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Who are the top goalies in NHL history? Here is our top 10 countdown:
10. Johnny Bower: despite only playing 77 NHL games before the age of 34, Bower still won two Vezina Trophies and led the Toronto Maple Leafs to four Stanley Cup titles while playing until the age of 45.
9. Bill Durnan: though he only played for seven NHL seasons, Durnan won the Vezina Trophy 6x and backstopped the Montreal Canadiens to two Stanley Cup titles.
8. Bernie Parent: perhaps no goalie has ever had as dominant a two-year stretch as Parent in 1973-1974 and 1974-1975, when he won consecutive Vezina and Conn Smythe Trophies and posted 91 combined regular season wins and 24 shutouts en route to leading the Philadelphia Flyers to consecutive Stanley Cups.
7. Glenn Hall: the first “butterfly-style” goalie, Hall was both consistent and dominant, winning three Vezina Trophies and leading NHL goalies in games played for seven consecutive seasons; though he only won the Stanley Cup once, he is one of only five players to win the Conn Smythe in a losing effort (with the St. Louis Blues in 1968).
6. Ken Dryden: another dominant goalie with a relatively brief career, Dryden won five Vezina Trophies and six Stanley Cups in just eight seasons; interestingly, he won the Conn Smythe in 1971 BEFORE winning the Calder Trophy for top rookie.
5. Terry Sawchuk: one of the legendary goalies of the Original Six era, Sawchuk won four Vezina Trophies (including three in a span of four seasons in the early 1950s) and four Stanley Cups, and retired as the NHL’s career leader in both wins and shutouts.
4. Martin Brodeur: the NHL’s all-time leader in goalie starts, wins, and shutouts, Brodeur was the epitome of consistency and excellence, winning four Vezina Trophies and guiding the New Jersey Devils to three Stanley Cup titles.
3. Jacques Plante: the first goalie to wear a protective mask regularly, Plante won five consecutive Vezina Trophies in the late 1950s while guiding the Montreal Canadiens to six Stanley Cups and remains the NHL’s career leader with seven Vezinas.
2. Patrick Roy: in addition to being second in career regular season wins and winning three Vezina Trophies, Roy is arguably the greatest postseason performer ever at the goalie position with three Conn Smythes and four total Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche.
1. Dominik Hasek: a six-time Vezina Trophy winner and two-time Stanley Cup champion, Hasek is the only goalie to win multiple Hart Trophies (as league MVP), and holds NHL career records for highest SV% (.9223) and lowest GAA in the modern era (2.202).
Agree/Disagree? As always, debate/discuss, and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Note: All statistics as of time of publication.
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