup by 2014-15. Another .915 SV% type season in the A and he'll be ready-ish.

 

Backup to whom?  Marty will have played out his contract by the end of next season, though I'm guessing the Devils will bring in a stop-gap type who can provide competent goaltending if they think Kinkaid and/or Wedge can do the job sooner than later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Triumph, on 06 Feb 2013 - 12:36, said:

1992-93 was the highest scoring year in the NHL in some time and was an expansion year to boot. Throwing out AHL save percentages as meaningless on the basis of one season doesn't make sense - goalies who have better AHL save percentages tend to have better NHL save percentages.

But using it based on one season DOES make sense??

Quote

He did not have 3 great OHL seasons. He had 3 very good OHL seasons. He was not the top goalie in the league or particularly close to it in save percentage.

At least you aren't splitting hairs or anything.

Quote

I also don't see how he's ahead of the curve - so ahead of the curve that he's not even playing in the AHL? I know plenty of NHL starters have played in the ECHL and that the lockout screwed things up (one injury in the organization above him and he goes to the AHL), but he's not lighting things up there. The ECHL is a low enough quality league that shot quality is a thing there and not all SV% is equal, but still. And clutch almost certainly doesn't exist at the pro level.

He's ahead of the curve because he is 3 years younger than Kinkaid and already has international tournament experience, plus some very impressive playoff performances. Additionally, he went pro 2 years younger than Kinkaid.

As for clutch, of course it exists! It's what sports is all about, Tri! Just because you won't find it on a graph or in any of your charts doesn't mean it isn't there. You see it ON THE ICE. Check out Richter in 1994, or Richter in the 96 World Cup. Check out Jon Casey coming in as a backup against Detroit in 1996 when Grant Fuhr went down and taking a St Louis team to game 7 double overtime. Hell, how about Henrique with 2 series clinching OT goals in his first NHL playoff season? Claude Lemieux in the playoffs in 86, 87, 94, 95, 96, 97 etc etc? Clutch is coming up big when the game is on the line. You can't measure it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But using it based on one season DOES make sense??At least you aren't splitting hairs or anything.He's ahead of the curve because he is 3 years younger than Kinkaid and already has international tournament experience, plus some very impressive playoff performances. Additionally, he went pro 2 years younger than Kinkaid.

As for clutch, of course it exists! It's what sports is all about, Tri! Just because you won't find it on a graph or in any of your charts doesn't mean it isn't there. You see it ON THE ICE. Check out Richter in 1994, or Richter in the 96 World Cup. Check out Jon Casey coming in as a backup against Detroit in 1996 when Grant Fuhr went down and taking a St Louis team to game 7 double overtime. Hell, how about Henrique with 2 series clinching OT goals in his first NHL playoff season? Claude Lemieux in the playoffs in 86, 87, 94, 95, 96, 97 etc etc? Clutch is coming up big when the game is on the line. You can't measure it.

 

The sabes guys don't believe in clutch, and nothing you say will change their minds on that one.  You'll have an easier time convincing a Born-Again Christian that there is no God. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But using it based on one season DOES make sense??

There is a giant difference between saying 'This player's one year save percentage SUGGESTS that he is better than another' and saying 'AHL save percentage doesn't matter because of Martin Brodeur'. As I said, 92-93 is one of the strangest years in NHL history.

As for clutch, of course it exists! It's what sports is all about, Tri! Just because you won't find it on a graph or in any of your charts doesn't mean it isn't there. You see it ON THE ICE. Check out Richter in 1994, or Richter in the 96 World Cup. Check out Jon Casey coming in as a backup against Detroit in 1996 when Grant Fuhr went down and taking a St Louis team to game 7 double overtime. Hell, how about Henrique with 2 series clinching OT goals in his first NHL playoff season? Claude Lemieux in the playoffs in 86, 87, 94, 95, 96, 97 etc etc? Clutch is coming up big when the game is on the line. You can't measure it.

