Goaltending Legends

Hockey's Greatest Goalies

2008-03-29T21:50:00.001-07:00

	Murray Bannerman - Murray Bannerman had the unenviable task of replacing the living legend Tony Esposito in the Hawks' goal crease.
	Tom Barrasso - Right out of high school, Tom Barrasso turned in one of the most amazing rookie seasons in NHL history. He would continue on to have a stellar career complete with 2 Stanley Cups.

Clint Benedict - Praying Bennie was the statistically dominant goalie of the early NHL. He backstopped the Ottawa Senators to the NHL's first dynasty, and wore the very first goalie mask in NHL history.

Bill Beveridge - Bill Beveridge is a long forgotten goaltender of a long forgotten team. There's not many people around anymore that saw the Montreal Maroons play.

	Craig Billington - A true student of the game, Craig Billington went from top prospect, to starter, to backup to Patrick Roy's goalie coach.
	Les Binkley - A long time minor league goalie finally got his chance thanks to 1967 expansion. He was one of the early fan favorites.
	Johnny Bower - "The China Wall" was an aging superstar goalie before he even made it to the NHL. His profile includes war stories and a full version of his song Honky The Christmas Goose.
	Dan Bouchard - Dan Bouchard was the fiery goalie for the Atlanta Flames, and the only original Flame to move to Calgary.
	Turk Broda - This Maple Leaf great was the clutch goalie of his time. Turk was one of the most popular players in Toronto's long hockey history.

Richard Brodeur - Few players have endeared themselves to the Canucks faithful like "King Richard" Brodeur did and continues to do.

Andy Brown - Though his NHL career was largely insignificant, this second generation NHLer goes down in history as the last NHL goalie to play without a mask.

Steve Buzinski - With a nickname like "The Puck Goes In-ski," it should come as no surprise coach Frank Boucher described Steve Buzinski as "one of the worst goalies in NHL history, but he was also one of the funniest."

Gerry Cheevers - Known for his famous mask, Gerry Cheevers is one of the most exciting goaltenders in memory.

Alec Connell - Known as the "Fireman" simply because he was actually a fireman in addition to a hockey player, Alec Connell also put out the fire of opposing NHL sharpshooters.

Ken Dryden - One of hockey's most interesting people, Ken Dryden was Montreal's dominant goal keeper through 6 Stanley Cup championships in the 1970s.

Bill Durnan - An ambidextrous octopus of a goalie, Durnan owned the Vezina trophy during his brilliant career with the Montreal Canadiens.

Tony Esposito - Tony O was an exciting goaltender who gave his all for a Chicago team that never offered him a lot of help.

	Bob Froese - Reliable Bob Froese tutored Ron Hextall and Pelle Lindbergh in Philadelphia. He'd later do the same for John Vanbiesbrouck and Mike Richter in New York.
	Grant Fuhr - The spectacular goaltending of Grant Fuhr landed him many Stanley Cups, world titles and in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
	Charlie Gardiner - Had his life not ended tragically and prematurely, "Bonnie Prince" Charlie Gardiner may have gone on to have the greatest career of all NHL goaltenders.
	Eddie Giacomin - Eddie Giacomin is an immortal legend of Madison Square Gardens. The night he returned to MSG as a member of the Detroit Red Wings was one crazy night.
	Gilles Gratton - They say goalies are some of the flakiest people around. Well "Grattoony The Looney" takes the cake.

George Hainsworth - George Hainsworth, the winner of the first three Vezina trophies, posted a career 94 shutouts, including 22 in one 44-game season!

	"Mr Goalie" Glenn Hall - The grandfather of butterfly goaltending played a record 502 consecutive games without a mask.
	Sugar Jim Henry - This popular goaltender is best remembered shaking hands with a bloodied Rocket Richard in the dramatic photograph.
	Ron Hextall - Rambunctious Flyers goalie Ron Hextall was known for fighting and scoring goals. He was pretty good at preventing goals, too.

	Charlie Hodge - Charlie Hodge had the unfortunate role of being number two goalie to the great Jacques Plante.
	Jiri Holecek - Many in the know will tell you that it was Czech Jiri Holecek who was the best international goalie never to play in the NHL, not Russian Vladislav Tretiak.
	Kelly Hrudey - Now known as the man behind Hockey Night In Canada's feature segment "Behind The Mask," Kelly Hrudey was once one of the top goalies in hockey.
	Mike Karakas - The inconsistent Karakas was hot during the 1938 playoffs, leading the Cinderella Hawks to the Stanley Cup title despite a broken toe.

