Ilya Bryzgalov and the 15 Quirkiest Goaltenders Ever

NHL goalies are an interesting bunch and are often labelled as weird and quirky. They typically have many superstitions and small rituals they do before and during games that keep them comfortable.

I don't think goalies are as weird as they used to be, but my thinking on that changed a bit when Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov talked about the universe and other weird things on HBO's 24/7 series leading up to the Winter Classic.

Let's take a look at the 15 quirkiest goalies ever.

Patrick Roy

Patrick Roy was one of the greatest NHL goalies ever and won Stanley Cup titles with the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche, but he was a weird goalie too.

He had many superstitions, and one of them was kissing his goal posts before games.

Nikolai Khabibulin

Nikolai Khabibulin, now of the Edmonton Oilers, is an interesting goalie and has some unusual stretches and twitch-like movements he does during games.

Despite all that, he's had a very solid NHL career.

Artus Irbe

Artus Irbe used to sew his pads before games, which is enough to make me think he's a bit weird.

He also would stretch kind of strangely before games, but his flexibility did allow him to make some saves other goalies could not.

Manny Legace

Manny Legace is a good goaltender, but he always liked ancient, throwback-looking equipment, which makes him stand out among most of today's goalies, who use modern pads and equipment.

Ken Wregget

Ken Wregget was a solid backup goalie for many years and even played well for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1996 playoffs when asked to start.

However, Wregget was an interesting man, and according to Sports Illustrated, he would bring his neighbor's kids to McDonalds with his own kids, he played ball with the entire neighborhood and had a perfectly manicured lawn.

These may not be incredibly strange but still a bit quirky.

Tom Barrasso

Tom Barrasso was a very good goaltender, but he was a bit anti-social and also used different pads than most of the NHL's other goalies.

Some people thought he was a bit psycho, but I think that's taking it too far.

Damian Rhodes

Before home games, goaltender Damian Rhodes would dye his hair blond in his hotel room. That has to be one of the craziest superstitions I have ever heard of, not just among goalies.

Curtis Joseph

I don't think I've ever seen a goalie come after a referee like Curtis Joseph did in the video here, and although it might not be incredibly odd, it's just so uncommon.

Ron Hextall

You have to think Ron Hextall is a bit quirky for going after Chris Chelios like this. I realize Chelios' hit in Game 1 of the series was uncalled for, but this sort of incident is only something crazy goaltenders would do.

Neil Little

Neil Little must have thought he was playing football with a flying leap like this. His flying jump into this scrum must be one of the craziest goalie moments I have ever seen.

Garth Snow

Garth Snow was an interesting goalie and certainly had his share of crazy and quirky moments despite having a productive career as a starting NHL goaltender.

Ray Emery

Ray Emery is crazy, and he's not afraid to fight anyone, whether it's the other team's goalie or one of its enforcers. He's had a nice career, but he sure is weird.

Ron Tugnutt

Ron Tugnutt has one of the most intricate and weird superstitions in preparing for a game.

It started by doing a figure eight in the crease and went on to include many more steps, including tapping his pads a certain way, stretching in certain ways and never bringing water onto the ice with him.

Bill Ranford

Bill Ranford was a solid goalie throughout his NHL career and even won a Stanley Cup in 1990 with the Edmonton Oilers.

His craziest superstition was that he wouldn't let the linesmen take the puck from his glove until he flipped it up into the air and it landed on the other side of his glove.

Ilya Bryzgalov

Ilya Bryzgalov is crazy, and if you watched HBO's 24/7 series leading up to the Winter Classic, you know exactly what I am talking about.

Check out his thoughts on the universe.