This is the first in a series of articles designed to determine the greatest players, by position, in National Hockey League history. A daunting task at best. Let’s begin by analyzing the puck stoppers who eat rubber being fired at them at over 100 miles per hour…The Goalies.

The dictionary defines a goalkeeper as, “a player whose chief duty is to prevent the puck from crossing or entering the goal.” Who, in the long and storied history of the National Hockey League has done this task the best?

   

 By the numbers.

Here is a ranking list I compiled using HockeyReference.com. This represents only a starting point for this discussion.

“And the goalie categories for the Jeopardy round are…”

Goaltender	GP	MIN	W	L	T/OT	PTS	PTS%	SO	GA	GAA	SOG	SV	SV%
Patrick Roy	1029	60235	551	315	131	1233	.618	66	2546	2.54	28353	25807	.910
M. Brodeur	978	57790	544	292	127	1215	.631	98	2120	2.20	24506	22386	.913
Ed Belfour	963	55695	484	320	125	1093	.588	76	2317	2.50	24751	22434	.906
Curtis Joseph	932	53645	450	348	95	995	.557	51	2494	2.79	26599	24105	.906
T. Sawchuck	971	57194	447	330	172	1066	.562	103	2389	2.51	N/A	N/A	N/A
Jacque Plante	837	49533	437	246	145	1019	.615	82	1964	2.38	N/A	N/A	N/A
Tony Esposito	886	52585	423	306	151	997	.566	76	2563	2.92	N/A	N/A	N/A
Glen Hall	906	53484	407	326	163	977	.545	84	2222	2.49	N/A	N/A	N/A
Grant Fuhr	868	48945	403	295	114	920	.567	25	2756	3.38	21873	19403	.887
D. Hasek	735	42837	389	223	95	873	.617	81	1572	2.20	20220	18648	.922
Mike Vernon	781	44449	385	273	92	862	.575	27	2206	2.98	19921	17726	.890
Chris Osgood	690	39535	378	199	87	843	.635	47	1622	2.46	17255	15633	.906
J. Vanbiesbrouck	882	50475	374	346	119	867	.517	40	2503	2.98	24678	22176	.899
Andy Moog	713	40151	372	209	88	832	.622	28	2097	3.13	17424	15546	.892
Tom Barrasso	777	44180	369	277	86	824	.563	38	2385	3.24	22090	19705	.892
Rogie Vachon	795	46298	355	291	127	837	.541	51	2310	2.99	N/A	N/A	N/A
Gump Worsley	861	50183	335	352	150	820	.490	43	2407	2.88	N/A	N/A	N/A
Harry Lumley	803	48044	330	329	142	802	.501	71	2206	2.75	N/A	N/A	N/A
Billy Smith	680	38431	305	233	105	715	.556	22	2031	3.17	N/A	N/A	N/A

 Key:  T/OT=Ties plus overtime/shoot out losses

          PTS=Goalie points

          PTS%=Points divided by maximum points

 Here is my list of the top ten NHL goaltenders of all-time. Many of you will find it a bit controversial and will disagree with me, but hopefully it will inspire some serious thought and discussion. Remember, Hockey Jeopardy contestants…the category is The NHL’s Greatest Goalie. So don’t give me any Vladislav Tretiak talk! Oh, and please phrase your answers in the form of a question!

I submit to you that the greatest NHL goaltender of all-time did not even make the above list.

“Let’s begin. Shall we?”

1. George Hainsworth - According to his Hockey Hall of Fame biography:  George Hainsworth signed with the Montreal Canadiens on August 23, 1926, after Newsy Lalonde recommended him to owner Leo Dandurand. This proved to be an accurate appraisal and the newcomer became an instant hit. He won the Vezina Trophy each of the first three years it was presented, from 1927 to 1929. In 1928-29, he enjoyed his greatest season by allowing only 43 goals in 44 games and registering 22 shutouts. A veritable workhorse, Hainsworth led all NHL goalkeepers in games played for nine years out of ten from 1926 to 1936. He hit double figures in shutouts in his first three years in the league while posting a goals-against mark of less than 1.50.

Following his record-breaking season, the NHL’s forward passing rules were modernized, making it virtually impossible for Hainsworth to post such remarkable numbers again. Still, he backstopped the Habs to the Stanley Cup in 1930 and 1931.

