Vokoun Earning His Money: Named NHL's 3rd Star of the Week

Written by Andy Green.

New Caps goalie Tomas Vokoun hasn't wasted any time impressing Caps fans; now he's impressing the entire league. Vokoun was named the NHL's Third Star of the Week for last week, doubling his win total with 3 wins, a 1.00 goals-against average, and a .968 save percentage. The 35-year-old Czech keeper posted a 20 save shutout over the rebuilt Florida Panthers on Tuesday before stopping 40 of 42 shots in a 5-2 win over the net-crashing Flyers on Thursday in Philadelphia. The coup de grace was a 32 save performance against the undefeated Red Wings on Saturday in a 7-1 win, a game that could have been much closer without his heroics during several Detroit powerplays.

Considering Vokoun's salary of $1.5 million, the Caps already have half their money's worth after 6 wins. Looking at 12 veteran NHL goaltenders from last season in the middle salary bracket who earned between $1 million and $2.4 million dollars, the numbers show the expectations for a NHL goalie at Vokoun's salary. Those 12 goalies' average salary was $1.45 million, they averaged 29.2 games played, a record of 11.6-10.2-3.7, and 1.4 shutouts. We can expect Vokoun to be the curve buster this season for that salary bracket.

In case you were curious about the 12...

NHL Goalie	2010 Salary	GP	Record	SO
Mike Smith	$2.4 million	22	13-6-1	1
Antero Niittymaki	$2 million	24	12-7-3	0
Chris Mason	$1.6 million	33	13-13-3	1
Dan Ellis	$1.5 million	44	21-10-7	2
Johan Hedberg	$1.5 million	34	15-12-2	3
Ty Conklin	$1.4 million	25	8-8-4	2
Marty Turco	$1.3 million	29	11-11-3	1
Jonas Gustavsson	$1.3 million	23	6-13-2	0
Mathieu Garon	$1.2 million	36	10-14-6	3
Scott Clemmensen	$1.1 million	31	8-11-7	2
Jose Theodore	$1.1 million	32	15-11-3	1
Jason LaBarbera	$1 million	17	7-6-3	2