Boston Bruins: 10 Best Goaltenders in Team History

Those who followed the Boston Bruins from the early 1990s through the onset of the post-NHL lockout era in 2005 never would have foreseen their team's goalie hoisting the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2011.

The notion of a Stanley Cup title on the watch of owner Jeremy Jacobs and in the less intimidating successor to the Boston Garden seemed absurd enough. But having that would-be championship team backboned by a backstop was a fantasy of its own species.

But after nearly two decades of instability and a nauseatingly continuous revolving door in the crease, Tim Thomas has evoked fonder memories of the 87-year-old franchise’s greatest goaltenders. While the late-bloomer is far too late for Hall of Fame consideration, he has more than earned his place among Boston’s legendary stoppers.

But where does Thomas rank among the 10 best and whose company does he share under that heading? The answers (according to at least one author) are right here:

10. Eddie Johnston

Before there was Moog and Lemelin and long before there was Thomas and Rask, there was Cheevers and Johnston.

And not unlike Thomas, Johnston had to endure some blah years before the banner years came to Beantown. He broke into the NHL in 1962 and endured five straight non-playoff seasons.

Then Cheevers arrived, and while the guy with stitch drawings on his mask is more synonymous with that glorious era, Johnston still did his part. In fact, during the two championship runs between 1970 and 1972, the two virtually split the workload evenly.

Johnston’s numbers over those three years included a 73-23-16 record, nine shutouts and a goals-against average perpetually below 3.00 (remember that this was a higher-scoring era.

9. Reggie Lemelin

In his first year with the Bruins, Lemelin played the better part of the 1987-88 run to the Stanley Cup finals, including 49 regular season, 17 playoff and two championship series contests.

In his second year, he was selected to the 1989 Wales Conference All-Star team.

In his third year, he split the workload with Andy Moog en route to claiming the 1990 William Jennings Trophy and another berth in the Stanley Cup Finals.

8. Gilles Gilbert

Gilbert had a tough act to follow when he transferred from Minnesota to Boston in the summer of 1973. He was tasked with replacing Cheevers and Johnston, who had just departed the Bruins in successive years.

In Gilbert’s first season, the Bruins fell two wins shy of what would have been their third Stanley Cup in five years. But at least he had helped to keep their status as certified contenders, giving them first place in the Eastern Division.

And in 16 playoff games, Gilbert was credited with three assists in 1974.

Ironically, Gilbert’s last year as the consensus starter before Cheevers returned was his most dazzling. In 1975-76, he appeared in a career-high 55 games, posting a 33-8-10 record along the way.

7. Jim Henry

In each of Henry’s three full seasons with the team, the Bruins finished fourth in a six-team circuit, meaning they barely made the playoffs. But each time, they had noticeably better defensive numbers than the two clubs who missed the postseason.

Playing in all 210 regular-season games between 1951-54, Henry posted 22 shutouts. And in 1953, he helped Boston upset the first-place Detroit Red Wings in the semifinals before falling short of a championship against Maurice Richard’s Montreal Canadiens.

That series spawned one of the most heralded images in hockey history between Henry and Habs scorer Maurice Richard (see video at the 0:53 mark).

6. Byron Dafoe

Between Andy Moog’s departure for Dallas in 1993 and Thomas’ emergence in 2006-07, the Bruins dressed a grand total of 21 other stoppers in a span of 12 seasons. In that time, one was lucky if he made regular starts over the course two seasons.

Dafoe was the only exception to that trend. In five full seasons, he saw action in 283 games and would have doubtlessly seen more if not for a month-long contract dispute that held him out to start the 1999-2000 season.

Dafoe had a winning record in four of his five seasons with the Bruins, his best being his first two. Less than a year after being acquired, he brought the team from the basement of the league back into the playoffs.

He finished the following regular season with 10 shutouts and a 1.99 goals-against average, then helped Boston reach the second round of the playoffs, where he was outdueled by Buffalo’s otherworldly Dominik Hasek.

