Without a doubt, ranking goaltenders is one of the toughest projects a pro hockey writer can undertake. Whether it’s a systematic ranking like Central Scouting Service’s draft-eligible goalie rankings, or a casual and personal Top-10 rankings, a considerable amount of controversy will always surround these lists.

Controversy with a goalie ranking stems from each individual reading the list. Everyone comprehends the value of an NHL goalie differently, so a ranking is subjected to many fans lashing out passionately on their own personal validity of that ranking.

The same happens every year with Central Scouting’s International and Domestic goalie rankings. It’s a list of who they, as a group of elite NHL scouts, believe is most proficient draft-eligible goalie at that point in time. But when the goalie is drafted totally depends on the value each goalie holds within an NHL team’s scouting cabinet. It all comes down to where each goalie sits on their short list.

In fact, we all witnessed a perfect example of this during the 2010 NHL Entry Draft last month. Calvin Pickard, who was ranked #1 overall for Domestic goalies, slipped all the way to 49th overall and was passed over by other teams for the #4 ranked Mark Visentin. Scott Wedgewood, ranked 19th overall for Domestic goalies, was drafted by the Devils at a stunning 84th overall. And that’s just scratching the surface - nothing was quite what anyone expected in relation to this year’s final CSS rankings.

If a pro hockey analyst, columnist or budding blogger wants to provide their readers with an accurate, in-depth ranking that spawns intelligent conversation, these writers must learn a very important lesson on how to set up a goalie ranking effectively.

That lesson happens to be simple in concept and extremely effective in manner.

Every goalie ranking MUST be prefaced with a short constitution. By that, we mean a simple introduction with the background, purpose and general guidelines of that ranking. Like you all learned in high school, writers should answer the Five W’s for their readers and distinguish the different guidelines that make up the final ranking.

WHO DOES YOUR RANKING INCLUDE?

A Top-NHL goalies ranking must differentiate all of the goaltenders from one another in a very specific manner. Is it just the 60 goalies that currently hold NHL roles, or does that also include the following 30 goalies that mainly log AHL minutes but have some NHL experience? Since we are in the summer months, a writer should want to distinguish if free-agents are included or not.

Who your list includes will also accomplish the need to determine where and when the ranking is based. State a time frame if necessary – is the ranking over the last decade? Maybe it was based on performances in 2009-10 or maybe it is actually a projection ranking, based on their proposed play in this new 2010-11 season. Those are all important amendments that must be included in the constitution of your list, for they are the laws that make up your ranking.

WHAT DOES YOUR RANKING COVER?

This is the most crucial question to ask, for the sake of your readers and yourself. To ignore this question is to provide weak, lazy and ineffective material. There are many different ways to present and publish a Top-NHL goalies rankings, but here are a few. 

SKILL-BASED RANKING - This would rank the top NHL goalies by skill, and skill alone. Elements like games played, experience, NHL team and tenure are thrown out the window. This is simply who is more efficient at stopping the puck and playing the position at that exact moment in time.

Skill-based rankings are tricky because they can and should be broken down into a few different categories. In our opinion, skill includes a technical component as well as a mental component. So it must be clear what kind of skill you are talking about.

A goalie can be very fast and quick and technically sound, but gives up bad goals at bad times (Tuukka Rask, Jonas Hiller). A goalie can also have weaker footwork and speed, but have the mental toughness to win games by standing on their head (Craig Anderson, Tim Thomas).

PERFORMANCE-BASED RANKING -This would rank the Top NHL goalies by how they performed during a certain time period. To distinguish this from a skill-based ranking, maybe Antti Niemi and Craig Anderson would be included on that list, but omitted on another.

WINNING-BASED RANKING - This would rank the Top NHL goalies by their ability to win a single game. All skill, form, style and NHL team are thrown out the window. This would measure the ability for a goalie to display a combination of the skill and mental prowess to win a game.

STATISTICAL-BASED RANKING -This would rank the top NHL goalies by how they performed statistically. By averaging out their statistics, or by creating an algorithm that weighed individual stats differently, you can create a mathematically-based ranking. This will completely eliminate controversy, but you will have to be very clear on the structure of your computations. Strong statistical-based rankings are not easy to accomplish, but if done correctly, can be very valuable for your readers. An example of some great stats-based rankings are found on Goalie’s World.

FANTASY-BASED RANKING – This would rank the top NHL goalies by how much value they hold in a variety of fantasy leagues. These need to be further broken down into Keeper, One-Year or Dynasty leagues. Statistics from previous years are a major factor in fantasy rankings, so check out our Top-100 Fantasy Prospects Rankings and read our constitution atop the chart, complete with our general mission.

PERSONAL-BASED RANKING - This would rank the top NHL goalies by your personal, perceived value. This will be the most controversial ranking of them all, but as long as you are clear that there are no statistical elements involved, the reader will take it for nothing more than a fun piece of work.