In 1933 he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Lorne Chabot. This transaction made the two net minders the first goalies to play for both storied franchises. Hainsworth helped Toronto win two Canadian Division titles and make appearances in the Stanley Cup finals. On February 14, 1934, he was the Toronto goaltender in the historic Ace Bailey Benefit Game.

As a member of the Maple Leafs, Hainsworth twice led the NHL in wins, but in 1936-37, the club decided to go with young star Turk Broda on a full-time basis. Consequently Hainsworth was allowed to sign as a free agent with the Canadiens, where he played his last four big-league games.

“Little George” retired in 1937 with a 1.91 career goals-against mark, the lowest in NHL history along with Alex Connell. His 94 career shutouts were an NHL record until Terry Sawchuk surpassed him in 1963-64. His professional total would include ten shutouts in the WHL, giving him 104 - one more than the NHL’s all-time leader. His miniscule 1.91 goals-against mark reflected the low scoring climate that existed during all but two of his seasons. Although the rule changes saw his average climb late in his career, Hainsworth was the top backstop of his time.

Hainsworth was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961.

2. Terry Sawchuk - Condered by many to be the greatest goaltender to ever play the game, Terry Sawchuk grew up in a working class neighborhood, playing hockey on an outdoor rink. Nicknamed “Ukey” because of his Ukrainian ancestry, Sawchuk began his professional career at age 17, winning rookie-of-the-year honors in the United States Hockey League. He won rookie-of-the-year honors again after being promoted to the Indianapolis Capitals of the American Hockey League. Called up to the Detroit Red Wings for the 1950-51 season, he continued his outstanding play winning the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie making him the first player to win the rookie-of-the-year award in three different professional leaguers.

In 1952, he led the Detroit Red Wings to the Stanley Cup in the minimum eight games in two best of seven series during which he recorded four shutouts and allowed only five goals. He led the NHL in wins in each of his first five years while being named to the All-Star team. In 1955, he was traded to the Boston Bruins where did not play well. During the 1956-57 season he retired from the game, yielding to severe stress. The next  year he returned to play after being traded back to the Red Wings. He was traded again in 1964, this time to the Toronto Maple Leafs where he won the Vezina Trophy in 1965 and helped the Leafs win the 1967 Stanley Cup. He is ranked ninth on The Hockey News’ list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players, the highest-ranked goaltender on the prestigious list.

3. Martin Brodeur - Martin played his Junior hockey for the St. Hyacinthe Lasers in the QMJHL. In the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, Brodeur was drafted 20th overall by the New Jersey Devils. Martin played four NHL games in the 1991-1992 season for the Devils, the rest of the season he continued playing juniors for the Lasers. In 1993-1994 season, Martin won the starting goalie role over Chris Terreri. Martin had a 2.40 GAA and a .915% save percentage. He led the Devils to the seventh game of the Eastern Conference Finals where the Devils lost to the New York Rangers. The superb goaltending from Brodeur earned him the Calder Trophy, given to the NHL’s Rookie of the Year. The following season Brodeur led the Devils again, this time to the Stanley Cup finals where he stunned the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings to help the Devils win their first Cup. In the ‘96-’97 and ‘97-’98 seasons, Brodeur won the Jennings Trophy, give to the netminder with the lowest GAA. In the ‘99-’00 season, the Devils roared through the regular season and the playoffs with more strong play from Brodeur to give the Devils their second Stanley Cup.

Martin also represented his country in the ‘96 World Cup of Hockey and in the ‘98 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

After he retires he will be the leader in wins and shutouts. He has earned three Vezina Trophies and three Stanley Cups. He has the most combined shutouts (regular season and playoffs): 120, the most overtime wins: 47, the most consecutive 30 win seasons:  12, and the most 40 win seasons:  six.

On a personal note, I have done business with Martin and he is one of the classiest, most down to earth athletes I have ever dealt with.

4. Jacques Plante - He grew up in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, and began to play hockey in 1932. Because he suffered from asthma, his skating ability was restricted; thus, he began playing the goaltender position. Plante started to play organized hockey at age 12, and his first professional game was at age 18. He played for the Montreal Canadiens from 1953 to 1963. During his tenure, the team won the Stanley Cup six times, including five consecutive wins.

Plante first retired in 1965, but was persuaded to return to the NHL to play for the expansion St. Louis Blues in 1968. He was later traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1970, and to the Boston Bruins in 1973. He joined the World Hockey Association, first as coach and general manager for the Quebec Nordiques in 1973–74. He played goal for the Edmonton Oilers in 1974–75, ending his professional career with the team.

