The Vesa Toskala Myth
You seem to hear it fairly often around Leafs nation. Fans who think that Vesa Toskala is the future of the Leafs in goal, and a quality starting goaltender. Often times, if you question this, it results in a backlash from offended fans who can’t fathom anyone disparaging their number one. Unfortunately though, the sad truth is, Vesa Toskala is not a high end goaltender. He’s an average starting goalie. That’s it. In this article we’ll examine the goaltending of the bottom 10 teams in the NHL and I think you might be surprised at what you see.
Worst 10 Teams as of Feb 06 - Starting Goaltenders:
For the purposes of this comparison, the primary stat will be save percentage, as it is a better indicator of a goalie’s play than GAA.
20) Atlanta Thrashers - Kari Lehtonen - .914
21) Buffalo Sabres - Ryan Miller - .914
22) St. Louis Blues - Manny Legace - .910
23) Washington Capitals - Olaf Kolzig - .883
24) Florida Panthers - Tomas Vokoun - .919
25) NY Islanders - Rick Dipietro - .909
26) Edmonton Oilers - Mathieu Garon - .918
27) Chicago Blackhawks - Nikolai Khabibulin - .899
28) Toronto Maple Leafs - Vesa Toskala - .904
29) Tampa Bay Lightning - Johan Holmqvist - .888
30) Los Angeles Kings - Jason LaBarbera - .912
Only three goaltenders on this list have save percentages lower than Toskala. Khabibulin, 35, and Kolzig, 38, are both well past their prime and are at a point where retirement is imminent or already late. Only elite goaltenders the likes of Brodeur, Roy, Belfour, etc are able to play to their late 30’s and still put up good performances.
The really telling numbers there are that the majority of the goalies on the bottom 10 teams are putting up numbers significantly better than Toskala’s. These aren’t goalies on powerhouse teams. These are guys playing in the bottom third of the league. Especially noticeable is LaBarbera, who is handily outplaying Toskala despite being on the last place team overall. I think we all remember how well he played in the game against the Leafs.
Finally, the age factor. Vesa Toskala is 30 years old. The average age of the ‘tenders ahead of him on that list is 28, pushing 29. How many of those guys are looked at as franchise saviours? Dipietro and Miller are the only two guys who are really considered to be a safe bet for a career as starters, with Lehtonen a likely future star. Legace is a reliable starter but has shown he isn’t a guy you want to bring into the playoffs. LaBarbera and Garon, while playing well, aren’t really considered by most to be established, quality starters.
So out of the list of guys he’s grouped with, Toskala is along side only two who are looked at as long term quality starters, and one who has strong potential but has yet to really prove himself. The key though is that Miller and Dipietro are 27 and 26 respectively, and Lehtonen just 24 years old. These are guys who haven’t yet come into the prime-time years for starting goalies. They have significant room to improve, and they’re already better than Toskala.
Toskala is a pretty reliable guy, and he’s doing a pretty good job with what he’s been given, but I can’t help but wonder why so many Leafs fans see this guy as a great goalie, one of the better ones out there, when it’s pretty obvious that as far as starters go, the guy is a reliable jobber, but he’s far from an all-star.
Toskala is not the future of Leafs goaltending. He’s a fine stand in to do the job while the team has its turmoil, but when it comes time to get serious about the playoffs, and the Stanley Cup, the Leafs need to find their next Cujo, an all-star with a proven track record. Toskala just isn’t one of those guys right now, and he’s only going to be getting older. If a good offer comes up in the off-season, the Leafs would be foolish not to take it.
Stumble it!
February 6th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Toskala has shown flashes of what he can do this season. That save percentage is obviously killed from the nights when the team has been brutal and from the beginning of the year when he was adapting to a new conference and a new team.
But…he’s definitely not a long-term saviour. I think most fans see him as a pretty good goalie that can hold down the fort until Pogge is ready to ascend to the right hand of the Father and save the team in a year or two.
February 6th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Toronto’s defense is easily the worst in the league. Toronto is the only team still playing man to man defense.
Toskala isn’t the next Brodeur, but I’d rather have Toskala in net than anyone on that list besides Miller, DiPietro and maybe Lehtonen.
February 6th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Vesa Toskala’s only downfall is his size. In order for him to make the save, he needs to move twice as far, or be twice as acrobatic as the next guy. But even still, it is rarely the initial shot that gets by him. It’s the tipped shots, or the guy in the crease being completely left alone that does the real damage.
I have no problems seeing a guy like Toskala leading a team to a Stanley Cup playoff, but that team would have to have a rather fierce blueline, which the Leafs clearly lack at this time.
LS
February 7th, 2008 at 6:09 am
[…] The vesa toskala myth In this article weâ
February 10th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I guess I can agree that Toskala is steady, but I think that’s it. As far as getting an all-star goalie anytime soon, I really don’t think the leafs are going to be able to pull a rabbit out of the hat with their current trading prowess. I go to Marlies games from time to time and see what Pogge does. I think if the leafs management is in any way serious about this kid, they need to seriously build a new leafs team now, so when he is ready for the NHL, the leafs just might have a team to work with and a solid net minder for years to come.
