From David Pollak’s entry in Working the Corners:
Finally, I’m just catching up to the fact that Martin Brodeur, not Evgeni Nabokov won the Vezina Trophy tonight. The GMs, not the media, vote on this one so it’s harder to explain the usual East Coast bias. I think maybe you just chalk it up to bad judgment.
Read the full entry here.
I completely disagree with Pollak here. Nabokov played on a far superior team than Brodeur did. If you look closely at the two rosters, they really are not comparable. The Sharks are loaded with speed and talent. Nabokov played extremely well, however, he was rarely relied on to carry the club.
On the other hand, Brodeur had a weak defense in front of him and played for a team that had trouble scoring goals. The Devils relied on his services far more than the Sharks did Nabokov’s.
The GMs made the right decision.