This analysis comes from the view-point of a Torrent fan who thought he had a claim that Seattle's defense was letting their goalies down the most. Every shot looked like it was uncontested, opponents were able to take the puck wherever they pleased and however long they wanted. Surely we had to be the team relying on our keeper(s) the most.
Then I looked at Ottawa.
Goaltenders
On paper, the short list for GotY looks like a close race with Desbiens leading most common categories: Save Percentage, GSAX (Goals Saved Against Expected), Penalty Kill Save Percentage — you name it, she probably tops the list.
These statistics, however, focus on percentages and not raw numbers. What they fail to account for is the sheer volume of shots Philips had to face, especially compared to Desbiens or Frankel.
Below is a side-by-side of the three GotY finalists. At even strength it's nearly a tie between Desbiens and Philips. Across all strengths, Desbiens shows a distinctive lead — she excels even when her team is a player down.
But look at shot and save totals, and the picture changes. Playing every game, facing every shot, Philips didn't get a break all year. Even accounting for other teams playing multiple goaltenders, Ottawa still had 100+ more shots reach Philips than Boston or Montreal saw against their starters — so there were clearly other factors at play.
|
MTL
Ann-Renée Desbiens
|
BOS
Aerin Frankel
|
OTT
Gwyneth Philips
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Shots faced | 620 | 665 | 851 |
| Saves | 592 | 631 | 786 |
| GA | 28 | 34 | 65 |
| Save % | 95.5% | 94.9% | 92.4% |
| GSAx | +14.8 | +10.9 | +3.1 |
| xGA | 42.8 | 44.9 | 68.1 |
| HD Save % | 89.3% | 90.1% | 87.5% |
Highlighted cell = leader among the three goalies in that stat. For GA and xGA, lower is better.
|
MTL
Ann-Renée Desbiens
|
BOS
Aerin Frankel
|
OTT
Gwyneth Philips
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Shots faced | 249 | 94 | 241 |
| Saves | 234 | 84 | 224 |
| GA | 15 | 10 | 17 |
| Save % | 94.0% | 89.4% | 92.9% |
| GSAx | +4.0 | -3.1 | +0.6 |
| xGA | 19.0 | 6.9 | 17.6 |
| HD Save % | 93.0% | 72.7% | 88.8% |
Highlighted cell = leader among the three goalies in that stat. For GA and xGA, lower is better.
|
MTL
Ann-Renée Desbiens
|
BOS
Aerin Frankel
|
OTT
Gwyneth Philips
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Shots faced | 869 | 759 | 1,092 |
| Saves | 826 | 715 | 1,010 |
| GA | 43 | 44 | 82 |
| Save % | 95.1% | 94.2% | 92.5% |
| GSAx | +18.8 | +7.8 | +3.7 |
| xGA | 61.8 | 51.8 | 85.7 |
| HD Save % | 90.4% | 88.0% | 87.7% |
Highlighted cell = leader among the three goalies in that stat. For GA and xGA, lower is better.
|
MTL
Ann-Renée Desbiens
|
BOS
Aerin Frankel
|
OTT
Gwyneth Philips
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Shots faced | 400 | 437 | 574 |
| Saves | 384 | 416 | 540 |
| GA | 16 | 21 | 34 |
| Save % | 96.0% | 95.2% | 94.1% |
| GSAx | +14.4 | +10.9 | +15.1 |
| xGA | 30.4 | 31.9 | 49.1 |
| HD Save % | 88.8% | 90.5% | 89.2% |
Highlighted cell = leader among the three goalies in that stat. For GA and xGA, lower is better.
|
MTL
Ann-Renée Desbiens
|
BOS
Aerin Frankel
|
OTT
Gwyneth Philips
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Shots faced | 172 | 54 | 163 |
| Saves | 164 | 50 | 152 |
| GA | 8 | 4 | 11 |
| Save % | 95.3% | 92.6% | 93.3% |
| GSAx | +6.0 | +0.1 | +1.8 |
| xGA | 14.0 | 4.1 | 12.8 |
| HD Save % | 92.3% | 90.9% | 92.2% |
Highlighted cell = leader among the three goalies in that stat. For GA and xGA, lower is better.
