Henrik Lundqvist's No. 30 hangs from the rafters at Madison Square Garden because of everything he meant to the New York Rangers' organization, and one of his biggest contributions was the 2011-12 season. The 2011-12 season was one of Lundqvist's best as a Ranger, and it was a legendary season that had the chance to be even more legendary.
I recently looked at Igor Shesterkin's path to potentially claiming an all-time record held by Mike Richter, and in that story I made reference to Lundqvist's 2011-12 campaign. After recently looking back on some other standout seasons, I figured taking some time to look back on a classic Hank season was worth my time.
The 2011-12 season is better than you probably remember
Lundqvist's 2011-12 season saw him finish with a 39-18-5 record in 62 games, and he had a sensational .930 save percentage along with a 1.97 goals against average. It had the potential to be even better, but he had a tough start and end to the season. That his final stat line was as good as it was just speaks to how good he was in between the bookends.
Month | Record | SV% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|
October | 2-3-3 | .929 | 2.35 |
November | 8-1-0 | .937 | 1.88 |
December | 6-3-1 | .944 | 1.60 |
January | 6-3-0 | .939 | 1.75 |
February | 8-2-0 | .951 | 1.29 |
March | 8-4-1 | .897 | 2.50 |
April | 1-2-0 | .885 | 3.02 |
October saw Lundqvist go 2-3-2 with a .929 save percentage and a 2.35 goals against average, a line which really doesn't seem all that bad. Finishing with just two wins here hurt in the context of chasing Richter's win record, but this early on there's no way of telling how things would go.
In March he went 8-4-1 in 13 games with a .897 save percentage and a 2.50 goals against average, and in many ways this was him coming back to Earth after a scorching February. That month Lundqvist went 8-2-0 with a .951 save percentage and a 1.29 goals against average along with three shutouts.
April was a short month, and he won just a single game and compiled a 1-2-0 record with a .885 save percentage and a 3.02 goals against average. All things considered, you can live with the slight blips when you look at how much of a heater he was on for most of the season.
In addition to those numbers, Lundqvist finished with a 27.69 GSAA (goals saved above average) and a 43.55 GSAx (goals saved above expected) courtesy of Evolving-Hockey.
Lundqvist deserved better fate from PHWA
This year was the only time Lundqvist won the Vezina Trophy, and he picked up 120 voting points (17 first place votes, 11 second place votes, and 2 third place votes). No other goalie finished with double digit first or second place votes, and future Blueshirt netminder Jonathan Quick finished in second with 63 voting points.
The PHWA casts votes for the Hart Trophy, among other things, and Lundqvist finished in third with 556 voting points (3 first place votes, 35 second place votes, 36 third place votes, 28 fourth place votes, and 17 fifth place votes). He finished with the second-most first and second place votes, and was behind Steven Stamkos (598 voting points) and Evgeni Malkin (1,473 voting points).
In hindsight, Malkin's season of 50 goals, 59 assists, and 109 points wasn't all that extraordinary, and it was slightly better than Stamkos' 60-goal and 97 points with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Narrative played a big role for Malkin, as he stepped up for the Penguins after Sidney Crosby missed time after suffering a concussion at the Winter Classic. Crosby appeared in just 22 games that season, and Malkin helped the Penguins finish with 51 wins and 108 points... although they got bounced in the first round against the Flyers.
It is possible that voters weren't as impressed considering just a year prior Tim Thomas had a record of 35-11-9 with a .938 save percentage and a 2.00 goals against average in 57 games. That year the league save percentage was .914 and goals against average was 2.54, and Lundqvist ended up signifcantly better than league average.
Just a few years later Carey Price had a 44 win season that also featured a .933 goals against average and a 1.96 save percentage, and that was enough for him to take home the Hart Trophy along with the Vezina. While those top line numbers were impressive, he had just a 35.84 GSAA, and a 38.88 GSAx, the second of which wasn't better than Lundqvist's 2011-12 performance.
What always baffles me is that Price was rewarded during a year in which Jamie Benn won the Art Ross Trophy with just 87 points, so the context of him finishing with the numbers he did makes it a little less impressive all things considered.
In any case, 2011-12 will always be a memorable year for Lundqvist, and while it wasn't as legendary as it could have been, it is still a time worth remembering and celebrating anyway. Over the next couple of seasons Lundqvist was still excellent for the Rangers, but nothing comes close to that remarkable campaign.
Add us as a preferred source on Google