Plante is considered one of the most important innovators in hockey. Most notably, Plante was the first NHL goaltender to wear a goalie mask in regulation play on a regular basis. With the assistance of other experts, he developed and tested many versions of the goalie mask, including the forerunner of today’s mask/helmet combination. Plante was the first goaltender to regularly play the puck outside his crease in support of his team’s defensemen, and often instructed his teammates from behind the play, as the goaltender usually has the best view of the game.

Plante was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978, was chosen as the goaltender of the Canadiens’ “dream team” in 1985, and was inducted into the Quebec Sports Pantheon in 1994. The Montreal Canadiens retired Plante’s jersey, #1, the following year.

He has seven Vezina Trophies and a Hart trophy on his mantle. He led the NHL in goals against average for eight years, the most of any goaltender. He won five consecutive Stanley Cups!! He was definitely the smartest backstop in NHL history, for creating the goalie mask.

5.  Patrick Roy - He was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the third round (51st overall) of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. Roy got his first taste of the big leagues in 1984-85, playing one period with the Canadiens. He would go on to become their regular goaltender in the next season and made the All-Rookie team in 1986. But it was the 1986 playoffs where Roy showed what hockey fans would be treated to for years to come. He won 15 games, posting a stunning 1.92 goals against average in the post-season as the Montreal Canadiens surprised many experts by winning the Stanley Cup Championship. Roy would win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs. Over the next decade he would solidify his position as one of the elite NHL goalies, winning numerous Jennings and Vezina Trophies and being an All-Star game regular. Patrick Roy won his second Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 1992 as the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup. But as the Canadiens organization went through coaching and front office changes, Roy became disenchanted and was dealt to the Colorado Avalanche in 1996. The Avalanche franchise had just moved south from Quebec and was on the verge of fielding a great team. Patrick Roy was the missing ingredient as he and the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup championship. His postseason success continued in the 2001 season as he led the Avalanche to their second Stanley Cup and added his third Conn Smythe Trophy. Patrick Roy brought Glenn Hall’s butterfly style of goaltending into the modern NHL era. The butterfly style that has since been copied by numerous goalies that followed him and has revolutionized the position. Roy retired after the 2002 season. In 2006 he won the Memorial Cup coaching and managing the Quebec Ramparts of the QMJHL and was also inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Most will have St. Patrick ranked higher, but I disagree with that. Brodeur will surpass most of his numbers and Terry Sawchuk has a better GAA. Besides, I am a die-hard Red Wing fan and Roy donned the ugly Avalanche sweater while diminutive goalie Chris Osgood laid a beat down on him. 

“Remember contestants…dollar values are doubled in this round.”

6. Glenn Hall - The “Legends of Hockey” tells us that Gordie Howe was known as “Mr. Hockey,” but that name didn’t take into account the netminding duties so important to the game. For that there was Glenn Hall, nicknamed “Mr. Goalie” for his consistent and long-lasting success in the National Hockey League. Year after year, Hall was a familiar and intimidating sight in nets across the continent. He hardly missed a game or an award in his 18 NHL seasons and only four times did he finish a season with a losing record. His 84 career shutouts, third all time, guaranteed his place in the Hockey Hall of Fame as one of the sport’s best goaltenders.

Hall played his junior hockey with the Windsor Spitfires in the Ontario Hockey Association and was signed by the Detroit Red Wings in 1951. He played in their farm system for two seasons. In 1952-53, he made his first appearance in the NHL with Detroit, playing in six games and allowing only 1.67 goals against. He spent much of the next two years with Edmonton, making just two more appearances with the Wings in 1955.

In his time in the minors, Hall perfected his style of goaltending, a rather awkward but effective combination of flopping and standing his ground. Purists who liked their goalkeepers to remain upright hated the way Hall would throw himself to the ice to block the lower corners of the net. Hall had the ability to splay his pads along the ice with his knees practically together in what is referred to today as “the butterfly style.”

