One of the hot topics in around the league is Rinne vs. Price: Who is taking home the Vezina? Most of us who read OTF and watch our Predators play night in and night out are obviously going to say Pekka Rinne. He turns into a god when put between the pipes. I'm sure that if you have talked to any Habs fan, you'll get the same thing. Just sub in Price's name for Rinne. I can't lie, they have an argument about as good as ours. And I recently say some charts that worried me a little in that regard.

Carey Price has been taking a LOT of heat in the crease. Just upon looking at this charts and the near deadlocked numbers these goalies are putting up, it would be tough for an unbiased person to NOT give it to Price. Now at first glance, my first thought was, "WOW. Our defense has really been keeping shooters way outside of the crease." And I believe I'm right. Our defensive core is strong and does an excellent job at keeping other team's forwards out of Rinne's bubble. But could it be something else as well? Well, yeah. Pekka has rebound control that is almost unheard of. One shot, gloves, faceoff. For a bit of compare and contrast, let's look at Hutton and Tokarski (The Hab's backup.

Oh my. With a defensive core like ours, why is Carter Hutton facing SO MANY SHOTS IN THE CREASE? Rebound control. If you are like me, you probably cringe a little every time Hutton gets a shot put in his direction. Not because you think the shot's going to magically just fly in every time (well actually, that may be part of it), but because you know that rebound is bound to leak out somewhere juicy. Dustin Tokarski looks to be facing the same dilemma. Be it rebounds or sketchy defense, there is a lot of heat in the crease.

Upon looking at these charts, I have drawn this conclusion: Rinne should win the Vezina. Sure, Price is playing out of his mind having to face all of those shots right in his space bubble. But Rinne doesn't even put himself in that position. All 4 of these goalie play behind the same D-men night in and night out, and Pekka's chart says it all. He controls the rebounds, and puts himself in the best position to face easier shots. That's the sign of a truly, Vezina worthy goalie.

Feel free to point out some things I may have missed! I'm always lurking around OTF but I rarely actually post comments of my own and this is my first Fanpost. Enjoy!