Dave Kerr - The acrobatic Dave Kerr backstopped the New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup in 1940. Two years earlier, he was the first hockey player to grace the cover of Time Magazine.

Hugh Lehman - Arguably the greatest goalie in PCHA history, he is best remembered by NHL audiences as the first goalie in Chicago Blackhawks history.

	Reggie Lemelin - History has already forgotten about Reggie Lemelin, but he was one of the better goalies in the 1980s..
	Percy Lesueur - Peerless Percy was the first great goaltender in Ottawa history.
	Mike Liut - For a brief period of time at the turn of the 1980s, Mike Liut took Ken Dryden's torch as the best goalie in the NHL.
	Harry Lumley - "Apple Cheeks" Lumley is often forgotten about nowadays, but he was once one of hockey's top goaltenders.
	Cesare Maniago - Post-1967 expansion fans in Minnesota and Vancouver loved to Hail Cesare!

Ulcers McCool - An unknown goalie from Gonzaga University led the Toronto Maple Leafs to a surprise war time Stanley Cup.

	Kirk McLean - For a period of about 3 years in the early 1990s, Kirk McLean was one of the top 3 goaltenders in the entire National Hockey League.
	Gilles Meloche - In the 1970s and 1980s he played for the Seals, Barons, North Stars and Penguins. No wonder why his 351 career losses is only 1 loss off of the all time record.

Greg Millen - Greg Millen, the goalie turned broadcaster, was a solid goalie in the 1980s.

	Eddie Mio - Eddio Mio was the best man at Wayne Gretzky's wedding.
	Andy Moog - After backing up too often in Edmonton, Andy Moog had a stellar career with Boston and Dallas.
	Alfie Moore - In the afternoon he was enjoying himself to much at a Toronto tavern, wishing he had tickets to the opening game of the 1938 Stanley Cup finals. By evening he was the starting goaltender.
	Phil Myre - A former Montreal back up, Phil Myre teamed with Dan Bouchard to give the Atlanta Flames instant respectability between the pipes.
	Mike Palmateer - Mike Palmateer wasn't exactly Johnny Bower, but "The Popcorn Kid" was a very popular Maple Leafs goalie in the 1970s.
	Bernie Parent - In 1974 and 1975 Bernie Parent put together perhaps the most impressive back to back NHL campaigns in league history..
	Lester Patrick - Known as the coach who took to the nets in the Stanley Cup finals, that game overshadows Lester Patrick's status as probably the game's greatest contributor.

Pete Peeters - In 1982-83 Pete Peeters won the Vezina trophy and finished second in Hart Trophy balloting.

	Steve Penney - A la Ken Dryden, Steve Penney came out of nowhere to lead Montreal to a Cinderella playoff run in 1984. He disappeared quickly thereafter.
	Jacques Plante - Best known for literally changing the face of hockey, Jake The Snake may be the greatest goalie of all time if not the most important.

	Michel Plasse - Michel Plasse was the first goalie drafted 1st overall. He was also the first modern professional goalie to score a goal by directly shooting it into the opposition's net.
	Bill Ranford - Spectacular Bill Ranford filled the huge skates of Grant Fuhr for both the Edmonton Oilers and Team Canada. .

Dave Reece - Dave Reece will always go down in history as the Bruins goalie who surrendered 10 points in one game to Darryl Sittler.

	Chico Resch - The loveable Chico Resch starred with the New York Islanders and later with the Colorado Rockies, Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils.
	Al Rollins - Chicago's saving grace during the lean 1950s, this superb goalie beat out Rocket Richard and Gordie Howe as league MVP in 1954.

Patrick Roy - The greatest goaltender of all time? The Montreal Forum was St. Patrick's cathedral for many years before moving on to Colorado.

	Terry Sawchuk - Though modern fans will likely choose Patrick Roy or Dominik Hasek, veteran fans will tell you Terry Sawchuk is the greatest goaltender of all time.
	Battlin' Billy Smith - The ornery Billy Smith was as competitive and as clutch of a performer as any goaltender in NHL history.
	Bobby Taylor - As Bernie Parent's back up, Bobby Taylor was probably the least known of the Broad Street Bullies to win back to back Stanley Cups.

Tiny Thompson - As a rookie in 1929, Tiny Thompson backstopped the Boston Bruins to their first Stanley Cup Championship.