|
MTL
Ann-Renée Desbiens
|
BOS
Aerin Frankel
|
OTT
Gwyneth Philips
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Shots faced | 572 | 491 | 737 |
| Saves | 548 | 466 | 692 |
| GA | 24 | 25 | 45 |
| Save % | 95.8% | 94.9% | 93.9% |
| GSAx | +20.3 | +11.0 | +16.9 |
| xGA | 44.3 | 36.0 | 61.9 |
| HD Save % | 89.9% | 90.5% | 89.8% |
Highlighted cell = leader among the three goalies in that stat. For GA and xGA, lower is better.
|
MTL
Ann-Renée Desbiens
|
BOS
Aerin Frankel
|
OTT
Gwyneth Philips
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Shots faced | 31 | 48 | 38 |
| Saves | 31 | 46 | 36 |
| GA | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Save % | 100.0% | 95.8% | 94.7% |
| GSAx | +1.8 | +0.5 | +1.2 |
| xGA | 1.8 | 2.5 | 3.2 |
| HD Save % | 100.0% | 83.3% | 94.1% |
Highlighted cell = leader among the three goalies in that stat. For GA and xGA, lower is better.
|
MTL
Ann-Renée Desbiens
|
BOS
Aerin Frankel
|
OTT
Gwyneth Philips
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Shots faced | 8 | 8 | 14 |
| Saves | 6 | 7 | 12 |
| GA | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Save % | 75.0% | 87.5% | 85.7% |
| GSAx | -1.5 | -0.4 | -0.8 |
| xGA | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.2 |
| HD Save % | 100.0% | 50.0% | 77.8% |
Highlighted cell = leader among the three goalies in that stat. For GA and xGA, lower is better.
|
MTL
Ann-Renée Desbiens
|
BOS
Aerin Frankel
|
OTT
Gwyneth Philips
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Shots faced | 39 | 56 | 52 |
| Saves | 37 | 53 | 48 |
| GA | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Save % | 94.9% | 94.6% | 92.3% |
| GSAx | +0.2 | +0.1 | +0.4 |
| xGA | 2.2 | 3.1 | 4.4 |
| HD Save % | 100.0% | 75.0% | 88.5% |
Highlighted cell = leader among the three goalies in that stat. For GA and xGA, lower is better.
|
MTL
Ann-Renée Desbiens
|
BOS
Aerin Frankel
|
OTT
Gwyneth Philips
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Shots faced | 154 | 117 | 172 |
| Saves | 145 | 110 | 151 |
| GA | 9 | 7 | 21 |
| Save % | 94.2% | 94.0% | 87.8% |
| GSAx | -0.7 | -0.7 | -11.4 |
| xGA | 8.3 | 6.3 | 9.6 |
| HD Save % | 89.8% | 89.2% | 82.0% |
Highlighted cell = leader among the three goalies in that stat. For GA and xGA, lower is better.
|
MTL
Ann-Renée Desbiens
|
BOS
Aerin Frankel
|
OTT
Gwyneth Philips
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Shots faced | 34 | 15 | 38 |
| Saves | 32 | 13 | 37 |
| GA | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Save % | 94.1% | 86.7% | 97.4% |
| GSAx | -0.3 | -1.3 | +0.7 |
| xGA | 1.7 | 0.7 | 1.7 |
| HD Save % | 90.9% | 75.0% | 90.9% |
Highlighted cell = leader among the three goalies in that stat. For GA and xGA, lower is better.
|
MTL
Ann-Renée Desbiens
|
BOS
Aerin Frankel
|
OTT
Gwyneth Philips
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Shots faced | 188 | 132 | 210 |
| Saves | 177 | 123 | 188 |
| GA | 11 | 9 | 22 |
| Save % | 94.1% | 93.2% | 89.5% |
| GSAx | -1.0 | -2.1 | -10.8 |
| xGA | 10.0 | 6.9 | 11.2 |
| HD Save % | 90.0% | 87.8% | 83.3% |
Highlighted cell = leader among the three goalies in that stat. For GA and xGA, lower is better.
