Goalies are Overrated: the baseball analogy

Let's give this a go.

A batter in baseball is the offense.
A shooter in hockey is the offense.

That part is easy to see.

The fielders in baseball are considered the defense.
The skaters in hockey are considered the defense (based on where the puck is, right? all skaters are both offense and defense)

The fielders in baseball though, do nothing to influence the quality of the batter's hit.
The defense in hockey does everything to influence the quality of a shooter's shot.

The GOALIE is more like the fielders in this case. The goalie guards an area, reacts to the shot and makes the catch or doesn't.
The fielder in baseball guards an area, reacts to a hit, and makes the catch or not.

The skaters in hockey keep the puck away or impede the opponents' ability to get off a good shot.
The pitcher in baseball keeps the ball away from or tries to impede a batter's ability to get a clean hit.

So...
Batters are like shooters.
Fielders are like goalies.
Pitchers are like skaters on defense.

Once the connections are made, it is clear for a baseball fan to see who are the most important components in the game of hockey - which components separate the winners from the losers, because in baseball...

In baseball, a team that relies on great fielding and therefore puts out average pitching will rarely win and never have consistency.
In baseball, when a batter hits the ball to the shortstop who makes an easy grab, the batter is blamed for a bad hit or the pitcher is credited with preventing a good hit. The fielder is not overly praised for a save.
In baseball, when a batter gets a nice clean hit, the pitcher is often pointed at as giving it up. And never are the fielders blamed for it.
In baseball, batters that hit consistently shine because they are difficult to pitch against and they can put the ball where the fielders have no chance of catching it.
In baseball, pitchers get praised for shutouts and saves and wins not the fielders who are certainly important to those accomplishments but mostly replaceable. The pitcher is the one that made it difficult for the batters to put the ball where they wanted.
In baseball, when a fielder makes a great play he is praised but he is not given credit for winning the game, as mentioned - a team that relies on fielders to make big plays will not make it far.
In baseball, when a fielder mis-plays a hit ball, the fielder is discredited and given an error. The pitcher is not blamed. Fielders are expected to catch certain balls every time. A fielder that can't do this will not last long in the game.

Batters are like shooters.
Pitchers are like the defense.
Fielders are like goalies.

The NHL and media heads don't treat goalies like fielders. They seem to think of goalies as pitchers - giving them credit for wins/losses and every save/goal. This is why I have to say Goalies are overrated.