Greatest Goaltenders of All Time By: OilersAddict83 January 10th 2007 Hope you all enjoy and I look forward to all comments and any potential disagreements!
I have long said that I feel Martin Brodeur is proving out to be the greatest goaltender of all time. Of coarse anytime that you begin to talk about the greatest players (at any position) there will always be a bit of a debate because of the different eras, number of teams in the league and other such differences. So there is definitely a lot of subjectivity when making such a bold statement. The majority of the time when the NHL's alltime greatest goaltender debate is brought up there are three names that come to mind right away; Sawchuk, Roy and Brodeur.
Exhibit number one: Terry Sawchuk Terry Sawchuck began his career in the NHL in 1949-50 with the Detroit Red Wings and 21 years later finished up his career with the New York Rangers. Throughout his amazing career Terry Sawchuk had many great achievements. In his first full season (1950-51) Terry won the Calder Trophy as the top rookie in the league. From that moment on his greatness and legendary status grew with four Stanley Cups and three Vezina trophies. When Sawchuk finally hung up his skates for good in 1970 he had amassed an incredible 447 wins, 330 losses, 172 ties, 103 shutouts and a 2.52 goals against average. His career playoff statistics were also impressive as he had 106 games played, 54 wins, 48 losses, 12 more shutouts and a 2.53 goals against average. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame one year after his death at the end of the 1970 season and has long been considered one of the greatest players to ever play in the NHL.
Exhibit number two: Patrick Roy Patrick Roys career began in exciting fasion as the young brash and cocky Roy led the Montreal Canadiens to the 1986 Stanley Cup and in the process became the youngest player (he was 20 at the time) to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs. Roy would go on to not only win three more Stanley Cups, but he would also win two more Conn Smythe awards. Throughout his eighteen years in the NHL, Roy would go on to play in 11 All Star games, win 3 Vezina trophies and 5 William M. Jennings trophies. When Roy retired after the 2002-2003 season he had a record setting 1029 games played, 551 wins, 315 losses, 131 ties, 66 shutouts and a lifetime 2.54 goals against average. His playoff totals have resulted in him being referred to as the best "money" goaltender of all time with 247 games played, 151 wins, 94 losses, 23 shutouts and a goals against average of 2.30. He was a first ballot Hall of famer in 2006 and has had his number 33 retired by the Colorado Avalanche.
Exhibit number three: Martin Brodeur Martin Brodeur is still active in the NHL, but his amazing accomplishments over the span of his 13 seasons in the NHL makes it very difficult to not include him in the discussion. Brodeur, just like Sawchuk 43 years previous, won the Calder trophy as the NHL's Rookie of the Year. Over the past 13 years Martin Brodeur has played in 8 All Star games (he will make it nine this season), has won 3 Stanley Cups, 2 Vezina trophies and 4 Williams M Jennings trophies. Along with these accomplishments Brodeur has already moved into second place all time in wins and third all time in shutouts ( all by the age of 34). As of January 10th 2007, Martin has amassed an impressive record with 853 games played, 471 wins, 252 losses, 115 ties/OT losses/shootout losses, 87 shutouts and a lifetime 2.20 goals against average. In the playoffs Brodeuer has been equally amazing with 153 games played, 89 wins, 64 losses, 21 shutouts and an invisible 1.88 goals against average. I don't think that there is much doubt that Martin Brodeur could retire today and make the Hall of Fame.
So what does all of this information point to? First off it shows that when talking about the greats there are many similarities. All three goaltenders came through in big games and won Stanley Cup rings which is of coarse what every hockey spend their lives playing for. As much respect as I have for Terry Sawchuck and Patrick Roy, it is clear to me that Martin Brodeur is even better than those two greats. After only 13 seasons in the NHL and being relatively young at the age of 34, barring any tradgic injury or sudden retirement, Martin needs only 80 more wins (approximately 2-3 seasons) to break Roy's all time wins record and he could very likely break Sawchuk's shutout record in 2-3 years provided he continues his average of approximately 7 shutouts per year. Regardless of what happens in Brodeur's career from this day forward I believe that his achievement measure up very favorably and are in many ways better than any goaltender who has ever played in the NHL.
I have long said that I feel Martin Brodeur is proving out to be the greatest goaltender of all time. Of coarse anytime that you begin to talk about the greatest players (at any position) there will always be a bit of a debate because of the different eras, number of teams in the league and other such differences. So there is definitely a lot of subjectivity when making such a bold statement. The majority of the time when the NHL's alltime greatest goaltender debate is brought up there are three names that come to mind right away; Sawchuk, Roy and Brodeur.
