Jeff Jakaitis, Unfortunately overshadowed? [Archive]

View Full Version : Jeff Jakaitis, Unfortunately overshadowed?

Pages : [1] 2 3

Hail_Lakers

03-13-2007, 03:15 PM

So here it is, I just got done reading a little bit on the Hobey Baker and one of the questions asked to the Panel was, how are the chances of the two players from the CCHA going to fair in the Hobey Baker. They were talking about T.J. Hensik and David Brown. My question to you is do they even look at the fan vote, i know its only like 1% of the final decision but look at what that young man has done in the years and what he is doing now.

So do you believe that he is being overshawdowed by the play of Notre Dame and the goal scoring capability of T.J. Hensik and even that of Nate Davis?

aparch

03-13-2007, 03:32 PM

So do you believe that he is being overshawdowed by the play of Notre Dame and the goal scoring capability of T.J. Hensik and even that of Nate Davis?Yes. And I responded in another Hobey Baker thread a few weeks back about it.

LSSU needs to make an impact with Jeff at the helm for him to even get a passing mention in an article about Hobey Baker. Win the CCHA championship, and a game or two in the regionals, and there may be discussion.

BruteFM

03-13-2007, 08:45 PM

So do you believe that he is being overshawdowed by the play of Notre Dame and the goal scoring capability of T.J. Hensik and even that of Nate Davis?

How do you argue for a goalie who didn't win half his games in conference (it took 4 CCHA playoff wins to get his overall record over .500) over the top goalie in the country (in wins and GAA) and the top scorer in the country (Hensick is tied with Ehn at 62)?

Terrierbyassociation

03-13-2007, 09:07 PM

There are three great goalies this year in Brown, Curry, and Jakaitis.

The odds of one of them winning even without the other two's great seasons is small because voters tend to believe the award is for a skating player, unless the goalie is so great AND the skating players candidates are not strong in the given year.

I'm biased, but as good as Jeff has been this season, his team is still outside looking in of even making regionals. The conference he is in has had a down year. And he hasn't gotten the national exposure Curry and Brown have.

MJPete

03-13-2007, 09:14 PM

How do you argue for a goalie who didn't win half his games in conference (it took 4 CCHA playoff wins to get his overall record over .500) over the top goalie in the country (in wins and GAA) and the top scorer in the country (Hensick is tied with Ehn at 62)?

Easy. Wins are a product of goaltending AND offense, not just the goalie. It's also a product of team defense, i.e. not hanging your goalie out to dry. I don't think anybody is arguing for Jakaitis to be in the Hat Trick, just a member of the final 10.

LSSUscor(an)

03-13-2007, 10:04 PM

How do you argue for a goalie who didn't win half his games in conference (it took 4 CCHA playoff wins to get his overall record over .500) over the top goalie in the country (in wins and GAA) and the top scorer in the country (Hensick is tied with Ehn at 62)?

This is how we argue for Jakaitis.

GP W-L-T MIN GA SV SV% GAA
David Brown, Sr, ND 35 27-5-3 2115:51 58 745 .928 1.64
GP W-L-T MIN GA SV SV% GAA
Jeff Jakaitis, Sr, LSSU 33 16-14-3 1933:54 70 1004 .935 2.17

Jakaitis has played in 2 fewer games than Brown and yet Jakaitis has made 259 more saves! LSSU has had trouble with offense in the past few years. When you let in only 1 or 2 goals and still lose or tie the game while be faced with 30 to 40 shots it's kind of hard to get the win record built up. Also, if you have ever seen Jakaitis play you would know that he doesn't just stop the regular shots, he makes at least 5-10 amazing(should have been goals) shots each game. Just last weekend he stopped 81 of 83 shots against miami.

Im not sure why Jakaitis hasn't gotten the recognition he DESERVES but im hoping this weekend will prove to most people that he is the best goalie in the CCHA, possibly even in the nation. Although, I thought last week should have proved it.

LSSUscor(an)

03-13-2007, 10:14 PM

I would like to see Jakaitis in the final three. Unfortunately i don't think he will be there and not because he doesn't deserve it. I would just be upset if Brown made it to the final three because from what i've seen of both Jakaitis and Brown, Jakaitis is the better goalie. I've never seen Curry play before so i don't know who's better between him and Jakaitis.

Hail_Lakers

03-13-2007, 10:28 PM

over the top goalie in the country (in wins and GAA)[David Brown]

But like i said with my original statement, the play of NOTRE DAME, not David Brown, its not hard to get wins when you have a team that can score on command, and their defense is phenomenal. Now i am not saying that David Brown isn't good, its more the fact that Jakaitis is getting no attention for his amazing play because he doesn't play for a top ranked team.

