With Craig Billington's win over the two-headed monster, the final four is now set with the top two seeds in the tournment each battling one of the ghosts of hockey's past. Today, it's Alain Chevrier's turn to take a run at the Finals against the PPP-fueled Goliath, Andrew Raycroft.
(14) Alain Chevrier
It's almost hard to believe that Chevrier was so bad during the 80's and yet never had a chance to play for the Leafs. Maybe he just needed a bit more time. That he didn't get it should come as no surprise. Of Chevrier's five seasons with at least 20 games played, he finished in the bottom five in either GAA or Sv % in three of them, which is the most consistently terrible results of any goalie in the tournament. The gap between his actual save percentage (.864) and what an average goalie would be expected to achieve in those seasons (.879) is also the widest of any goalie in the tournament. Alain Chevrier is irredeemably awful, his career a brief look into how the awesome goalie on your beer league team might fare in the NHL. Alain Chevrier is deserving of a spot in the Finals.
Notable Seasons (min. 20 GP): Bottom five GAA in 1986-87; worst Sv % in 1989-90; bottom five Sv % in 1985-86.
Career v. Average: .864 on 6,197 shots compared to .879 expected.
Here's how Chevrier compares to league average and to his teammates in every season he played at least 20 games:
(2) Andrew Raycroft
Raycroft might not be quite as consistently terrible as Chevrier, and the gap between himself and average is only about half as wide, but there's something about the raised expectations of a Calder Trophy that makes him just as deserving of a spot in the Finals. After raising expectations with his Calder-winning season, Raycroft went on to post an .893 save percentage over the rest of his career (average would have been .907), which lasted another seven seasons and a total of 5,287 shots. That original promise makes the fall that much harder to live with for fans who watched him all those awful nights, and particularly for fans of the Maple Leafs who actually watched their team give up a princely sum for the privilege. If they come here to stuff the ballot box, I can't say that I blame them.
Notable Seasons (min. 20 GP): Bottom five GAA in 2005-06; worst Sv % in 2005-06.
Career v. Average: .900 on 7,339 shots compared to .908 expected.
Here's how Raycroft compares to league average and to his teammates in every season he played at least 20 games:
The Bracket: