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ValorX77 · 08-11-2024, 07:08 PM

When discussing some of the greatest goalies in the history of the Simulation Hockey League, two names come to mind, Harry Carpet and Mat Smith. In this deep dive, we will look at their careers and stats in both the J and the main SHL league to determine who had a better career.

The J Years:

Carpet:

Season League Team GP W L OTL MP PIM SO GA SA A EGA PSA PSS Starts Backups
S46 SMJHL LBL 14 5 6 2 788 0 1 34 313 0 0 3 9 13 37
S47 SMJHL LBL 22 7 6 3 1109 2 1 53 438 0 0 17 11 19 31
S48 SMJHL LBL 44 22 21 1 2599 4 1 132 1162 1 3 12 37 44 2
Total 80 34 33 6 4496 6 3 219 1913 1 3 32 57 76 70

As you can see, Carpet spent most of his time in Lethbridge as a backup, but his starts, especially if you look at his save percentage during the time, not once did he break over a .900 save percentage. He was okay, but the portal data for awards only goes back to S51, by that point, Carpy was in the SHL. (This was during the STHS era so some stats like Sv% were fine at the time compared to the FHM8 era of today)

Smith:

Season Team GP MP W L OTL SHA SAV GA GAA SO SV% GR
58 QCC 34 2049 23 7 3 818 751 67 1.96 6 0.918 70
57 QCC 41 2371 31 5 5 1178 1084 94 2.38 6 0.920 72
56 QCC 37 2174 14 20 3 1174 1069 105 2.90 5 0.911 71
55 QCC 23 1273 6 13 0 873 790 83 3.91 0 0.905 68
Career 135 7867 74 45 11 4043 3694 349 2.79 17 0.913 70

Smith took advantage of being a waiver pickup of an already strong Citadelles team, winning the Jack Cross award for most underrated in S55, and earning nominations for the Alex Light and Cedric Robinson awards. He would also be a backup for the S57 Chicago Syndicate team winning the challenge cup. He would also win the S58 4 Star Cup with Quebec as well. (This was during the FHM6 Era}

Now, comparing them in the J is a bit of a crapshoot since both played their J seasons in different eras of the sim such as STHS in the case of Carpet and FHM6 in the case of Smith. To give a fair comparison, we must now analyze their SHL careers.

Carpet:

Season League Team GP W L OTL MP PIM SO GA SA A EGA PSA PSS Starts Backups
S47 SHL TOR 1 1 0 0 60 0 0 3 29 0 0 0 0 1 0
S48 SHL TOR 5 4 1 0 304 0 0 16 149 0 0 4 5 5 0
S49 SHL TOR 44 18 24 2 2659 4 2 148 1543 4 2 20 31 44 6
S50 SHL TOR 44 23 19 2 2646 2 1 145 1558 0 1 3 44 44 6
S51 SHL TOR 44 18 23 3 2651 8 3 134 1560 3 4 14 25 44 6
S52 SHL TOR 44 19 18 7 2665 4 2 137 1604 0 1 11 28 44 6
Total 182 83 85 14 10985 18 8 583 6443 7 8 52 133 182 24

Season Team GP MP W L OTL SHA SAV GA GAA SO SV% GR
69 TOR 36 1941 9 24 0 1506 1349 157 4.85 1 0.896 73
68 TOR 31 1748 22 6 1 904 799 105 3.60 2 0.884 66
67 TOR 40 2403 27 11 2 1126 1034 92 2.30 4 0.918 75
66 TOR 52 3066 29 21 2 1544 1376 168 3.29 1 0.891 68
65 TOR 51 3008 27 21 3 1845 1685 160 3.19 1 0.913 75
64 TOR 56 3148 18 33 2 2392 2193 199 3.79 3 0.917 79
63 TOR 54 3281 31 19 4 1964 1818 146 2.67 5 0.926 80
62 TOR 55 3229 28 22 5 1868 1734 134 2.49 9 0.928 79
61 TOR 58 3242 30 21 3 1675 1535 140 2.59 8 0.916 71
60 TOR 54 3253 34 14 6 1735 1594 141 2.60 4 0.919 78
59 TOR 54 3256 38 13 3 1738 1608 130 2.40 8 0.925 79
58 TOR 48 2845 33 10 5 1378 1265 113 2.38 3 0.918 73
57 TOR 50 2894 26 17 4 1505 1381 124 2.57 6 0.918 73
56 TOR 45 2602 19 23 2 1535 1407 128 2.95 4 0.917 75
55 TOR 48 2561 10 33 1 2028 1858 170 3.98 2 0.916 77
54 TOR 46 2508 10 30 2 1851 1706 145 3.47 4 0.922 78
53 TOR 46 2341 5 34 3 2021 1832 189 4.84 1 0.906 73
Career 824 47326 396 352 48 28615 26174 2441 3.17 66 0.914 75