Detroit had the great Terry Sawchuk in goal in the early 1950s and it seemed as though Hall would have to wait his turn to get a chance at full-time play in the league. Red Wings manager Jack Adams, however, had brought Sawchuk up as a youngster even though Harry Lumley, the Detroit keeper at the time, was still effective and in his prime. Adams decided to do the same with Hall and traded Sawchuk to the Boston Bruins in 1955. Hall took his place between the posts for the Wings at the beginning of the 1955-56 season and rewarded Adams for the confidence the manager had shown in him with an incredible rookie year, coming within one shutout of Lumley’s modern record of 13 set two seasons previously. He allowed only 2.11 goals against as he played in each and every game and won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie. He played one more full season with Detroit, again not missing a game, before he too was shown the door by Adams. He was sent to the Chicago Black Hawks in the infamous Ted Lindsay trade motivated by Adams’ anger at Lindsay’s attempts to form a players union.

Hall merely continued his streak of consecutive complete games during his time with the Hawks. Though he suffered many injuries, he played for 502 straight regular-season games and another 50 in the playoffs. The endurance record finally came to an end on November 8, 1963, when he injured his back. Ironically, he pulled a muscle not in a game but while getting dressed when he bent over to adjust a strap. Hall spent ten seasons in Chicago and was placed on the All-Star Team eight times, five of those on the First Team. In 1961 he backstopped the Hawks to their first Stanley Cup championship since 1938.

Hall shared the Vezina Trophy with Denis Dejordy in 1967. At the end of that season, at the age of 36, he was left unprotected in the Expansion Draft and was chosen by the St. Louis Blues. Due in large part to Hall’s improbable heroics, the Blues marched all the way to the Stanley Cup final in their first year in the league. Though they would eventually lose to the Montreal Canadiens in four games, Hall was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the league’s top playoff performer. In 1968-69, Jacques Plante joined the team and the two veterans shared the goaltending duties. For the first time, Hall - who estimated at the end of his career that he’d had 300 stitches, many of them around his mouth - finally wore a mask during games. Plante and Hall, playing determined hockey to prove they still belonged in the league despite their combined age of over 77, split the Vezina Trophy in 1969.

Throughout his career, Hall would get nauseous before each game. He was often sick to his stomach in the minutes leading up to taking the ice. One teammate even suggested his bucket should have been placed in the Hall of Fame. He retired several times, once with Chicago in 1966 and again with St. Louis in 1969. Each time, though, he was talked into returning, usually with a promise of more money, but he didn’t profess to enjoy his livelihood, saying often that he’d meant to retire since he was 15.

Hall retired for good in 1971. He stayed in hockey, usually part-time while he tended to his farm, and worked with the Blues and the Calgary Flames as a consultant and goaltending coach. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975.

He is ranked number 16 on The Hockey News’ list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.

7. Ken Dryden - He retired with a lifetime record of 258 wins, 57 losses and 74 ties, and an unparalleled winning percentage of .663. His lifetime goals-against average was 2.24, which doesn’t seem quite as gaudy today as it did in 1979. No goalie had come close to going that low since the 1930s. (As a comparison, fellow Hall of Famer Tony Esposito, whose career roughly coincided with Dryden’s, retired with a 2.92 GAA.)

Dryden had 46 shutouts in just 397 games, or about one every 8.63 starts. That’s an amazing statistic. Patrick Roy, for example, the goalie most often cited as the best ever, had just one shutout every 15.59 games. New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur, whose entire career has been with a team that employs the trap in the “dead puck era”, has 98 shutouts to date — one every 9.98 starts. Even Terry Sawchuk, who has the NHL record for most shutouts (105), only recorded one every 9.43 games. No one else from the modern era is even close to Dryden’s mark.

He won six Stanley Cups and five Vezina Trophies and was ranked number 25 on The Hockey News’ list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.

8. Dominik Hasek - He began playing hockey in his home country of the Czechoslovakia in 1981 and was drafted in the eleventh round (207th overall) by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1983. It would be unitl 1990 when Hasek would make his way to North America, playing five games in his first season. He played for Czechoslovakia in the 1991 Canada Cup and in 1992 was traded to the Buffalo Sabres for Stephan Beauregard and a 1993 fourth round pick. The move to Buffalo paid dividends in the following season as Hasek became the first goalie since Bernie Parent to record a goals against average below 2.00, coming in with a stingy 1.95 GAA. Hasek also led the league in shoutouts with seven and was living up to his nickname, “The Dominator”. In the next nine years, Hasek would go on to become the Sabres’ all time leader in shutouts and broke the mark for most games played by a European goalie in the NHL. He was a regular in the All-Star games and won six Vezina and Jennings Trophies. Dom’s domination of the NHL culminated with him becoming only the fifth goaltender to ever win the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player. He accomplished that feat in 1997 as he led the Sabres to a first place finish in the Northeast division. The feat would be repeated the very next season as Hasek grabbed the Hart, Vezina and Jennings trifecta along with a gold medal in the Nagano Olympics, leading the Czech Republic to the award stand.

