NHL Goalie Ladder: Rinne Challenging for Vezina

Tim Thomas has essentially been handed the Vezina Trophy all season, and with his statistics — 2.03 GAA and .938 SV5 — the accolades are certainly warranted.

However, he seems to have a worthy adversary in towering Finnish netminder Pekka Rinne, who with two shutouts over his last four starts creeps even closer to Thomas. Considering Thomas will give away some starts to Tuukka Rask and the expectation Rinne will start the remaining 14 games for his Preds there might just be a chance for Rinne to earn his first award and thwart Thomas’ second Vezina in three years.

In other news, the NHL Goalie Ladder seems much more settled than the previous versions as we project who will succeed down the road. Martin Brodeur leads all the risers, gaining five positions while Brian Boucher takes a nosedive from 14 to 30.

To see the updated NHL Goalie Ladder click here or use the navigation at the top.