Caveat: Abstreiter (MTL) faced 150 shots, bringing the team total to 1,062. Levy (BOS) faced 63 shots, bringing the team total to 886 — both teams still lagging the shots-against total for Ottawa. MTL and OTT also played 4 extra games against each other in the finals, so Frankel's shots-faced count will naturally be lower.
Defense
Why is Gwyneth Philips seeing so many more shots? What are Boston and Montreal doing differently that produces that stark a gap? In short: they get in the way.
Below: how often skaters block shots vs. goals against per opposing attempt. Bottom-right quadrant = high block %, lower goals-against. Top-left = low block %, higher goals-against.
This is where my victim complex as a Torrent fan fell apart. The only teams making it into the right half of the graph are Boston, Montreal, and Vancouver. With Montreal far and away the highest shot-blocking team and Ottawa the lowest, it becomes clearer how often Philips was relied on.
The table below shows raw shot-against totals — blocks by defenders and saves by the goaltender. There's a wide gap in blocked-shot rate between the top of this list and Ottawa. Gwyneth Philips is doing a lot of the saving on her own, with the lowest shot-block support from her teammates in the league.
| Team | SA-Ag | Blocks | Reached | Block % | vs avg | GA/att | Sv % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTL | 1157 | 400 | 757 | 34.6% | +4.6pp | 3.54% | 94.58% |
| VAN | 1243 | 387 | 856 | 31.1% | +1.1pp | 6.52% | 90.54% |
| BOS | 1127 | 343 | 784 | 30.4% | +0.4pp | 3.82% | 94.52% |
| NY | 1125 | 341 | 784 | 30.3% | +0.3pp | 7.29% | 89.54% |
| TOR | 1213 | 363 | 850 | 29.9% | -0.1pp | 5.69% | 91.88% |
| SEA | 1326 | 394 | 932 | 29.7% | -0.3pp | 6.71% | 90.45% |
| MIN | 1157 | 331 | 826 | 28.6% | -1.4pp | 6.31% | 91.16% |
| OTT | 1237 | 314 | 923 | 25.4% | -4.6pp | 5.82% | 92.20% |
League average block %: 30.0%.
| Team | SA-Ag | Blocks | Reached | Block % | vs avg | GA/att | Sv % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIN | 223 | 80 | 143 | 35.9% | +4.9pp | 4.48% | 93.01% |
| MTL | 364 | 115 | 249 | 31.6% | +0.6pp | 4.12% | 93.98% |
| BOS | 133 | 39 | 94 | 29.3% | -1.7pp | 7.52% | 89.36% |
| OTT | 331 | 90 | 241 | 27.2% | -3.8pp | 5.14% | 92.95% |
League average block %: 31.0%.
| Team | SA-Ag | Blocks | Reached | Block % | vs avg | GA/att | Sv % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTL | 1521 | 515 | 1006 | 33.9% | +3.8pp | 3.68% | 94.43% |
| VAN | 1243 | 387 | 856 | 31.1% | +1.0pp | 6.52% | 90.54% |
| BOS | 1260 | 382 | 878 | 30.3% | +0.2pp | 4.21% | 93.96% |
| NY | 1125 | 341 | 784 | 30.3% | +0.2pp | 7.29% | 89.54% |
| TOR | 1213 | 363 | 850 | 29.9% | -0.2pp | 5.69% | 91.88% |
| MIN | 1380 | 411 | 969 | 29.8% | -0.3pp | 6.01% | 91.43% |
| SEA | 1326 | 394 | 932 | 29.7% | -0.4pp | 6.71% | 90.45% |
| OTT | 1568 | 404 | 1164 | 25.8% | -4.3pp | 5.68% | 92.35% |
League average block %: 30.1%.