Watching him play as a freshman and watching him develop with virtually no coaching, sorry frank, and see him lead a team into home ice advantage. He has played brilliantly all year for a team whose defense is still developing. I believe he is definately worthy of the

Swoop

03-14-2007, 09:55 AM

SmartAxe

03-14-2007, 11:05 AM

There are three great goalies this year in Brown, Curry, and Jakaitis.

And he hasn't gotten the national exposure Curry and Brown have.

This statement is dead on! Here's two prime examples:
The CCHA's teleconference held yesterday where they interviewed the coaches of the four teams heading to the Joe. Each coach made a little opening statement, then the media asked each a few questions. The CCHA media interviewed UofM for 5 questions, Sparty got 6, Notre Dame got 6 and they only bothered to ask LSSU 3. Shouldn't they at least appear to be impartial and give equal time & attention to all four schools?

Also, USCHO.com sticks the CCHA with that ridiculous "girl reporter" who is more interested in cookie recipes and alignment of stars than reporting anything about hockey in her weekly column. Bottom line, if you can't get any sort of media attention from the ones that are supposed to report on everything within your conference, how can you get any attention at the national level?

He got a nomination for Hobey, but unfortulately those around him that should have been giving the man some hype and helping his cause have let him down, miserably.

Insidecollegehockey.com nailed it before the season started, that the best goaltender you've never heard of is Jeff Jakaitis. Unfortunately it appears that after the Hobey is handed out it will remain that way...

Hail_Lakers

03-14-2007, 11:29 AM

I agree, and if you look he hasn't been drafted either, but it all seems to be changing. I have heard rumors that teams started to talk to him about half way through the season. So hopefully we will see #1 between the pipes in a pro arena in the near future

Craig P.

03-14-2007, 11:37 AM

Im not sure why Jakaitis hasn't gotten the recognition he DESERVES but im hoping this weekend will prove to most people that he is the best goalie in the CCHA, possibly even in the nation. Although, I thought last week should have proved it.

Brown: 2 - 0, 51 shots, 4 GA
Jakaitis: 0 - 2, 61 shots, 7 GA

They've already played head-to-head, at Lake Superior, and Brown came out on top. I don't disagree that an aspect of any goaltender's stats is the team playing ahead of him, but there's no particular reason to think that Jakaitis will prove anything this weekend.

(Doesn't mean he won't, the possibility he might get hot concerns me, I'm just going off of previous evidence.)

Terrierbyassociation

03-14-2007, 11:57 AM

The fact that he is being overlooked for all the individual honors does not diminish the fact that he is the best goaltender in college hockey this season.

Fortunately, hockey is a team sport and individual honors mean nothing. JJ's team still has the opportunity win a championship and JJ is doing more than his part to get there. (I hope they don't win the CCHA because that would push Miami out of the NCAA tourney).

You're saying it like it's fact that he's the best, and that's just your opinion. What is fact is the fact remains that even with Jakaitis, the LSSU Lakers are outside looking in. The BU Terriers are going to regionals and wouldn't even be going without John Curry. That's a fact.

Is this going to be like MVP when A-Rod won? With or without Jakaitis, the LSSU Lakers have a major uphill battle to even make it to regionals. Without Curry the Terriers are out, and with him they're in. That's a big deal to voters.

Curry has stole so many games this season it's ridiculous. But just because Jakaitis is great doesn't mean he's the best, I mean, I can't say Curry is the best since I haven't seen Jakaitis play. I think Curry is better than Brown, and I've seen Brown play several times this season. But does that make Curry better? I can't say that it's a fact, because there is no statistic that says one goalie is better than the other. GAA? Well, how many goals did the goalie have a chance on that he gave up? Save Percentage? A goalie can face 60 shots in a night and have them all be weak backhanders, slap-shots he can see cleanly, etc.

What I see with my very biased eyes is that without Curry we're not even seeing this BU team in the Regionals. With him, I believe BU could keep on winning. BU's offense has been so pathetic this year, he's playing with the pressure that he lets in even one goal, his team can lose 1-0 easily.

The Exiled One

03-14-2007, 12:38 PM

Just to foster discussion, take the rankings of all the goaltenders in SV% and GAA then divide by two...

1. Curry - 2.5
2. Regan - 3
3. Brown - 3.5
4. Goepfert - 5
5. Jakaitis - 6.5
6. Leggio - 7.5
7. Elliott - 8
8. Fallon - 9
9. J. Johnson - 9.5
10. Quick - 10

There you go! Curry is my frontrunner for Hobey consideration, but I think a goalie doesn't win it this season.