As you can see, I had to divide up the data into two different eras, as Carpy had his early years in the Pre-FHM era. Carpet had an excellent career where he was nominated 7 times and won it 3 times in S59. S62, and S63. He was also named a first-team all-star 3 times. Unfortunately, before S60, the North Stars and Carpet were stuck in the Great Lakes division, and were stuck behind Chicago, Hamilton, and Buffalo, and never making the playoffs until S58 where they get bounced in the conference finals by Buffalo in an overtime Game 7. Carpet will go down as the greatest player to never win the cup. He was for a while, the SHL's all-time winningest goalie.

Smith:

Season Team GP MP W L OTL SHA SAV GA GAA SO SV% GR
76 CHI 37 1868 11 13 4 1398 1261 137 4.40 1 0.902 76
75 CHI 42 2060 18 13 1 1265 1114 151 4.40 0 0.881 65
74 CHI 46 2416 29 11 2 1482 1345 137 3.40 3 0.908 73
73 CHI 54 3125 26 25 3 1912 1721 191 3.67 0 0.900 74
72 CHI 49 2799 31 14 1 1520 1371 149 3.19 6 0.902 74
71 CHI 55 3229 28 21 5 1847 1645 202 3.75 1 0.891 70
70 CHI 54 3151 29 21 4 1599 1421 178 3.39 3 0.889 68
69 CHI 56 3327 35 15 4 1592 1438 154 2.78 4 0.903 71
68 CHI 54 3216 34 17 3 1417 1262 155 2.89 5 0.891 67
67 CHI 55 3143 29 20 5 1398 1255 143 2.73 6 0.898 68
66 CHI 54 3199 35 14 4 1560 1401 159 2.98 4 0.898 70
65 CHI 53 3121 36 15 1 1695 1558 137 2.63 8 0.919 76
64 CHI 54 3248 41 13 0 1726 1609 117 2.16 2 0.932 81
63 CHI 55 3220 36 15 3 1425 1299 126 2.35 5 0.912 71
62 CHI 54 3272 46 3 5 1621 1508 113 2.07 7 0.930 78
61 CHI 54 3179 32 22 0 1539 1399 140 2.64 2 0.909 70
60 CHI 54 3186 36 16 2 1660 1526 134 2.52 7 0.919 75
59 CHI 54 3238 38 14 2 1343 1216 127 2.35 3 0.905 66
58 CHI 9 537 7 2 0 153 138 15 1.67 0 0.902 59
57 CHI 5 304 4 1 0 100 94 6 1.18 2 0.940 75
56 CHI 3 185 2 0 1 41 39 2 0.65 2 0.951 69
Career 951 55023 583 285 50 28293 25620 2673 2.75 71 0.909 71

Smith found himself in Chicago and often took advantage of a bad Great Lakes division for the first few years before a division realignment moved them westward. During his career, he was named to the first all-star team 3 times, He was a 3-time nominee for the John McBride award, only winning it once in S64, and losing to Carpet in S63. He also won the Mike Honcho Award 3 times and won the Challenge Cup 3 times. Making him one of the greatest goalies of the FHM era.

The Verdict:

If you do not count playoff stats, Carpet had the better overall career sv% and had more McBride awards, while Smith had a better career GAA and had more Honcho awards. I do slightly lean towards in Carpet's favor, it still saddens me to see him win a cup.
(1515 words)

*Carpy48* · 08-12-2024, 04:07 AM

Nice comparison, even though I think it's super difficult to compare careers that were so different, especially if you consider outside factors like STHS.

Minor correction: TOR made the third round in S58 playoffs and was one win away from making the finals and then lost in game 7 in OT. And they also made the playoffs before S53 but for that you'd have to look into STHS data.

Since we know goalie numbers depend A LOT on how the team is performing, Smith benefitted from Chicago (not only, but also during the Great Lakes era) doing so well and only playing during FHM. Wins come a lot easier this way.

Either way, I don't think I could really pick who was better, both were good and records will always be broken.

chetib · 08-16-2024, 01:54 PM

Approved @ValorX77 @CptSquall

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