REINFORCING THE RANKING’S MISSION

As you can see, clarity is very important in providing the reader with a quality ranking. Take the time and space to explain the logic and reasoning behind your work. Whether it takes one sentence, one paragraph or one page to explain, it doesn’t matter. The point is that it MUST be there, otherwise your work will appear haphazard and too random to be taken seriously. A writer cannot post a list that ranks elite goalies and expect all readers to absorb it using the same exact guidelines.

One of the reasons our Top-100 Fantasy Keeper Rankings is met with such positive feedback is due to the fact we explain the background of the rankings above the actual chart. We also provide a sentence or two on why every single goalie has slid or risen compared to their previous month’s ranking. We take the time to update, refine, explain and provide readers with links that provide even more background on why they are ranked at a certain spot. We even have a thread in our School of Block forums dedicated to answering questions that all readers have.

Of course this is not plausible for the daily bloggers out there, but there are still very simple steps that can be taken to clarify the ranking you create. Laziness is an evil offspring of blogging, so the longer you spend refining your rankings, the better feedback it will receive. Again, clarity eliminates controversy, so be as specific as possible.

In order to try and clarify some of the aspects of two very popular hockey writers’ recent Top-10 Goalie Rankings, read below. We are not trying to discredit their ability to rank goalies, but merely provide you with some feeback on how these two rankings were published and what we can extract from them.

ADRIAN DATER – VERSUS COLUMNIST – @ADATER

When Adrian Dater’s blog ranking his Top-10 NHL goalies was posted on Versus.com, it was met the following morning with a plenty of skepticism by fans and analysts.

Dater begins his blog by saying, “Who are the top 10 padded guardians of the corded igloo in the NHL right now?” So as a blogger for Versus, it’s clear that the author is going to personally rank his own Top-10 goalies, as of the end of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs. But it gets cloudy from there.

By the end of his introduction, readers are left slightly confused. He discusses the weak-skilled goalies in the Cup Finals, Ken Holland’s cost-efficient goaltending and then the ability of a goalie to get red-hot at the end of the season. There’s a lack of clarity, so we can only guess his rankings are based on last year’s performance, and do not take into account an NHL goalie’s sheer puck-stopping ability.

1. Ryan Miller
2. Ilya Bryzgalov
3. Martin Brodeur
4. Craig Anderson
5. Roberto Luongo
6. Niklas Backstrom
7. Tomas Vokoun
8. Henrik Lundqvist
9. Miikka Kiprusoff
10. Jimmy Howard

In that manner, his personal biases are at the forefront of the list, and therefore open to controversy and flaming from frustrated fans. He states his personal bias with Craig Anderson’s rank at #4 and goes on to include Jimmy Howard at #10 overall.

Both Anderson and Howard were amazing in their own rights last season, and despite their lack of experience compared to the more skilled veterans like Tomas Vokoun and Martin Brodeur, he argues that both Howard and Anderson performed well enough in the playoffs to warrant making the list.

Regardless of how accurate you feel Dater’s goalie ranking happens to be, the truth is that it’s a personal blog and a little unclear as to how the ranking should be absorbed.

Dater followed up his blog with another on his Denver Post “All Things Avs” blog, but this one is centered around Anderson being listed at #4. It provides some very valid points on Anderson’s value, but this same update is not seen on his Versus page, leaving those readers without the same closure. But rest assured that he will receive plenty of fan feedback about it.

GREG WYSHYNSKI – YAHOO’S PUCK DADDY - @WYSHYNSKI  

Greg Wyshynski, affectionately referred to as Puck Daddy, had some qualms with Dater’s list and decided to post his own Top-10 ranking as well.

In his blog posted on Thursday morning, Wyshynski prefaced his ranking by questioning some of Dater’s decisions, but not before he agrees that Ryan Miller is the surefire #1 goalie in the NHL.

1. Ryan Miller
2. Martin Brodeur
3. Tomas Vokoun
4. Roberto Luongo
5. Ilya Bryzgalov
6. Henrik Lundqvist
7. Niklas Backstrom
8. Pekka Rinne
9. Cam Ward
10. Miikka Kiprusoff

With his choice to drop Brodeur in the #2 spot, Wyshynski follows up his ranking with the burning questions that all readers will ask when breaking down a goalie ranking:

“How much do you weigh the impact of a defensive system in front of the goalie, and how much do you weigh the postseason…”

These are great questions to ask, no doubt. But the answer lies within the one that asks the questions. A more effective ranking would pose these questions beforehand, thus leading them to be answered in some form.

So even though we feel Wyshynski’s list is much more accurate compared to Dater’s list, both still beg a number of questions. Whether their specific rankings are for current, previous, personal, fantasy or winning ability, our biggest qualm is how Tuukka Rask could be omitted from both lists. Even as a rookie, he displayed elite skill, plenty of mental toughness and performed better than expected in the playoffs.

But to be honest, these are not questions we feel are worth asking. The truth is that both rankings are personal interpretations, done off the top of their head and mainly for fun. In that manner, it is what it is – a personal list of their favorite goalies in the NHL. Nothing more, nothing less.