	Georges Vezina - The Chicoutimi Cucumber was forever immortalized in hockey history when the NHL debuted the trophy bearing his name to honour the top goaltender each season.
	Rick Wamsley - I suspect Rick Wamsley will always be remembered as the back up goalie who was traded for Brett Hull. In truth, Wamsley had a very interesting career, too.
	Dunc Wilson - "The Rebel" Dunc Wilson definitely helped the old adage that goalies of the 1970s were flakes.
	Bernie Wolfe - Bernie Wolfe was the goaltender for the worst team in hockey. His record shows it.
	Gump Worsley - Rescued from the "jailhouse" known as the New York Rangers, Worsley led Les Canadiens to four Stanley Cup championships in the 1960s..

Shrimp Worters - The smallest man to play in the NHL was also the first goaltender to be named as the league's most valuable player.

International Goalies

	Vladimir Dzurilla - One of Slovakia's greatest hockey players, "Dzurilla the Gorilla" became a legend in Canada too, thanks to the 1976 Canada Cup
	Karl Friesen - Winnipeg born goaltender became one of the top goaltenders in German hockey history.

	Attila Ambrus - One of the worst goalies of all time, Attila Ambrus turned to robbing banks. "The Whiskey Robber" was a huge celebrity in Hungary at the height of his crime wave.
	Pauli Jaks - The Swiss goaltending sensation of the 1991 World Junior Hockey Championships became a cult hero thanks to his amazing performance.

	Steve Janaszak - Jim Craig's backup for the "Miracle on Ice" gold medal USA team, Janaszak was the only competitor in any sport not participate in the 1980 Winter Olympics.
	Ray Leblanc - For two weeks in 1992, Ray Leblanc became the talk of the hockey world. He caught fire as he unexpectedly led Team USA to their best Olympic showing since the Miracle on Ice in 1980.
	Seth Martin - Trail Smoke Eater Seth Martin is a goaltending legend over in Russia and Europe, but he is practically unknown in his native Canada.

Mike Richter - This saving grace may be the single most important player in USA Hockey history. He was the brick wall Team USA leaned on time and time again.

Vladislav Tretiak - Vladislav Tretiak is one of the greatest hockey heroes, not just in Russia but also in Canada and all around the world.

Dunc Wilson

2008-03-29T21:16:00.000-07:00

Dunc was as many other goalies considered to be a little odd. He never seemed to be bothered by anything. Defeat not only rested lightly on his shoulders. Often, it didn't rest there at all. He was always loved by the media because he could always be counted on to deliver the mandatory quote from the loser's dressing room with a smile, and usually it was funny. This attitude was of course not very popular among the coaches and might be one of the reasons why he played for 3 junior clubs in 5 seasons and 5 NHL clubs in 10 seasons.

Dunc was born in Toronto and played for Oshawa, Niagara Falls and Peterborough as a junior. He was claimed by Philadelphia from Boston in a special internal amateur draft. He made his NHL debut for Philadelphia during the 1969-70 season appearing in only one game. He spend the rest of the time playing for the Quebec Aces of the AHL.

The Vancouver Canucks claimed Dunc in the 1970 expansion draft. Dunc spend the next three seasons in Vancouver, a place that he really liked. He loved go fishing in the Pacific and mingle around with local celebrities, especially in the music business.

But Dunc could not find a good barber in Vancouver. He had shoulder length hair, which didn't suit Canucks coach Hal Laycoe at all. Dunc later said that the coach didn't rate him by his ability to stop pucks but judged him on the hair and what he was doing off the ice. Several teammates agreed with Dunc.

The writing was on the wall and soon Dunc got traded to Toronto for Larry McIntyre and Murray Heatley on May 29, 1973. In Toronto he had to share the duties with veterans Eddie Johnston and Doug Favell. The three-goalie system didn't give any of the goalies enough ice time, but Dunc played well during the 24 games, recording a 2.79 GAA.

It didn't take long before a rift developed between the coach, Hall of Famer Red Kelly and his goalie. Kelly even bought Dunc a tie to wear on road trips to conform to a club edict. Dunc ditched the Kelly neckwear and wore one of his own - a boot-lace western style model to match his plaid shirt.

The final blow was when Toronto went on a west coast road trip where they were trashed by Los Angeles 8-0 and California 6-1. Some of the guys had a "first-class" team party between the games and when the team were on their way to Vancouver to conclude the road trip, Dunc was asked if he expected a large contingent of fans at the airport to welcome him back.

" I doubt it," he smiled. "But the boys from the North Vancouver booze store undoubtedly will call."

