Nov 8

Nov 8 The 5 Greatest Ice Hockey Goalies of All Time

The Best Ice Hockey Goaltenders of All Time

In ice hockey, a spectacular save by a goalie can be one of the most exciting plays, just as much as a fight or an amazing move by a forward or defenseman of another team.

At high levels, goalies have to be able to react and move quickly to either keep the puck in front of them or keep the puck from going into the net, sometimes in a heap of players.

Today, we are going to talk about some of the best to ever do that in the National Hockey League, including 5 goalies that are some of the greatest in ice hockey history!

Martin Brodeur

While he obviously had a strong supporting cast, Martin Brodeur has the most wins of any goalie in NHL history, with 691 wins against only 397 losses, almost all of which were with the New Jersey Devils.

He played his last season in 2014-2015, when he was the goal tender for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

One thing that Brodeur was not known for is flash, and pretty much everything about him was simple.

While most sports stars have some form of a nickname, for Brodeur even that was simple. It was quite simply Marty.

In addition to lots of wins, he also had a stellar Goals Against Average of only 2.24 goals per game and he holds the record for games (1,266), saves (28,298) and shutouts (125).

While Brodeur had numerous records throughout his career, not everybody was impressed by his skills.

When he was featured in Sports Illustrated in 1997, here is what NBC analyst Mike Milbury had to say about him:

"Here's a guy who plays for a team that puts a chokehold on the opposition's attack, so I'm not surprised [by the low GAA].

What I'm impressed by, and what makes him a great goaltender, is that he stops the puck when it needs to be stopped. He's cool. The pressure doesn't bother him.

Night after night he seems to be involved in 1-0, 2-1 games, and the pressure never seems to be a factor.”

Patrick Roy

During his playing days at least, this goalie for the Canadiens had a strange habit of talking to those goalposts that he was expected to defend.

Patrick Roy had numerous accolades during his career, which included being a 6 time all star and winning 3 Stanley Cups, 2 with the Canadiens, which occurred in 1986 and 1993, and the third with the Colorado Avalanche during the 1996 Stanley Cup.

He achieved all of this with a butterfly style of goaltending.

For those not familiar, butterfly style goaltending means that you try to keep the puck at the centre of your body.

Anytime the puck goes near your stick, you bring your pads to the inner part of your body and then cover the puck with your glove when you can.

Johnny Bower

Johnny Bower is the first goalie on this list that played what some people consider “real” ice hockey.

This means that helmets weren’t yet used as a safety precaution against head injuries.

Before making it to the NHL, Bower was nicknamed by a minor league ice hockey sports writer out of Cleveland as the Great Wall of China, since it was hard to get a puck by him and he was old in hockey years.

While the 4 time Stanley Cup winner’s exact age during his playing years is a mystery even to this day, most people think he played into his mid 40s.

Ken Dryden

Because of when and for whom he played, the Montreal Canadiens from 1971-1979, Ken Dryden had a consistent challenge.

Whenever his team played their biggest rival, the Boston Bruins, he had to consistently go up against a line which featured Gordie Howe, Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr.

All three of these Bruins consistently scored over 100 points, and Orr is rated by many as the greatest ice hockey player of all time.

There was one point during the 1971 playoffs where Dryden was able to hold the Bruins scoreless for 90 minutes.

Despite only being in the league for 8 seasons, Dryden still won 6 Stanley Cups and 5 Vezina trophies (the trophy for the league’s best goalie).

He also won the Conn Smythe trophy and he was named the league’s top rookie during his rookie year.

Dominik Hasek

Referred to as “the dominator”, one thing that is unique to Dominik Hasek compared to the other goalies on the list is that he played for 4 teams.

However, 9 out of his 13 seasons were with the Buffalo Sabres.

Hasek also played for the Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators and Chicago Blackhawks.

It is a widely held belief that he, Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur were the three best goalies in the league during this particular era of ice hockey.

Out of these 4 teams, Hasek was with the Buffalo Sabres the longest by far, playing from the 1992-1993 season up until 2000-2001.

During his 13 year career, Hasek compiled two Stanley Cups, six all star games, three Jennings trophies, two Pearson trophies, two Hart Trophies and six Vezina trophies, which happened over the course of eight seasons.