But the preceding first-round victory over Carolina would be Boston’s only playoff series triumph in a span of 15 years, sandwiched by wins over Montreal in 1994 and 2009.

5. Frank Brimsek

The first American-born player to star in professional hockey, Brimsek made his NHL debut immediately after the well-liked Tiny Thompson was dealt in 1938. By the subsequent spring, he had posted a 33-9-1 regular-season record, including 10 shutouts and helped the Bruins garner their second Stanley Cup title.

Ultimately immortalized with the nickname “Mister Zero,” Brimsek would win another title in 1940-41 (a year with more ties than losses for the Bs) and finished eight of his nine Boston seasons with a winning record.

Even three years away from the team to serve in World War II did not throw him off his game. In his four post-service seasons, he rolled up a 101-81-36 record.

4. Andy Moog

Among Bruins goaltenders, Moog and Johnston are tied for the all-time lead with 10 assists to their credit. But Moog accumulated those rare helpers in 182 fewer games with the Bostonians.

More critically, within his first five postseasons with the Bruins, Moog carried half or all of the load as the team reached the conference finals four times and the Stanley Cup Finals twice. It was only his old friends from Edmonton, fueled by Wayne Gretzky, and a Pittsburgh squad catalyzed by Mario Lemieux that got the better of him.

Although the team didn’t go nearly as deep into the 1993 postseason, Moog’s final regular season in Boston was a grand finale. He went 37-14-3 that year.

3. Tiny Thompson

When Thompson was dealt to the Detroit Red Wings early in the 1938-39 season, incensed Boston buffs likened the move to the Red Sox sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees some two decades prior. (See the video, circa the 2:45-3:15 mark.) That’s how much the Bruins’ first great goalie meant to the fan base, and for good reason.

As a rookie in 1928-29, Thompson played all 44 games, earning 12 shutouts and ultimately backstopping the team’s first-ever Stanley Cup title run.

Although he never won another Cup for Boston, and although his 12 rookie shutouts were ultimately a career-high, Thompson’s next nine years with the team were anything but a letdown. The team had a winning record in all but two of those years, and of his 252 victories, 74 were shutouts.

2. Tim Thomas

When Thomas was a freshman at the University of Vermont, on his way to being selected by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1994 NHL draft, Jon Casey was the primary crease custodian at Boston Garden. Before long, all the hype was centered on a newcomer named Blaine Lacher.

When Thomas graduated in 1997, Bill Ranford had been traded for Jim Carey and Byron Dafoe was about to be obtained to erase the memories of both.

When Thomas debuted in the Bruins organization in 2002-03, his rights having been acquired a year prior, Steve Shields was the consensus starter with John Grahame and Andrew Raycroft not far behind.

At none of those points, or even in the three years following the lockout when he finally cemented a spot with the Spoked-Bs, did anyone consider Thomas a Vezina Trophy/Stanley Cup/Conn Smythe-caliber goaltender.

And yet, in two of the last three seasons, Thomas has led the league in both goals-against average and save percentage. He has garnered two Vezinas, two Northeast Division crowns, one first-place finish in the Eastern Conference, a Cup and a Conn Smythe. In between, he was selected to the 2010 United States Olympic team.

Oh, and at the ripe age of 37, he set a single-season record with a .938 save percentage last year.

1. Gerry Cheevers

You can’t argue with the Cups and Cheevers is the only goalie other than Brimsek to win multiple championships in a Boston uniform.

Cheevers became a full-time NHLer in the 1967-68 season, Bobby Orr’s second year in the league. His second and final term with the Bruins (following four years in the WHA) ended in 1979-80, Ray Bourque’s rookie campaign.

And in each of his eight cumulative seasons as Boston’s No. 1 backstop, Cheevers posted a winning record. In addition, he helped the team start what would become a North American professional sports record of 29 consecutive playoff appearances. For that, he was rewarded by seeing action in 76 Stanley Cup playoff games, including two championship clinchers in 1970 and 1972.

Incidentally, Cheevers had already begun his interlude with the Cleveland Crusaders when the Bruins lost the 1974 championship series to Philadelphia. Just saying.