On top of that Dunc missed a curfew, and when Toronto returned from the road trip he was suspended. The NY Rangers eventually claimed him on waivers.

Dunc played a total of 23 games for the Rangers until it was time to move again. Dunc admitted that he hadn't changed that much. "I can't go around being serious all the time and looking down in the dumps at the appropriate times," he said. "I still live the same. I still like rock music, my family, cracking a jar occasionally and having a few laughs."

Dunc was traded to Pittsburgh at the start of the 1976-77 season and had a splendid season, posting a 2.73 GAA in 45 games. It was probably the comeback of the year. Yet, as always, Dunc lasted one more season before Pittsburgh shipped him back to Vancouver where he first had established himself.

Even though Dunc was happy to be back in Vancouver he only played 17 games in the 1978-79 season. It was his last season and he retired 31-years old. Dunc appeared in a total of 287 NHL games, with a career 3.74 GAA.

Dan Bouchard

2008-02-28T14:34:00.000-08:00

Patrick Roy's brilliance in nets, especially while with the Montreal Canadiens, established himself as the hero of a generation Quebecois goaltenders.

But did you ever wonder who served as Patrick Roy's idol?

The answer would be Dan Bouchard, a fiery goaltender out of Val d'Or, Quebec best remembered for playing with the Atlanta Flames and later the Quebec Nordiques. Interestingly Roy's first ever NHL shutout came with Bouchard playing at the other end of the ice.

From an early age Dan Bouchard wanted to be a professional hockey player, just like his father. George Bouchard played defense in the American Hockey League, most notably with the Cleveland Barons and Eddie Shore's Springfield Indians. He quit in 1960 and returned to Quebec to raise his family. George would take a job laboring at a brewery for the next 25 years.

The elder Bouchard always kept hockey close to him. In fact he died while playing a recreational game. He passed on his love of hockey to his family. Dan and brother Guy would both make it to the pros as goaltenders, although only Dan would enjoy a NHL career.

Dan first caught NHL attention as a junior. In 1968-69 he captured the Jacques Plante trophy for lowest GAA while leading the QMJHL's Sorel Black Hawks to a Memorial Cup experience. He would switch to London of the Ontario League the following year before being drafted by the Boston Bruins drafted him 27th overall in 1970.

The next two years Bouchard spent apprenticing in the minor leagues. The Bruins were deep in nets with the likes of Gerry Cheevers and Eddie Johnstone, so they allowed Bouchard proper time to hone his craft. But Bouchard was in a hurry, and set the league on its head while leading the league in wins and shutouts and leading the Boston Braves to a regular season title in 1971-72.

Bouchard would never get a chance to play in Boston. The NHL expanded and in the summer of 1972 the Atlanta Flames were quick to select the hot goalie prospect in the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft. He would go on to become synonymous with Atlanta hockey, and one of their key players.

Bouchard very well may have been the most important player in the short history of the Atlanta Flames. With his effective butterfly stance he was able to post very respectable numbers during the regular season, including a league best 32 wins in 1978-79, but the team was never able to garner any post season success. That fact probably will forever separate Dan Bouchard from the other elite goalies of his era. He holds practically every significant goaltender record in Atlanta Flames history.

Though he was and still remains a fan favorite in Atlanta, he was not always a favorite of his teammates and coaches. He was very fiery, very argumentative and admittedly too cocky. He quickly gained a reputation as a troublemaker and a poor leader. He never warmed himself to the media either, often ducking interviews. In many ways Bouchard was his own worst enemy.

Through it all, even the franchise's relocation to Calgary, Dan Bouchard remained the Flames goalie. That changed soon after the team's arrival in Alberta. He was playing less frequently and he was frustrated with what he called communication problems with the team. As the team left on a two week road trip, Bouchard was left behind and told to wait for a trade.

That wait may have been the best thing that ever happened to Dan Bouchard. Even though he was spiraling into a deep depression, he quickly found his salvation in the bible. He had always attended church as a kid, in the same way many of us did - reluctantly. But now he was actually reading the scriptures and suddenly finding inner piece.

This turn around was all rather quick in happening. Before the Flames' returned from their road trip Bouchard began practicing with a Calgary area junior team. Soon enough he found he was traded to the Quebec Nordiques.

From 1981 through 1985 Dan Bouchard was the Nords top goaltender. Again, playoff success was not to be found, and his numbers ballooned like most goalies in the high scoring 1980s. But armed with a new found inner peace, Bouchard enjoyed his time in Quebec.