Even as the Buffalo Sabres experienced a lot of success with Hasek in net, they were unable to win the Stanley Cup Championship. In 2001, Hasek would move on to the Detroit Red Wings in an effort to secure the one honor he was lacking. He was an instant success in HockeyTown and led the Red Wings through the playoffs to a Stanley Cup Championship. Hasek retired after the win and moved back to his native Czech Republic. He tried to make a comeback with the Detroit Red Wings in the 2003-04 season but chronic groin injuries kept him off the ice. After the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Hasek signed a one year contract to play with the Ottawa Senators . He returned to the Red Wings the following year and led them to the Western Conference Finals where they lost to the eventual Champion Anaheim Ducks. That year Hasek won 38 games and had a 2.05 GAA. At one point during the season, he went over 181 minutes without allowing a goal. In 2007-08 Hasek and Chris Osgood shared the goaltending duties for the Red Wings. He was named the starter for the Stanley Cup playoffs, but after a lackluster performance in the first round he was replaced by Osgood. The Wings went on to win the Stanley Cup with Dominik as the back-up. Just five days after winning his second Stanley Cup he retired.

He has six Vezina Trophies and two Hart Trophies. He earned the highest of praises when, in 1998 Wayne Gretzky called him, “The best hockey player in the game.” I can’t argue with the Great One.

9. Grant Fuhr - The Edmonton Oilers dominated the NHL throughout the 1980s, in no small part due to the goaltending talents of Grant Fuhr. Fuhr was an indispensable component of a team that won five Stanley Cups in seven years. He was a sometimes brilliant defender who was particularly effective in playoff games. In 1988 Wayne Gretzky called Fuhr–who was then 25–”the best goalie in the NHL. The best in NHL history.”

Fuhr’s once stellar reputation was tarnished by injuries and the admission of substance abuse. Suspended from the Oilers in 1990 for drug use that occurred during the team’s glory years, Fuhr staged a comeback and continued as a successful netminder for several teams through the 1990s, most notably in a four-year run with the St. Louis Blues from 1995 to 1999. Just a few years after his retirement in 2000 Fuhr was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame, the first person of African descent to be so honored. He now partners with his teammate Wayne Gretzky as a goalkeeper coach for the Phoenix Coyotes.

10. Billy Smith - His single most famous game may be his 2-0 victory in the first game of the 1983 Stanley Cup finals against the Edmonton. He shutout an Oilers team with the “Murderers Row” of hockey immortals on it’s roster:  Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Glenn Anderson and Jari Kurri. The Islanders went on to sweep the Oilers in four games, with Smith allowing them only six goals and winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff Most Valuable Player. A year later, Smith broke the record for the most playoff victories. He led all goaltenders in playoff victories and in every individual year between 1979 and 1984. Then in 1985, Smith led the Islanders to three straight wins after being down 0-2 to the Washington Capitals. This was the first time such a comeback occurred in the NHL. Widely regarded as one of the greatest playoff goaltenders, Smith was also reputed to be the supreme “money” player.

Nicknamed “Battling” Billy for his fiery temper and unabashed use of the stick on players crowding the crease, Smith was noted for his wild displays of fabricated injuries that would often lead to penalties against opponents. His opponents loathed him because he refused to participate in the traditional handshake between teams at the end of a playoff series.

Smith was also the first NHL goalie to be credited with scoring a goal. On November 28, 1979, Smith was the last Islander to touch the puck before Colorado Rockies defenseman Rob Ramage accidentally passed the puck into his own net.

He was the NHL’s dominant goalie of the eighties. He was a clutch performer like no other, particularily in the post season. He led the Islanders to four consecutive Stanley Cups between 1979 and 1983, during which he won 88 of 132 playoff games, an NHL record for goaltenders.

He is my favorite of the top ten and will remain on my list, no matter who surpasses his records. He is a character to be sure.

“Doo dee doo doo doo dee daa…”

So there it is puckheads…My final Jeopardy answer is, “Who is George Hainsworth ?”  What’s yours?

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