Clutch is not a demonstrably repeatable skill. If it's not repeatable, then it's not a skill. Some players have had had amazing performances in the playoffs - ones that boggle the mind and dazzle the eye. They're part of why we watch, and they're a part of the story forever. It doesn't mean they can do that again. If I had to take the under on Adam Henrique ever scoring a playoff OT goal in the NHL again, I would - playoff OT goals are rare. Doesn't make those goals any less special when they happened.

76: Clutch has been 'proven' to be a skill in baseball, but it is insanely small, so small that it isn't even worth mentioning. And that's baseball.

Edited by Triumph
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is wishful thinking but I hope kinkaid becomes a excellent goalie at the NHL level. Growing up a Devils fan, he won't want to leave NJ.

 

Well you never know.. Begin, Lapierre and Latendresse all grew up Habs fans... played there and all asked to get traded at some point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is a giant difference between saying 'This player's one year save percentage SUGGESTS that he is better than another' and saying 'AHL save percentage doesn't matter because of Martin Brodeur'. As I said, 92-93 is one of the strangest years in NHL history.Clutch is not a demonstrably repeatable skill. If it's not repeatable, then it's not a skill. Some players have had had amazing performances in the playoffs - ones that boggle the mind and dazzle the eye. They're part of why we watch, and they're a part of the story forever. It doesn't mean they can do that again. If I had to take the under on Adam Henrique ever scoring a playoff OT goal in the NHL again, I would - playoff OT goals are rare. Doesn't make those goals any less special when they happened.

76: Clutch has been 'proven' to be a skill in baseball, but it is insanely small, so small that it isn't even worth mentioning. And that's baseball.

 

Though I do believe in 'clutch', my view on it has evolved a bit...I see it more as guys who have 'the knack'.  Some guys seem to have 'the knack' to raise their games in the bigger moments, while others have 'the knack' of not coming through, or at the very least, matching their typical performances in "lesser" games.  One can rule that the leagues have all been watered down enough through expansion that there's a number of pretty good players that can feast off lesser competition, but such players will be exposed when facing higher-quality opponents come playoff/big game time (Nick Swisher-types).  But I do believe, as long as human beings are playing these games, some will handle the big stage better than others, and some guys will always have 'the knack'.  Even if such a thing can't truly be measured, and even if a little luck factors into it.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Colorado Rockies 1976, on 06 Feb 2013 - 14:13, said:

Though I do believe in 'clutch', my view on it has evolved a bit...I see it more as guys who have 'the knack'. Some guys seem to have 'the knack' to raise their games in the bigger moments, while others have 'the knack' of not coming through, or at the very least, matching their typical performances in "lesser" games. One can rule that the leagues have all been watered down enough through expansion that there's a number of pretty good players that can feast off lesser competition, but such players will be exposed when facing higher-quality opponents come playoff/big game time (Nick Swisher-types). But I do believe, as long as human beings are playing these games, some will handle the big stage better than others, and some guys will always have 'the knack'. Even if such a thing can't truly be measured, and even if a little luck factors into it.

That "not having the knack" description made me think of A-Rod. Blech. If there's a record for hitting into a double play to end a playoff game (or series) when you could have been the hero, he'd have it.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Though I do believe in 'clutch', my view on it has evolved a bit...I see it more as guys who have 'the knack'.  Some guys seem to have 'the knack' to raise their games in the bigger moments, while others have 'the knack' of not coming through, or at the very least, matching their typical performances in "lesser" games.  One can rule that the leagues have all been watered down enough through expansion that there's a number of pretty good players that can feast off lesser competition, but such players will be exposed when facing higher-quality opponents come playoff/big game time (Nick Swisher-types).  But I do believe, as long as human beings are playing these games, some will handle the big stage better than others, and some guys will always have 'the knack'.  Even if such a thing can't truly be measured, and even if a little luck factors into it.