The Nordiques brought in young Mario Gosselin in 1985, pushing Bouchard back to the sidelines. He would play another year in the NHL with Winnipeg before a short stint in Switzerland in 1986-87. He would retire and relocate back to Georgia.

Nowadays Dan Bouchard, along with former Bruins star Cam Neely, has invested into a credit card processing business. He also remains very active in hockey, teaching hockey to kids in Atlanta.

Reggie Lemelin

2008-02-10T13:28:00.001-08:00

Rejean "Reggie" Lemelin was one of a number of goalies from the 1980s that always perplexed me.

Though goaltending in the 1980s is historically regarded as weak at best, Reggie was an above average goalie who was capable of great performances. Yet he was never able to truly establish himself as an elite goalie, like say Grant Fuhr, Billy Smith and Ron Hextall. Instead Lemelin was regarded to be a level below that, along with names like Bob Froese, Bob Sauve, Brian Hayward, and former teammates Pat Riggin and even Andy Moog. I'm even inclined to include Pete Peeters on this list.

Lemelin was an old-school stand up goalie. That style is basically instinct today, but it was still accepted practice back then, and Lemelin excelled at playing his angles and directing pucks into the corners. In many ways he was blocking shots rather than saving them. By virtue of his playing style he often made stops seem easier than they probably were.

The problem with that theory of goaltending of course is the goalie is very susceptible if he has to move around. Force the goalie to move and he will lose his angles, and Lemelin fit this textbook definition of stand up goalie to a tee as well. Though he had great balance and was quick when forced to scramble while off his feet, he was slow in moving across his crease and often relied on the unreliable stacked-pads attempt to stop 2 on 1's.

Drafted by Philadelphia way back in 1974, Lemelin signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Flames in 1978. He did not become a Flames regular goalie until 1980-81, the first year the Flames relocated to Calgary.

Though he was a constant in the Calgary crease for much of the 1980s, he could never secure himself the #1 starting goalies job. Not even after his magical 1983-84 season where he went unbeaten in 19 straight games and was voted as runner up to Buffalo rookie sensation Tom Barrasso for the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the league. Lemelin was even asked to play for Team Canada at the 1984 Canada Cup following his 21-12-9 season, and would improve his numbers in 1985-86.

Correctly believing organizational depth was a key to success, the Flames always had someone pushing Lemelin for playing time. There was Pat Riggin, Don Edwards, and finally Mike Vernon, who would finally establish himself as the undisputed king of the Calgary crease.

In 1987-88 Lemelin was moved to Boston where he was essential in their voyage to the Stanley Cup finals. Most people will of course remember the Bruins started Andy Moog for the final series against Moog's old Edmonton Oilers teammates. But Lemelin actually played the lion's share of games that post season, posting a 11-6 record in 17 post season games.

Lemelin would remain in Boston until 1993. As time went by his status as the back up goalie behind Moog was cemented. Regardless, the Bruins featured one of the strongest tandems and therefore strongest teams in the early 1990s. The Bruins returned to the Stanley Cup finals in 1990, but would once again fall short to the Oilers.

Lemelin would hang up his skates for good in 1993, famously saying that he knew it was time to retire when his teammates were asking him for permission to date his daughter. (by the way, Lemelin's daughter is actress Stephanie Lemelin.) In actuality, Lemelin chose to retire rather than accept Boston's decision to demote him to the minor leagues.

Lemelin would go on to the world of coaching after his playing days. In 1993-94 he was the goalie coach in St. Louis before moving the next season to Philadelphia where he would serve as the long time goaltending consultant.

I guess history will not be as kind to Reggie Lemelin as perhaps it should be. He was an above average goalie, and for a couple of seasons he may even have been elite. But success and therefore that magical defining moment was tough to find. Consider this - Lemelin was the back up goalie for 3 Stanley Cup finals. Perhaps that is his defining moment.

Rick Wamsley

2008-02-10T13:27:00.000-08:00

Drafted 58th overall in 1979 by the Montreal Canadiens, Rick Wamsley started his career with minor league Nova Scotia in the AHL. In 1980 the Canadiens called him up, still looking for a replacement for the Ken Dryden who retired a year earlier. Wamsley filled in solidly for 3 seasons. In 1981-82 he and Denis Herron shared the William Jennings trophy for allowing the fewest goals against in the entire league.

