To kick off the All-Time NHL Team selection, I decided to do as most successful teams do: build from the net out.
While coming up with my three choices for the goaltender slot, three names jumped out in my mind as fairly obvious choices. With all due respect to Jacques Plante, an innovator and a true great, Dominik Hasek, so truly dominating you had to be there to believe it, and the other greats who have strapped on a pair of pads, this was really down to three guys, all of whom can make a case as the greatest ever.
New Jersey Devils future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur is the team's #3 goalie. Brodeur, now 36 years old, has been back-stopping the Devils since the 1993-1994 season. Another in a long line of Quebec-grown goalies, Brodeur thrived right away in the NHL and hasn't stopped. He's led his Devils to three Stanley Cups (1994-95, 1999-00, 2002-2003) and has kept the team in the contenders role despite a reputation for lacking scoring power and, recently, a less than stellar defensive corps.
Amongst his career accolades, Brodeur has NHL records for minutes played by a goaltender in one season (4,969), most wins in a season (48), most consecutive 30, 35, 40 and 40+ win seasons (12, 11, 7, 3), most overtime wins (45) as well as the youngest to hit the 300, 400 and 500 win plateaus. All this in addition to the records he's creeping up on: most wins (538, needs 14 to pass Patrick Roy's 551), games played (968 to Roy's 1,029), career shutouts (96 to Terry Sawchuk's 103), most minutes played in a career (57,208 to Roy's 60,235) and playoff shutouts (22 to Roy's 23).
Why did he make it? Well, if the stats didn't do it for you, there's more. Throughout Brodeur's career, he has never played for a truly dominating team. From his rookie year through Scott Stevens' retirement, he always had a fundamentally sound defensive team and it could be argued that the trap made him the goaltender he was.
That is, of course, until you observe his body of work once Stevens and Ken Daneyko retired. Since then, he has posted three consecutive 40+ win seasons with a less than stellar overall team (2005-2008) and has made a pretty average Devils team Eastern Conference contenders. He also finally captured the Vezina Trophy for the first time in 2003, escaping the shadow cast by both Roy and the "trap" mentality. He would win the award again in 2004 and 2007 and seems to be a strong candidate to win the trophy for the fourth time this season.
Simply put: Brodeur is one of the three greatest goaltenders of all-time right now, but once he passes Roy in most of the statistical categories, he could be arguably the greatest ever.
Our back-up goaltender is Red Wings legend Terry Sawchuk
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8 months ago
A really meaty article. I love the overview you provided for each. But, its difficult to read due to formatting. Perhaps you may want to bold some names or put a summary at the end highlighting your picks.
8 months ago
great post, really awesome.
Roy deserves to be the starting goalie for the All time team; he could get through it all by being confident and prove everyone wrong. he was very energic and very superstitious, he would let nobody stop him.
8 months ago
Patrick Roy dominated the game and played as consistent as any goalie in the NHL. He changed the face of the goaltender's style with his butterfly style, so I agree, it's a no-brainer to have Roy in the starting role.
Good read!
8 months ago
I might have had Plante on over Brodeur, but otherwise agree with you whole-heartedly. But I also agree with John, above--break up your paragraphs a bit and it'll be an easier read.
from 7 months ago
Nice work as always Ryan—but for the record, this is my least favorite of your lists!
Patrick Roy played for great teams, was an outstanding net-minder for many years, and is without question deserving of a top five all-time slot. But I really don't understand why everyone thinks he's the greatest goalie ever!
Compare Roy to Dominick Hasek. Roy had the better supporting cast—and thus more Cup victories.
But Hasek won twice the Vezina trophies, and was league MVP TWO YEARS IN A ROW. He also led the league in save percentage in six straight seasons from 93' to 99'!
Sure, he didn't do it for as long as Roy...but at his best, Hasek was better without question .
Also: how does Martin Brodeur get the # 3 slot? A fantastic goalie for sure...but #3?
Do you remember how when Dominick Hasek was in his prime Martin Brodeur couldn't touch him? How there was no question who was better? Why does that change just because there hasn't been anyone around the last 5-7 years to really challenge Brodeur?
Here's some food for thought: Martin Brodeur has never led the league in save percentage. He's consistent as all hell, but never truly DOMINATING the way Hasek was...
My all time NHL Goalies, in order:
1) Jaques Plante
2) Dominik Hasek
3) Patrick Roy
4) Terry Sawchuk
5) Bill Durnan
6) Ken Dryden
7) George Hainsworth
8) Tiny Thompson
9) Glenn Hall
10) Martin Brodeur
Honorable mention: Ed Belfour, Tony Esposito, Bernie Parent, Johnny Bower, Gump Worsley, Charlie Gardiner
7 months ago
Hasek didn't do it long enough for me. He's probably 5th on my list, but he just wasn't the horse that Roy and Brodeur have been. I ranked Brodeur so high because he's been consistently great for so long. Plante is the only omission I felt bad about as he was a true legend and a pioneer. I think an honorable mention list needs to happen. Stay tuned.
7 months ago
You guys are crazy Brodeur should be number 1. Not only is he going to surpass Roy's Win record soon but he is better than he ever was. For instance, two years ago he decided to take a pay cut for his new contract dew to the NHL salary cap, so while Turco and those other shmucks got their money, the best goalie playing in hockey took one for the team. A true legend and a classy guy.
from 7 months ago
I felt that Roy's clutchness in the playoffs is what made him #1, along with those tremendous stats. Brodeur could end up #2 all-time, in my mind at least, despite owning basically every goaltending record.
from 4 months ago
Brodeur's recent playoff record isn't worthy of number 1. In the past he carried his stellar regular season play into the playoffs (hence the Stanley cups), but the last few years he's been outplayed by the opposing goalies.
7 months ago
Doesn't peak value count for anything?
Brodeur has never been a DOMINANT goalie. He's been a very, very good goalie for many years.
In my mind, that doesn't earn you the nod over guys like Hasek who for five years could literally shut down an entire offense single handedly.
OVER-RATED.
from 7 months ago
Fair enough argument, but look at his Devils teams post-Stevens. Not a dominant defense, yet he turned out three straight 40+ win seasons, including the NHL single-season record. If that's not dominating, I don't really know what is.
4 months ago
Exactly Ryan! I agree 100%. Their defense has neen AHL-caliber for 2 or 3 years now. Marty is the best!
4 months ago
I saw Plante play. He had an aura about him. Guys would hold onto the puck too long waiting for an opening that would never come. The danger was that if you let him have the puck he would burn you with an incredible outlet pass. He was able to skate out to the slot to make that pass and would stickhandle around startled forwards. You couldn't dump it in either, he would go get it. He was, I think, the greatest stand-up,postional goalie ever. Certainly the best puckhandler. However, he was of an era. Tretiak was great and changed the game. Fuhr was money in the bank some nights.
None of those guys were Patrick Roy. His only competition would be Hasek. Those guys played in the modern era and had a lot of advantages. Are they better than Hainsworth or Vezina? No way to know or even guess.
from 4 months ago
Wonderful comment; always good to hear perspective on an older player from someone who saw him play. There really is no fair way of comparison. Things were different in each era as far as overall talent, competition, equipment, etc. Thank you for the insight.
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