| Team | SA-Ag | Blocks | Reached | Block % | vs avg | GA/att | Sv % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTL | 748 | 268 | 480 | 35.8% | +5.0pp | 3.07% | 95.21% |
| VAN | 850 | 271 | 579 | 31.9% | +1.0pp | 5.18% | 92.40% |
| NY | 695 | 219 | 476 | 31.5% | +0.7pp | 5.32% | 92.23% |
| BOS | 742 | 231 | 511 | 31.1% | +0.3pp | 3.37% | 95.11% |
| MIN | 772 | 237 | 535 | 30.7% | -0.2pp | 5.44% | 92.15% |
| TOR | 848 | 255 | 593 | 30.1% | -0.8pp | 5.07% | 92.75% |
| SEA | 855 | 257 | 598 | 30.1% | -0.8pp | 6.08% | 91.30% |
| OTT | 834 | 214 | 620 | 25.7% | -5.2pp | 4.56% | 93.87% |
League average block %: 30.9%.
| Team | SA-Ag | Blocks | Reached | Block % | vs avg | GA/att | Sv % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIN | 145 | 51 | 94 | 35.2% | +6.4pp | 4.14% | 93.62% |
| BOS | 75 | 21 | 54 | 28.0% | -0.8pp | 5.33% | 92.59% |
| MTL | 237 | 65 | 172 | 27.4% | -1.4pp | 3.38% | 95.35% |
| OTT | 216 | 53 | 163 | 24.5% | -4.2pp | 5.09% | 93.25% |
League average block %: 28.8%.
| Team | SA-Ag | Blocks | Reached | Block % | vs avg | GA/att | Sv % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTL | 985 | 333 | 652 | 33.8% | +3.2pp | 3.15% | 95.25% |
| VAN | 850 | 271 | 579 | 31.9% | +1.3pp | 5.18% | 92.40% |
| NY | 695 | 219 | 476 | 31.5% | +0.9pp | 5.32% | 92.23% |
| MIN | 917 | 288 | 629 | 31.4% | +0.8pp | 5.23% | 92.37% |
| BOS | 817 | 252 | 565 | 30.8% | +0.2pp | 3.55% | 94.87% |
| TOR | 848 | 255 | 593 | 30.1% | -0.6pp | 5.07% | 92.75% |
| SEA | 855 | 257 | 598 | 30.1% | -0.6pp | 6.08% | 91.30% |
| OTT | 1050 | 267 | 783 | 25.4% | -5.2pp | 4.67% | 93.74% |
League average block %: 30.6%.
| Team | SA-Ag | Blocks | Reached | Block % | vs avg | GA/att | Sv % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTL | 112 | 73 | 39 | 65.2% | +13.2pp | 0.89% | 97.44% |
| TOR | 110 | 61 | 49 | 55.5% | +3.5pp | 3.64% | 91.84% |
| OTT | 94 | 52 | 42 | 55.3% | +3.3pp | 2.13% | 95.24% |
| VAN | 112 | 58 | 54 | 51.8% | -0.2pp | 1.79% | 96.30% |
| SEA | 145 | 75 | 70 | 51.7% | -0.3pp | 4.83% | 90.00% |
| BOS | 107 | 55 | 52 | 51.4% | -0.6pp | 2.80% | 94.23% |
| NY | 138 | 59 | 79 | 42.8% | -9.2pp | 7.25% | 87.34% |
| MIN | 111 | 47 | 64 | 42.3% | -9.7pp | 3.60% | 93.75% |
League average block %: 52.0%.
| Team | SA-Ag | Blocks | Reached | Block % | vs avg | GA/att | Sv % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTL | 26 | 18 | 8 | 69.2% | +11.4pp | 7.69% | 75.00% |
| OTT | 33 | 19 | 14 | 57.6% | -0.3pp | 6.06% | 85.71% |
| MIN | 11 | 6 | 5 | 54.5% | -3.3pp | 0.00% | 100.00% |
| BOS | 16 | 8 | 8 | 50.0% | -7.8pp | 6.25% | 87.50% |
League average block %: 57.8%.