Now to find the goaltending MVP, we figure out which of these team's offenses sucked the most...

1. Wisco - 54
2. Vermont - 53
3. LSSU - 44
4. BU - 41
5. UMD - 40
6. UMass - 29
7. SCSU - 13
8. Clarkson - 6
9. Notre Dame - 7
10. UNH - 4

Now average those together with my rankings above and I get...

Curry 2.5
Jakaitis 4
Elliott 4
Fallon 5
Goepfert 5.5
Regan 6
Brown 6
Leggio 7
J. Johnson 7
Quick 8

There it is, again Curry is easily the most valuble goalie!

alfablue

03-14-2007, 01:31 PM

Looking over past years, to win as a goalie takes a Hurculean effort- I don't think Brown really stands a chance, either. So take a great (and I do belive he is) goalie on an average team, and there is no way Jakaitis going to be considered.

The year Miller won, he stood on his head a lot to get shut outs.

Really, IMHO, if a goalie wins the Hobey, it's more of a mark of the overall team D being the best of the best more than just the goalie. But forwards just have to score a lot. Remember when Brian Holzinger won, BGSU didn't even make the NCAA's.

It's a totally different measurement stick for goalies. Miller had a .950 SV, 1.32 GAA, plus 10 SO when he won in 2001.

Craig P.

03-14-2007, 02:44 PM

Now to find the goaltending MVP, we figure out which of these team's offenses sucked the most...

1. Wisco - 54
2. Vermont - 53
3. LSSU - 44
4. BU - 41
5. UMD - 40
6. UMass - 29
7. SCSU - 13
8. Clarkson - 6
9. Notre Dame - 7
10. UNH - 4

Personally, I think this is of dubious quality as a bonus to the goaltender. It could equally mean that the team is sacrificing play in the offensive zone to keep the score down, which may play to the goaltender's strengths — seeing a lot of shots from the outside, but not a lot of odd-man chances, that sort of thing.

Having said that, despite the relative scoring prowess of ND, the team is excellent on defense and one of the things that I find really remarkable about their play this season is how ably they are able to pinch defensemen in on offense without giving up rushes the other way.

Laker-Blue

03-14-2007, 04:32 PM

You're saying it like it's fact that he's the best, and that's just your opinion. What is fact is the fact remains that even with Jakaitis, the LSSU Lakers are outside looking in. The BU Terriers are going to regionals and wouldn't even be going without John Curry. That's a fact.

What I see with my very biased eyes is that without Curry we're not even seeing this BU team in the Regionals. With him, I believe BU could keep on winning. BU's offense has been so pathetic this year, he's playing with the pressure that he lets in even one goal, his team can lose 1-0 easily.

I understand what you are saying I am sorry to say I have not seen Curry play but I have seen Jakiatis and Brown play and this is my opinion.

I understand the Lakers are on the outside but they only have a chance because of Jakiatis and if you put him on Notre Dame or Michigan, and I would even bet BU, those teams do not loose EVER! He is that good and he has half the talent playing in front of him that those other teams have.

The Lakers are a good team without Great Players. Those other teams are Good teams with Great Players. The Team that plays together will win and that's what the Lakers are doing now.

Of the top 50 goalies in the country there is only one who's team has scored fewer goals and that is Wisconsin. He has to be that good for the Lakers to win and he is!

The Showdown is Friday at 4:30 and the best goalie in the CCHA and possibly the Country will be wearing and Anchor on his jersey.

Laker-Blue

03-14-2007, 04:41 PM

BruteFM

03-14-2007, 04:42 PM

This is how we argue for Jakaitis.

GP W-L-T MIN GA SV SV% GAA
David Brown, Sr, ND 35 27-5-3 2115:51 58 745 .928 1.64
GP W-L-T MIN GA SV SV% GAA
Jeff Jakaitis, Sr, LSSU 33 16-14-3 1933:54 70 1004 .935 2.17

Jakaitis has played in 2 fewer games than Brown and yet Jakaitis has made 259 more saves! LSSU has had trouble with offense in the past few years. When you let in only 1 or 2 goals and still lose or tie the game while be faced with 30 to 40 shots it's kind of hard to get the win record built up. Also, if you have ever seen Jakaitis play you would know that he doesn't just stop the regular shots, he makes at least 5-10 amazing(should have been goals) shots each game. Just last weekend he stopped 81 of 83 shots against miami.