Wamsley, Herron, and for that matter Richard Sevigny all filled in nicely in Montreal, but the team was not keeping up with the New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers in battles for Stanley Cups. A goaltending carousel would exist in Montreal until Patrick Roy arrived in 1986. Wamsley was moved to St. Louis in 1984.

Wamsley was happy with the move to St. Louis because of the team's association with goaltending legend Jacques Plante. Plante had helped Wamsley in Montreal and continued to do so with the Blues. Wamsley always credited Plante with helping achieve big league success.

Wamsley would spend 4 seasons with the Blues, splitting crease responsibilities mostly with Greg Millen.

Despite his solid play in St. Louis, Wamsley will always be remembered for his departure. Near the trading deadline in 1988, Wamsley and Rob Ramage were traded to Calgary in exchange for journeyman Steve Bozek and a young sniper named Brett Hull. Hull would go on to become one of the greatest goal scorers in NHL history, but Wamsley and the Flames would the Stanley Cup in 1989.

Though he rarely played with starter Mike Vernon around, winning the cup was his career highlight.

"When Doug Gilmour scored the empty net goal with about a minute left to clinch it, I wouldn't say my life flashed before my eyes, but I thought back to my parents driving me to practices and games and all the teams I played for over the years. Winning the cup was everything you thought it'd be when you were 12 years old playing in your driveway."

Wamsley continued in the back up role in Calgary until January 1992 when he realized another childhood dream. Part of the big Doug Gilmour for Gary Leeman trade, Wamsley became a Toronto Maple Leaf.

"I grew up watching the Leafs on Hockey Night In Canada in my grandfather's basement, which made putting on the blue and white sweater very special."

Wamsley would retire as a Leaf the next season, but would stay in the game as a long time goaltending coach. As a player he was a stand up goalie to a fault, particularly susceptible to low shots to the corners. As a coach he's had to keep learning the game, as the stand up style is essentially non-existent anymore. But one area of the game that he always seemed to master, and perhaps thanks to Jacques Plante, was mental preparedness necessary to be a NHL goalie. He was a very consistent goalie, always pretty good if never elite.

Rick Wamsley played in 407 NHL games, compiling an impressive 204-131-46 record. He posted 12 shut outs and a career 3.33 goals against average, a very respectable number for a goalie in the 1980s.

Wamsley also twice represented his country in international play. He helped Canada medal at the 1983 (bronze) and 1985 (silver) world championships.

Hardy Astrom

2008-01-10T18:27:00.000-08:00

Meet Hardy Astrom - the man who made Don Cherry a millionaire.

Cherry was hired as the new coach of the Colorado Rockies and Hardy, a Swede, was the team's number one goalie. Goaltending was always the Achilles heel of the Rockies and kept Cherry from turning the team around. As a result Cherry was soon fired and he turned to the world of broadcasting where he became a huge hit. He managed to parlay his popularity into endorsement contracts and business opportunities to become a very rich man.

"I never thought of myself as the ultimate connoisseur of goaltenders but one look at the guys we had between the pipes convinced me that our goalie problems weren't big, they were colossal. Astrom, if he was at his best, would be lucky to make it in the American league, and he was our number one goalie!" recalled Cherry in his autobiography.

"Hardy was our main man, as nice a guy as you would ever hope to meet" said Cherry diplomatically. But.....

"Astrom was killing us. Astrom was driving the guys nuts. Players would come up to me, almost in tears, saying that in all the years they played hockey, they had never played on a team with a goalie like him.

"Instead of improving, (Astrom) was getting worse. By now the opposition was scoring on shots from center ice. I couldn't take it anymore. One night, between periods of another Hardy Horror Show, I walked into (GM Ray) Miron's office and got down on my knees begging him to make a trade for a goalie. I felt sorry for the players because they were working their asses off. They'd come up with a goal and then, bing, bing, Hardy would let two easy ones go by and we would be finished.

"Once, during a practice, Bobby Schmautz tested Astrom with 4 shots from the blue line. Each one of them went right along the ice and beat Astrom. I doubt that my wife, Rose, would have missed more than two of them!"

Okay, so Cherry blames Astrom for his lack of success in Colorado. That kind of makes you wonder about how bad the other goalies were!

Hardy was originally signed out of Sweden by the New York Rangers in 1977-78. After starring with his hometown squad in Skelleftea, Astrom caught attention from NHL scouts in Canada Cup tournament and World Championships.

Astrom spent his first season in North America, Astrom lit up the American league. In just 27 games he led the league with 5 shutouts and a small 2.63 GAA. He went 17-5-3. He also appeared in 4 games with the Rangers, going 2-2-0 with a 3.50 GAA.