February 10th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Man you are one huge idiot. Your website is “leafsaretrash”. All you ramble on about is how bad the leafs suck, how bad the team is, how weak the defence is, how we can’t score, how we can’t win.
Furthermore, your endless negtativity directly contradicts what you then say about Toskala. How can you, one simple-minded 20 year old computer nerd sitting in your moms basement analyze the play of Vesa Toskala in one of the most complex positions in sports??
What qualifies you to say anything regarding Vesa’s level of play or abilities or technique. Where have you coached goalies and at what level? Can you define the Y theory in positional goaltending, can you explain pocket up, or save selection, can you explain how split focus has become in issue with todays puck handling goalies??
CAN YOU explain anything other than what Greg “no talent, no brains” Millen or the announcers on sportscenter tell you about the goals that were scored??
To say Toskala is not a franchise or a legitimate number one from your pathetic spot in life is unreal. On a team you say is SO BAD you clearly see he is tied on NHL.com for 14th in wins with 20, he has a GAA of 2.68 which is incredible on this team and even more impressive is the save percentage stat you think is so important which is over 900 at 906.
Throw numbers away on this guy, and look at the pucks that beat him every night. TIPS from the point, half the time from his own guys and breakways are 95% of his goals. His size is not an issue, maybe 5 times he has been clearly beat over the shoulder while down in the butterfly which is when size is a factor. His hand speed more than makes up for this.
This guys is an absolute number one, physically and mentally. For this guy to play this well despite the circus that the leafs are on and off the ice, is a true measure of his character and ability.
Your so hung up on the leafs sucking you refuse to watch the guy really play. Raycroft deserves the crticisim, not Vesa.
I killed myself laughing when I read your article that you could honestly type that filth arguing that the leafs need a better goaltender. Your probably the same guy who will argue that Chris Osgood is also incredible because of his GAA and save percentage stats. Or how about Brodeur, you love him I’m sure but send him to LA and see if he can save the team. He’d be shredded with that brutal style in todays game without a wall of defence in front of him.
Honestly man, your an idiot. Pick on Raycroft, Woz, Kubina McCabe etc. To pick on Vesa when he and Mats are the only bright spots on this team is unfair to say the least.
Maybe your just another one of these fools who think pogge is gonna come up and save the world……keep dreaming guys, he is not nearly as good as everyone thinks.
Your an diot and your website sucks, not even one advertisement on it, you must be getting rich.
February 10th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Wow… you are way too easily instigated…
Chill out, it’s a blog.
February 11th, 2008 at 5:27 am
Well, here’s the thing “RaycroftSucks”, I could easily google everyone of those topics and answer your questions! But what would be the point?
I’ve played goal for 11 years and coached for 6 kids playing low level Rep up to 13 years old.
However, that really means nothing. Almost as little as you throwing out goaltending terms to try and establish yourself as credible.
You seem to think Toskala is for some reason significantly better than all the other goalies on that list. Why? They all play on bad teams, most of which with bad defense. Yet for some reason you claim Toskala is an “absolute” number one.
If so, why isn’t Manny Legace an “absolute number one”? How about Matheiu Garon or Jason Labarbera?
I love the part about you mentioning that Brodeur would be shredded playing for L.A., yet you seem to miss out on the fact that Jason Labarbera is doing a great job in L.A. and putting up better numbers than our Vesa.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on how Labarbera is apparently more capable than Brodeur, but somehow not a great starter, which Toskala apparently is! Interesting!
I’m going to assume you’re a goalie, so I’ll make this simple. Toskala has never proven himself to be a starting goalie of any value more than your average starter.
The easiest guy in the league to compare Vesa Toskala to is Manny Legace because they’ve been in very similar circumstances. Both played on outstanding teams for most of their career in backup/split-starter roles. Manny on Detroit, Vesa on San Jose. Both then left and got the chance to play as a starter and both are doing a pretty admirable job considering what they have to deal with.
Both are solid guys, but I don’t think you’d find a team that would bend over backwards to build their team around Manny Legace. Same goes for Toskala.
Toskala has had one, count’em, one, full season as a lone starter (assuming he finishes out this year). He’s never even played 40 games in a season until this year.
This article isn’t saying that Toskala sucks, or that Toskala should still be a backup. It’s saying that Toskala is a good middle of the pack starting goalie but NOT anything close to an elite level starter and that he should not be looked at as the future of the Leafs.
It’s cute to see you get so worked up over what I wrote though. Perhaps one day you’ll be able to express what’s on your mind without making yourself sound like an angry 13 year old!
Oh, by the way, RaycroftSucks, if you want to see what a REAL elite starter does when he’s on one of the worst teams in the league, look no further than Roberto Luongo’s years on Florida.
.920, .915, .918, .931, .914
When Vesa can pull of that kind of consistancy, come talk to me then.