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Anaheim Ducks: 4 Hard Truths The Ducks Face (And Why It’s Okay)

By Jonathan Maxfield

ANAHEIM, CA - JANUARY 23: Ryan Getzlaf #15 of the Anaheim Ducks reacts after a play during the game against the St. Louis Blues on January 23, 2019 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - JANUARY 23: Ryan Getzlaf #15 of the Anaheim Ducks reacts after a play during the game against the St. Louis Blues on January 23, 2019 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 26: John Gibson #36 of the Anaheim Ducks gives up a goal skates against the Central Division All-Stars during the 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Game at SAP Center on January 26, 2019, in San Jose, California. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 26: John Gibson #36 of the Anaheim Ducks gives up a goal skates against the Central Division All-Stars during the 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Game at SAP Center on January 26, 2019, in San Jose, California. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Number 2: Gibson Likely Won’t Take Home The Vezina

Please put the pitchforks down. I know full well he deserves it, and I too will be upset if he doesn’t win the Vezina if he continues to carry this team. But it’s important to get this out there before we all have our hopes crushed. John Gibson is having an amazing season, one that will undoubtedly be remembered for a long long time even just from the first half of the season, he’s carrying this team on his back, and they will only go as far as he carries them. But historically, the Vezina trophy doesn’t take into account how much you mean to your team. Yes, there are a few outliers, but in large, there’s two keys to winning the Vezina. You need to either A: Be on a great team, which means you win 35+ games as the starting goaltender, And/Or you have a absurd save percentage.

As it stands, in the past 10 years there has only been one Vezina Trophy winner, who was on a team that missed the playoffs. That was Sergei Bobrovsky, in 2012-13 AKA: the lockout shortened season, in that season Bobrovsky managed a .932 save percentage, he had his team just on the outside of the playoff picture (tied in points with the Wild for the last playoff spot) and despite playing the lion share of the 48 games (38 to be exact) his 21 Wins, accounted for all but 3 of the teams total wins. His .932 save percentage is good for 2nd among goalies who played 30 or more games since 2012-13.

As it stands right now, John Gibson has a .919 save percentage on the year, his team is still in the playoff hunt, but that’s almost exclusively due to Gibson, and the teams inexplicable hot start. They’re seemingly free-falling at this point, which makes the playoffs more and more unlikely by the day, also not helping his case is that while he’s still carrying the team on his back, he can’t stop 40 pucks a night, it’s not reasonable to expect, and it’s hurting his stats. His save percentage is taking a hit due to the incredible rough patch the Ducks are currently on. As it stands, 4 of the last 6 starts for John Gibson have resulted in a sub-.900 save percentage. That’s not going to help him separate from the pack. It’s also worth pointing out that other goaltenders with more name value, are putting up similar production, (albeit on significantly better teams). It’s going to be difficult to beat out an Andrei Vasilevskiy, Fredreik Andersen, or Carey Price to win a Vezina.

Why It’s Okay

There is hope. Gibson recently won the mid-season award from the Professional Hockey Writers Association for the Vezina, which is encouraging, there’s also the fact that Gibson has faced far more shots than any of the other contenders, with the next most busy goaltender being Marc-Andre Fleury who has faced more than 100 fewer shots (Despite starting in 3 more games and having over 250 more minutes on the ice). If Gibson can continue to play the way he has, (Which is a big if) then he’ll almost force their hand into giving it to him, and the silver lining here, is that while #LoseForHughes is seemingly in full swing, we Ducks fans have something to get behind, to cheer for, and to campaign for for the rest of this season. #GibbyTheGoat should be trending among Ducks Fans and if the rest of this season is a wash, we can’t let it get lost in the shuffle that we are truly experiencing greatness and one of the best performances by a goaltender in recent history.

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