A homesick Astrom returned to Skelleftea in 1978-79 but returned to North America as a member of Cherry's Rockies after a summertime trade which saw the Rangers acquire Bill Lochead.

You know what Cherry thought of Astrom's play. Let's take a look at the stats to see if they back up Grapes' always exaggerated thoughts. Hardy played in 49 games in 1979-80, going 9-27-6 with a 3.75 GAA. In 1980-81 Hardy went 6-15-6 in 30 games, with a 3.76 GAA.

Hmmm......maybe Grapes has a point. Although the Rockies weren't the best team in the league, they didn't get quality goaltending from Astrom. But at least he lasted longer in Denver than Cherry.

Hardy was demoted to the CHL in 1981-82 where he struggled through a poor season with the Oklahoma Stars. He returned to Sweden for 4 years starting in the 1982-83.

Maurice "Moe" Roberts

2008-01-08T16:37:00.000-08:00

Maurice "Moe" Roberts was an amateur goalie in New England area, particularly Boston. He got his first break into the professional ranks in 1925 when the Boston Bruins signed him on December 8 to fill in as an injury replacement. Roberts appeared in parts of 2 games, giving up 5 goals in 90 minutes while compiling an 0-1 record.

Because Roberts played for the Bruins under these emergency circumstances, he lost his amateur status, and was unable to return his amateur team - the Boston AA Unicorns. Instead Moe caught on in the Canadian-American professional league, first with the New Haven Eagles and later the Philadelphia Arrows.

After nearly 6 full seasons in the Can-Am league, Roberts finally returned to the NHL on March 10, 1932. The New York Americans promoted Moe in order to replace the injured Roy "Shrimp" Worters. He played extremely well in that game as the Americans knocked off their cross town rivals the New York Rangers 5-1.

Moe's impression that game earned him his first legitimate NHL shot the following season. Although he spent the vast majority of the season with the Cleveland Indians of the IAHL, he got into 6 games with the struggling Americans. This time he was thrown into the deep water of the NHL, and he surfaced with a less than remarkable 1-4 record with a 4.46 GAA.

Moe was banished to the minor leagues until his retirement in 1946. Most of that time was spent in the city of Cleveland, first with the Indians/Falcons of the IAHL and later with the strong AHL Barons. Roberts was a key player in the Baron's success. He was particularly strong in 1938-39, when he led the Barons to the AHL championship with 4 playoff shutouts (in just 9 games) and a 1.13 GAA, and 1939-40, when he led the league with 5 shutouts and 2.24 GAA.

Roberts played until 1942 when he retired. He came out of retirement 3 years later to play with the Washington Lions of the EHL, but retired at the conclusion of that 1945-46 season.

The Chicago Blackhawks hired Roberts as a trainer. In addition to his duties in the dressing room, Roberts often donned the pads during practice in order to give players some shooting practice. This helped kept Roberts sharp and doing what he loved to do.

Roberts made a very unexpected return to the NHL on November 25, 1951, 18 years after his last NHL game. Starting goalie Harry Lumley became injured during the game and was unable to continue the game. Roberts soon found himself between the pipes again, playing one shutout period against the Detroit Red Wings.

An interesting side note: Roberts was just shy of 46 years of age when he played in that game, making him the oldest player in National Hockey League History. That record was of course broken by Gordie Howe, who played at the age of 52.

Billy Smith

2008-01-05T19:44:00.001-08:00

Perhaps the best clutch goaltender of all time, Battlin' Billy Smith was a major reason for 4 consecutive Stanley Cup championships on Long Island with the N.Y. Islanders.

His most celebrated Stanley Cup championships might have come in 1983. His 2-0 performance in game 1 of the 1983 finals against Edmonton is considered one of the greatest classics of all time. He would go on to shut out Wayne Gretzky during the entire series and was named playoff MVP.

The Los Angeles Kings selected the young goaltender with their third round draft pick in 1970. He starred in the American Hockey League in 1970-71, his first pro season. His strong play and 2.56 goals against average helped the Springfield Kings win the 1971 Calder Cup championship. He was named the team's most valuable player.

The following season he topped the AHL with four regular season shutouts. That same season, Smith was called up to the NHL, appearing in five regular season games with Los Angeles.

