The notion was thrown around earlier in the season half-seriously, but there’s no joking about it these days: Tim Thomas has a good shot at both the Vezina and the Hart Trophy.

Seriously. 

The Vezina thing is old news. Thomas leads the league in every telling statistic but wins (he’s second), and in some cases, he leads by an impressive margin. His 1.81 goals against average is 0.30 goals per game better than that of Nashville’s Pekka Rinne (2.11). His .945 save percentage, if sustained over the rest of the regular season, would crush Dominik Hasek’s .937 mark in 1998-99 for the best of all time. 

Hasek won the Hart in that 1998-99 season (as well as the previous one), and he currently stands as one of just six goaltenders to win the award that has been given to the league’s most valuable player since 1923-24. The most recent netminder to win it was Jose Theodore, who won it in 2001-02 with the Canadiens. Theodore had a 2.11 GAA and .931 save percentage to go along with seven shutouts (as many as Thomas has through the first 50 games of the season) and 30 wins. 

Thomas is on pace to obliterate each of those statistics (he’s on pace for 11 shutouts and 39 wins), but when it comes to goaltenders and the Hart, there’s always a debate. Much like pitchers receiving the MVP awards in baseball, the discussion of whether a position that already receives a high-profile award (the Cy Young in baseball’s case) should also be considered for the biggest individual award is a popular one. 

Should Thomas keep it up, he will be in that discussion for the Hart along with Lightning center Steven Stamkos, and, depending on when he returns from his current concussion, Penguins center Sidney Crosby. Stamkos leads the league in both goals (38) and points (67) and has played in all 51 of Tampa Bay’s games. He has averaged .75 goals per game and currently stands as Thomas’ biggest challenge to becoming the first Bruin since Phil Esposito in the 1973-74 season to win the Hart.

If Thomas does win, or even if he’s a serious contender come the end of the season, the argument of whether the netminder should be limited to the Vezina will come up once again.

“The last [goalie] to win [the Hart] was Theodore, and I didn’t agree with it back then, but I might agree with it more [in the case of] Timmy,” forward Mark Recchi said Monday. “It’s hard to say. If they’re the best player, they’re the best player, because they do play, but the problem is that they don’t play every night.”

“He’s going to play [a projected 59] games. That’s the problem. The players play 82 games. It’s just as important, but [goalies] have got the back-up to come in and help them. That’s where you run into the [debate of] whether they should win the Hart or not. 

Indeed it is. The goalies don’t play each night, yet they rack up more ice time than the guys who do get in every game. While Recchi can understand each side’s argument, Thomas’ stats stand out more so than any other player, regardless of position.  

“Hey, his numbers are the most incredible. Vezina hands-down,” Recchi said. “It’s not even a question. It’s a runaway right now. But I think you can have a pretty good debate with [the Hart].”

Recchi, who turns 43 on Tuesday, has certainly been around the league long enough to know the story when it comes to goaltenders and the Hart. He played in the same division as Hasek in both of the Czech goalie’s MVP seasons, and saw the Hasek’s Sabres sweep his Canadiens in the second round of the 1997-98 playoffs.

“He and Patrick [Roy] were probably [the best goalies] back then, and Marty [Brodeur] was just coming in and breaking all kinds of records in Jersey,” Recchi recalled Monday. “Those three guys were the elite at the time.”

Recchi feels the best goaltending he’s seen in his career is coming in his 23rd year in the NHL. 

“For one year, he sure is,” Recchi said when asked if Thomas’ 2010-11 campaign is challenging the performances of Hasek in the 90s. “I don’t know if we’ve ever seen numbers like this. The save percentage is incredible. It’s incredible.

“And I don’t see him slowing down. He’s just focused, and it’s great. It’s a great thing to see.”

The more people see of it, the more people will at least ask the question of whether Thomas being the league’s MVP is realistic. Thomas, who was expected to be a backup to Tuukka Rask heading into the season, has made a big enough statement with his brilliant first half. There’s no arguing when it comes to that, but if he keeps it up, he’s sure to be responsible for the next installment of the Hart argument.