Throughout the various hockey-related forums that I go to there always seems to be a topic about Tim Thomas and his legitimacy as a goalie. Many Boston Bruins fans feel Thomas is in the top 5 elite goaltenders in the league, while fans of other teams see him as a fluke.

So we here at Something’s Bruin want to know one thing:

Does winning a Vezina Trophy automatically garner respect for Tim Thomas?

Many will look at this season and deem Thomas a one-trick pony, but to fully respect Thomas as a goaltender, one has to look at the complete body of work.

Year	GP	Wins	Losses	GAA	S%	SO
2005-2006	38	12	13	2.77	.915	1
2006-2007	66	30	29	3.13	.905	3
2007-2008	58	28	19	2.44	.921	3
2008-2009	54	36	11	2.10	.933	5

The 2005-2006 season is a wash, in my eyes, because Thomas was splitting time with Steve Shields and Shields was designated as the starter. In 2006-2007 season, Thomas was given full reign on the team and by those numbers, her certainly didn’t disappoint.
Is the 3.13 average a little high? Sure, but what do you expect?

Let’s take a look at Broduer when he first came into the league. His first full season was in the 1995-1996 season. Broduer played 77 games, had a record of 34-30-12, a GAA of 2.34 and a S% of .911. Those are pretty similar numbers to Thomas’ first season, although many people will be sure to point out age differences.

What about Hasek? Hasek was a Vezina Trophy winner in this current decade. Hasek’s first full season was in the 1993-1994 season where he played 58 games for the Buffalo Sabres. In that season, Hasek went 30-20-6 with an astonishing 1.95 GAA and a S% of .930. Obviously these stats are much better than what Thomas produced his first full season.

“But Pezell, you’re comparing Tim Thomas to two legends in Hasek and Broduer!” I am well aware what I’m doing as I’m trying to prove a point. Thomas has put up pretty similar numbers his first full season, then continued to get better despite getting the nod in his lower-, and now mid-30s.

The way I see it, a Vezina Trophy can mean praise (Kiprusoff, Broduer) or it could be a damning point for a goalie (Theodore, Kolzig) that eventually will fade into oblivion after a stellar season.

So what’s your take on this? Does Tim Thomas deserve some respect based off of his track record right now and the fact he is a Vezina winner or will he suffer the same fate of Theodore and Kolzig and kind of fade into obscurity?