EA Sports continues to tease its release of NHL 15. On Monday it released its top five rated goalies, which led to some scuttlebutt.
Sports video game player ratings are rather arbitrary, so there's not much use getting too upset about a number applied to a virtual character. But that doesn't mean they can't still be critiqued.
First, we'll say that EA Sports has been quite good when it comes to its NHL product. Last July, NHL 14 was ranked the best sports video game at the annual E3 expo. This year's edition, NHL 15, is set to come out in early September, and EA has been counting down the time by slowly revealing different elements of the game.
On Monday, they rolled out the top five rated goaltenders in the game.
5. Pekka Rinne 4. Tuukka Rask 3. Carey Price 1-2. http://t.co/kBMSNfqEWKpic.twitter.com/fTj15V5gtH
— EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) August 4, 2014So who did EA rank ahead of the likes of Carey Price and Tuukkaa Rask?
No. 1 was Henrik Lundqvist, something that probably didn't and shouldn't surprise too many hockey fans. But coming in at No. 2 in a tie with Lundqvist?
2. Jonathan Quick - L.A. Kings - 93 Overall
The former Conn Smythe winner and two time Stanley Cup champion has been one of the league's top netminders for the past five years. Quick challenges shooters with (91) Aggressiveness - but uses his amazing Athletic ability with (91) Speed and Agility to get back into position.
Over the past five years, it's quite difficult to call Quick a top netminder.
His save percentage among active goalies to have played at least 200 games doesn't even crack the top 10. He's coming off a season in which his team won the Stanley Cup, but did so largely in spite of his efforts. In 49 games this past season, Quick posted a .927 save percentage in 5v5 situations when the score was close, which was just the 13th-highest mark in the league. (It's probably not a coincidence that his overall save percentage in the last five years also comes in at 13th.)
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Hate for the Bruins ![]()
Quick didn't fare much better in the 2014 postseason. His overall 5v5 save percentage dipped to .918, and during one stretch he surrendered 13 goals in the final three games of the Western Conference Final against theChicago Blackhawks.
What's more peculiar is that while Lundqvist comes in ahead of Quick on the list, both players have identical overall rankings. Thankfully it's just a video game.