Im not sure why Jakaitis hasn't gotten the recognition he DESERVES but im hoping this weekend will prove to most people that he is the best goalie in the CCHA, possibly even in the nation. Although, I thought last week should have proved it.

There are a couple of things worth pointing out:

- Ryan Miller played on the best defensive team in the country (tops in scoring defense and penalty kill percentage ... just like Notre Dame this year), third-best offensive team in his conference (just like Notre Dame this year), and no one questioned him for it. There were no "he played for a great offensive team" or "his numbers are a product of his defense" arguments. Not saying that David Brown is having a Miller-like season, but I can't see how those arguments are valid now when they weren't back then.

- Lake State's offense does not hang Jakaitis out to dry. When he gives up 2 or goals or less, the Lakers are 14-3-2.

- This is somewhat reminiscent of 2004-2005 when BGSU fans were crying foul for Jordan Sigalet's lack of recognition, citing the greater number of shots he faced than anybody.

I have seen Jakaitis play, this season and others. I saw him down at MSU this year, and he wasn't even the best goaltender on his team that weekend. Pat Inglis totally outplayed him.

I don't mean any of this to disparage Jakaitis. He's an excellent goaltender, one of the best I've seen this year. But he was the difference between the Lakers finishing 8th instead of 10th, and unless he stays on fire and the Lakers win the CCHA tournament, he has no chance to win the Hobey.

Terrierbyassociation

03-14-2007, 04:54 PM

I understand what you are saying I am sorry to say I have not seen Curry play but I have seen Jakiatis and Brown play and this is my opinion.

I understand the Lakers are on the outside but they only have a chance because of Jakiatis and if you put him on Notre Dame or Michigan, and I would even bet BU, those teams do not loose EVER! He is that good and he has half the talent playing in front of him that those other teams have.

The Lakers are a good team without Great Players. Those other teams are Good teams with Great Players. The Team that plays together will win and that's what the Lakers are doing now.

Of the top 50 goalies in the country there is only one who has fewer goals scored by his team and that Wisconsin. He has to be that good for the Lakers to win and he is!

The Showdown is Friday at 4:30 and the best goalie in the CCHA and possibly the Country will be wearing and Anchor on his jersey.

See, it's a bit of a bias, you haven't seen Curry play, I haven't seen Jakaitis play. But I have a strong respect for Jakaitis, he must be a solid goalie to be putting up those kinds of numbers. For those who have followed Lake State all season, ignoring this past weekend where Jakaitis carried his team and faced a flurry of incredible shots, he leads the country in saves, with 1004 saves in less games than the rest of the top goalies, how many of them are high quality shots? A goalie can face 20 shots and make 18 incredible saves, whereas a goalie can face 50 shots and make 50 saves, but rarely be pressed to make an incredible save. Is Jakaitis facing 30+ incredible shots and making that many incredible saves? How good is Jakaitis' defense? Terrible? How aggressive is Jakaitis' offense? They're not very good, judging by their goals scored record, but is that because of a conservative gameplan or ineptness? Do they play a very conservative gameplan and try and score two goals and expect a win?

Also, Curry's defense is very over-rated. He bails them out time and time again. BU has only two good defensive defenseman, Schaeffer and Sullivan, the first pairing is solid. Gilroy is a solid two-way player, but he has given up many an odd man rush when he skates too far into the offensive zone. Gryba takes too many penalties, Strait is getting better, but he's also only a freshman.

I don't know if you're speaking out of your *** because of bias, ignorance, or a combination of the two. Curry has to play his butt off just to get ties. 0-0 ties. AGAINST LOWELL! So unless Jakaitis is a goal scorer, and there is something I don't know about him, I don't know how he could always win with BU's talent. And while Lake State might not have as much talent on paper as ND or BU, you can't say that BU has great players and Lake State doesn't, maybe BU has more good players than Lake State, but there have been many times where only Curry has shown up on the whole team. BU doesn't have any great players right now besides Curry, and the forwards have really underperformed their talent.

It feels like you think this is a comparison just between Brown and Jakaitis. Your arguments might have weight against Brown, I don't believe they do, but they have significantly more merit than comparing Jakaitis to Curry.

Edit: Also, if you're going to make arguments like your last post, Laker Blue, which I didn't see, post Curry's stats also. And, the Hobey is supposed to be for this year, not an award to reward a great career, just this season. The Hobey also has to do with leadership, and Curry is a leader on the ice for the Terriers with Sean Sullivan and Kenny Roche.

Curry:
04/05 05/06 06/07
GAA: 1.97 2.24 1.84
SV: .923 .918 .934