That's just it, Nick Swisher is a terrible example for you. His walk and strikeout rate isn't demonstrably different regular season to playoffs - he is just making way more outs when he hits the ball. But I'll agree about the knack - at least that it might exist - I just can't say who does or doesn't have it. There's no reason, besides his signing in Cleveland, why Nick Swisher can't go hit .400 with 3 HRs in a playoff series next year.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Triumph, on 06 Feb 2013 - 13:40, said:

There is a giant difference between saying 'This player's one year save percentage SUGGESTS that he is better than another' and saying 'AHL save percentage doesn't matter because of Martin Brodeur'. As I said, 92-93 is one of the strangest years in NHL history.Clutch is not a demonstrably repeatable skill. If it's not repeatable, then it's not a skill. Some players have had had amazing performances in the playoffs - ones that boggle the mind and dazzle the eye. They're part of why we watch, and they're a part of the story forever. It doesn't mean they can do that again. If I had to take the under on Adam Henrique ever scoring a playoff OT goal in the NHL again, I would - playoff OT goals are rare. Doesn't make those goals any less special when they happened.

76: Clutch has been 'proven' to be a skill in baseball, but it is insanely small, so small that it isn't even worth mentioning. And that's baseball.

Leadership isn't a measurable skill either, but it matters.

I'm not saying either Wedgewood or Kinkaid are better than the other. I'm saying the reason Wedgewood has the hype is because, so far, he's performed in the big games. He can play under pressure. Hopefully, we'll get to see Kinkaid have some playoff games and we can see what he does in them. Kinkaid has great size and speed and I love his Marty-ish style. He coudl very well be an NHL starter in the next 3 - 4 years, but until he has a couple of big moments, Wedge is gonna be considered the 'future'.

A good sign from Wedge in the OHL, in the 2010 playoffs... Starter Matt Hackett gets suspended. Plymouth is down 3-0 in the series to a Windsor team that had Taylor Hall, Adam Henrique, Cam Fowler, Ryan Ellis, Eric Wellwood, etc. Wedgewood comes in for Game 4, and makes 70 saves in an OT loss. That's a very good sign for the kind of player he could be. It's all speculation of course, but you want to see that kind of reputation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's just it, Nick Swisher is a terrible example for you. His walk and strikeout rate isn't demonstrably different regular season to playoffs - he is just making way more outs when he hits the ball. But I'll agree about the knack - at least that it might exist - I just can't say who does or doesn't have it. There's no reason, besides his signing in Cleveland, why Nick Swisher can't go hit .400 with 3 HRs in a playoff series next year.

 

The guy is a .169 hitter lifetime in the playoffs, in 46 GP and 154 AB...seems to be too big a sample to attribute all of it to hitting into bad luck.  He has yet to show why anyone should have confidence in him come playoff time, but the same thing was said about ARod as a Yankee through up until 2009, so I can't entirely rule out Swisher having a big playoff out of nowhere (if he gets there). 

 

And yeah, I think 'the knack' definitely exists...not in black-and-white form, but enough that the guys that don't seem to have it have a way of sticking out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The guy is a .169 hitter lifetime in the playoffs, in 46 GP and 154 AB...seems to be too big a sample to attribute all of it to hitting into bad luck.  He has yet to show why anyone should have confidence in him come playoff time, but the same thing was said about ARod as a Yankee through up until 2009, so I can't entirely rule out Swisher having a big playoff out of nowhere (if he gets there). 

 

And yeah, I think 'the knack' definitely exists...not in black-and-white form, but enough that the guys that don't seem to have it have a way of sticking out.

Again, not much has changed about Swisher's stats have changed besides the number of hits he gets. His power is also down. But 154 ABs is nothing - hitters hit terribly over samples like that all the time. Remember the year Wade Boggs hit .260 and the Red Sox let him go? There's entire seasons where a player's deviation from his career numbers has been bigger than Swisher's from his.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.