How is Ben Sheets 9-1???

Seriously, I'm not kidding. DUDE IS 9-1! (is there a way to type numbers in capitals? jk)
Yes, THAT Ben Sheets. Injury prone, .500 career pitcher heading into this season (ok, WORSE than .500 career pitcher), the pitcher whose fantasy owners curse drafting him about this time in the season, that same Ben Sheets. This could be the quietest a 9-1 pitcher has ever gone. For those that don't understand the analogy, usually the media is all over a 9-1 pitcher, usually the casual baseball fan knows when a pitcher goes 9-1, especially when it's a mediocre pitcher. We all knew Cliff Lee was off to an amazing start, and Daisuke Matsuzaka, but Ben Sheets?! Where is he coming from? He is a mediocre pitcher no more!

He is pitching the lights out this season. He already has more completed games (3) then he had all last season (2). He looks like the healthy workhorse of his youth, like a young Roy Halladay. He's got a kick ass ERA and SO/BB ratio (fancy baseball lingo). Maybe his injuries are behind him, or maybe his team is actually hitting for him, or maybe it's cause he dropped his deadbeat freeloadin' skank of a wife who was just along for the gravytrain ride. Ok, I'm totally kidding about that last one...but maybe he's dealt with some life issues and now he can focus on being the dominant pitcher he once was.

Ben Sheets could be the best kept "secret" on the best kept secret baseball team in the MLB. Everyone is sleeping on the Brewers, and not aware that Milwaukee's ace is just as good as any pitcher in the Big Leagues! Few remember HE was the pitcher who won the Gold Medal for the U.S. in the 2000 Olympics. Few remember his 264 strikeouts in 2004 (in 237 IP). Not many know he has pitched at least 6 innings in every start this season (14) except for 2 games (5 IP each game, both wins of at least 3 runs in each game). He has also allowed over 3 runs only twice this season. He is top 5 in the MLB in ERA. Ben Sheets is the real deal. Sounds to me like we have a legitimate Cy Young candidate here. One that nobody has realized until now...

Dominik Hasek - Best Goalie Ever?

At first I thought the case couldn't be made. I knew Hasek was a top 10 NHL goalie, maybe top 5 of all-time but could Hasek, one of my top two favourite players of all-time (Pat LaFontaine being the other), be the best goalie of all-time??
I now think so!

Not only has we won at every level he has played at (Olympics, IIHF World Championships, World Juniors, Canada Cup, NHL, etc.) he has the career stats to back it up.

He is the only goalie to have won 2 Hart Trophies. Ever.

He was won SIX Vezina Trophies. (which is what Brodeur and Roy have combined) and that doesn't include the two Vezina's that those Capitals goalies (Jim Carey and Olaf Kolzig) stole from him!

10th in wins all time. Delve into this a bit deeper. He was drafted by the Blackhaws in 1983, and didn't get a chance to start until the 1990-91 season. He played in Chicago for two years, and then for Buffalo for the majority of his career. Buffalo! Yes, that 7 seed who beat the Leafs in the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals. Then he had some injury problems (not like Mario Lemeiux, but still he missed a fair bit of time) and ended his career winning the Cup for Detroit, playing a bit in Ottawa, and finishing with Detroit this past season. And its not like his skill deteriorated, he has been great throughout his career, most of it on mediocre teams which he made great. Plus, the "Wins" stat for goalie doesn't mean that much, like, if Andrew Raycroft is the Leafs all-time record holder for goalie wins in a season well...that pretty much proves that point. A real goalie stat that truly shows how a good a goalie is, is Save Percentage. (goals against is like Wins, more indicitive of the team you are playing on then the goalie's individual skill level, a la Roberto Luongo).

Speaking of Save Percentage, Dominik Hasek is #1 ALL-TIME!
This is the stat that put the light on for me, showing me that Hasek is not only a top 5 goalie of all time, but possibly #1! . 922 Career Save Pct.

6th all time in Shut-Outs isn't that bad either. He is also top 10 in Games, Saves, and Shots Faced. By now you could likely agree that Hasek is a top 5 goalie of all time, and now the case could be made for possibly the best goalie of all time?!

In case you're wondering, those competing with him would be Jacques Plante, Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, and in my opinion, Vladislav Tretiak.