Exhibit number one: Terry Sawchuk Terry Sawchuck began his career in the NHL in 1949-50 with the Detroit Red Wings and 21 years later finished up his career with the New York Rangers. Throughout his amazing career Terry Sawchuk had many great achievements. In his first full season (1950-51) Terry won the Calder Trophy as the top rookie in the league. From that moment on his greatness and legendary status grew with four Stanley Cups and three Vezina trophies. When Sawchuk finally hung up his skates for good in 1970 he had amassed an incredible 447 wins, 330 losses, 172 ties, 103 shutouts and a 2.52 goals against average. His career playoff statistics were also impressive as he had 106 games played, 54 wins, 48 losses, 12 more shutouts and a 2.53 goals against average. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame one year after his death at the end of the 1970 season and has long been considered one of the greatest players to ever play in the NHL.
Exhibit number two: Patrick Roy Patrick Roys career began in exciting fasion as the young brash and cocky Roy led the Montreal Canadiens to the 1986 Stanley Cup and in the process became the youngest player (he was 20 at the time) to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs. Roy would go on to not only win three more Stanley Cups, but he would also win two more Conn Smythe awards. Throughout his eighteen years in the NHL, Roy would go on to play in 11 All Star games, win 3 Vezina trophies and 5 William M. Jennings trophies. When Roy retired after the 2002-2003 season he had a record setting 1029 games played, 551 wins, 315 losses, 131 ties, 66 shutouts and a lifetime 2.54 goals against average. His playoff totals have resulted in him being referred to as the best "money" goaltender of all time with 247 games played, 151 wins, 94 losses, 23 shutouts and a goals against average of 2.30. He was a first ballot Hall of famer in 2006 and has had his number 33 retired by the Colorado Avalanche.
Exhibit number three: Martin Brodeur Martin Brodeur is still active in the NHL, but his amazing accomplishments over the span of his 13 seasons in the NHL makes it very difficult to not include him in the discussion. Brodeur, just like Sawchuk 43 years previous, won the Calder trophy as the NHL's Rookie of the Year. Over the past 13 years Martin Brodeur has played in 8 All Star games (he will make it nine this season), has won 3 Stanley Cups, 2 Vezina trophies and 4 Williams M Jennings trophies. Along with these accomplishments Brodeur has already moved into second place all time in wins and third all time in shutouts ( all by the age of 34). As of January 10th 2007, Martin has amassed an impressive record with 853 games played, 471 wins, 252 losses, 115 ties/OT losses/shootout losses, 87 shutouts and a lifetime 2.20 goals against average. In the playoffs Brodeuer has been equally amazing with 153 games played, 89 wins, 64 losses, 21 shutouts and an invisible 1.88 goals against average. I don't think that there is much doubt that Martin Brodeur could retire today and make the Hall of Fame.
So what does all of this information point to? First off it shows that when talking about the greats there are many similarities. All three goaltenders came through in big games and won Stanley Cup rings which is of coarse what every hockey spend their lives playing for. As much respect as I have for Terry Sawchuck and Patrick Roy, it is clear to me that Martin Brodeur is even better than those two greats. After only 13 seasons in the NHL and being relatively young at the age of 34, barring any tradgic injury or sudden retirement, Martin needs only 80 more wins (approximately 2-3 seasons) to break Roy's all time wins record and he could very likely break Sawchuk's shutout record in 2-3 years provided he continues his average of approximately 7 shutouts per year. Regardless of what happens in Brodeur's career from this day forward I believe that his achievement measure up very favorably and are in many ways better than any goaltender who has ever played in the NHL.
5 comments:
Brodeur is the greatest goaltender of all time and I look forward to the day that he is backed up by numbers.
Brodeur in the only modern goaltender who did not resort to oversize equipment to achieve and maintain greatness. His agility in unmatched as are his instincts. Brodeur is one of the most athletic goaltenders to ever play the game and what separates him from other great athletic goaltenders is longevity.
Sorry Friend,- but you obviously never saw Sawchuk play,- especially in his heyday.
Who is the greatest goalie of them all?
No doubt about it!
Terry Sawchuk!
How good would Brodeur or Roy have been if they had to play their first 12 years in the NHL without an mask on? How good would they have been in the pre-expansion days when you were facing quality competition nightly, even from the last place team? How good would they have been if they had to play a full 70 game schedule as Sawchuck was expected to do year in and year out?
All things being equal, there is no doubt Sawchuck was the best of his or any other time.
patrick roy is probably the best goaltender ever, but sawchuk was pretty good too, but i'm sticking with patrick this time
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