| Team | SA-Ag | Blocks | Reached | Block % | vs avg | GA/att | Sv % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTL | 138 | 91 | 47 | 65.9% | +13.7pp | 2.17% | 93.62% |
| OTT | 127 | 71 | 56 | 55.9% | +3.6pp | 3.15% | 92.86% |
| TOR | 110 | 61 | 49 | 55.5% | +3.2pp | 3.64% | 91.84% |
| VAN | 112 | 58 | 54 | 51.8% | -0.5pp | 1.79% | 96.30% |
| SEA | 145 | 75 | 70 | 51.7% | -0.6pp | 4.83% | 90.00% |
| BOS | 123 | 63 | 60 | 51.2% | -1.1pp | 3.25% | 93.33% |
| MIN | 122 | 53 | 69 | 43.4% | -8.8pp | 3.28% | 94.20% |
| NY | 138 | 59 | 79 | 42.8% | -9.5pp | 7.25% | 87.34% |
League average block %: 52.3%.
| Team | SA-Ag | Blocks | Reached | Block % | vs avg | GA/att | Sv % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NY | 207 | 32 | 175 | 15.5% | +4.4pp | 12.08% | 85.71% |
| BOS | 179 | 27 | 152 | 15.1% | +4.0pp | 5.59% | 93.42% |
| VAN | 183 | 22 | 161 | 12.0% | +1.0pp | 9.84% | 88.82% |
| MTL | 214 | 23 | 191 | 10.7% | -0.3pp | 5.61% | 93.72% |
| MIN | 179 | 18 | 161 | 10.1% | -1.0pp | 9.50% | 89.44% |
| SEA | 223 | 22 | 201 | 9.9% | -1.2pp | 8.52% | 90.55% |
| TOR | 173 | 16 | 157 | 9.2% | -1.8pp | 8.67% | 90.45% |
| OTT | 201 | 12 | 189 | 6.0% | -5.1pp | 11.94% | 87.30% |
League average block %: 11.1%.
| Team | SA-Ag | Blocks | Reached | Block % | vs avg | GA/att | Sv % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTL | 40 | 6 | 34 | 15.0% | +4.6pp | 5.00% | 94.12% |
| BOS | 17 | 2 | 15 | 11.8% | +1.4pp | 11.76% | 86.67% |
| OTT | 42 | 4 | 38 | 9.5% | -0.9pp | 2.38% | 97.37% |
| MIN | 19 | 1 | 18 | 5.3% | -5.1pp | 15.79% | 83.33% |
League average block %: 10.4%.
| Team | SA-Ag | Blocks | Reached | Block % | vs avg | GA/att | Sv % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NY | 207 | 32 | 175 | 15.5% | +4.3pp | 12.08% | 85.71% |
| BOS | 196 | 29 | 167 | 14.8% | +3.7pp | 6.12% | 92.81% |
| VAN | 183 | 22 | 161 | 12.0% | +0.9pp | 9.84% | 88.82% |
| MTL | 254 | 29 | 225 | 11.4% | +0.3pp | 5.51% | 93.78% |
| SEA | 223 | 22 | 201 | 9.9% | -1.3pp | 8.52% | 90.55% |
| MIN | 198 | 19 | 179 | 9.6% | -1.5pp | 10.10% | 88.83% |
| TOR | 173 | 16 | 157 | 9.2% | -1.9pp | 8.67% | 90.45% |
| OTT | 243 | 16 | 227 | 6.6% | -4.5pp | 10.29% | 88.99% |
League average block %: 11.1%.
This also undersells the pressure teams like Montreal apply on opponents, since the table only shows official stats. It's reasonable to infer that even the shots that do reach Desbiens or Frankel come from worse positions or under heavier contest than the shots Philips sees.
Conclusion
Gwyneth Philips is over-performing, and deserves Goaltender of the Year.
To even be close — let alone ahead in some categories — with Desbiens and Frankel across the board is an incredible feat. And she's doing it with arguably the least impactful defense in the league. She has my vote.
Special Shoutout
You probably noticed that Vancouver snuck into the above-average blocked-shots quadrant. That's largely on the heroics of Sophie Jaques, with 78 blocks this season. The next-closest Goldeneye is Claire Thompson, at 32.