At the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft, the New York Islanders claimed him from the Kings system. He supplied reliable goaltending as the Islanders' struggled in 1973 and 1974. During the next five seasons he was a part of one of the league's top netminding tandems along with Glenn "Chico" Resch. Or perhaps we should say competition more than tandem, as the two battled it out for the starting job on a weekly basis, seemingly forever.

In 1978, Smith was rewarded with an appearance in that year's NHL All-Star game. He went on to be named the game's Most Valuable Player. Surprisingly, it was his only appearance in an NHL all star game.

On November 28, 1979 he became the first NHL goaltender to be credited with scoring a goal. With his goalie pulled for an extra attacker, Colorado Rockies' defenseman Rob Ramage accidentally sent a pass, originally intended for a teammate, the length of the ice into his own net. It was Smith who was the last Islander to touch the puck and was identified as the official goal scorer.

In 1979-80, Smith became the undisputed first string goalie for the Islanders and went on to be a pillar of strength during the Islanders' domination of the Stanley Cup. In 1981-82 he enjoyed his greatest individual season. That year the cagey puck stopper registered 32 wins, was awarded the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goaltender and was selected to the NHL's First All-Star Team. In 1982-83, Smith shared the William Jennings Trophy with Roland Melanson after recording the lowest goals against average in the NHL. Later that season "Battlin' Billy" (he was as notorious for physically defending his crease from opposing players as he was for protecting his goal from opposing pucks) was the key to the Islanders' defeat of the Edmonton Oilers to win their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup. He had been brilliant in the post-season and was presented the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs' Most Valuable Player.

Although the Islanders soon went into a rebuilding period, Smith continued to perform at a high level until his retirement after the 1988-89 campaign. He finished with a career goals against average of 3.17 and 22 shutouts, very respectable numbers for someone who played the entire decade of the high scoring 1980s.

More importantly than numbers, Smith is considered to be one of the NHL's greatest playoff goaltenders of all time. Smith twice posted 15 post season wins and recorded a stingy 2.73 goals against average and five shutouts in 132 NHL playoff games. For 5 straight playoffs he led the entire NHL in appearances and wins, and three of those years he led in shutouts and GAA.

Billy didn't always see eye to eye with his coach Al Arbour. Arbour liked to split his goaltending among Smith with first Resch and later Melanson. Smith, like any goalie, wanted to play more during the regular season, and his post season play certainly proves he deserved it. But in almost every season Smith played with the Isles he hovered around the 40 games played mark.

Perhaps if he had been given a chance to play more in the regular season he would have won more individual honors and bolstered his all time numbers so that he would be hailed even more so as one of the all time greats. But his playoff performances alone have cemented his place among the immortals.

The Islanders recognized his tremendous contributions to their franchise by retiring his number "31" on February 20, 1993.

In retirement Billy has gotten into the coaching and goaltending consultant business. From 1989 through 1993 he was behind the Islanders bench, but left to join the Florida Panthers for 8 years in 1993. For the 2001-02 season he has returned to the New York Islanders where he once again works with their goalies, specifically Rick DiPietro.

Patrick Roy

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He imposed his style on the game, and legions of hockey fans and goalies everywhere were grateful. It is not just that his method was effective, that the revolutionary quick drop-n-slide of a pad could stone the wickedest snap shot. Roy's way was also fun, dramatic, cocky, marvelous, at times even beautiful. Far beyond the statistics, Patrick Roy entertained us and thrilled us while he emerged so dazzlingly as the best.

Many of hockey's historical experts will tell you that Patrick Roy is the greatest goaltender of all time. With all due respect to the likes of Terry Sawchuk, Jacques Plante, Glenn Hall and Dominik Hasek, the stats are convincing.

Roy retired in 2003 as the goaltending leader in regular season games played (1,029), minutes played (60,235), career wins (551), and most career 30-win seasons (13). He won three Vezina trophies, five Jennings trophies, and six All Star nominations. He had a career .910 save percentage and 2.54 GAA, not to mention 66 career shutouts. He is the only goalie in NHL history to win over 200 regular season games with two different teams.

But forget about all the numbers. Unlike many goalies, Patrick Roy's greatness was not about numbers. His greatness lies in moments, in memories.

Most of those memories came in playoff competition. The only numbers Roy cares about are his four Stanley Cup rings, two with Montreal and two with Colorado.

In perhaps his most memorable quote, during the 1996 Western Conference semi-finals between the Colorado Avalanche and the Chicago Blackhawks Jeremy Roenick, who scored on this particular night, said, "I'd like to know where Patrick was in Game 3, probably up trying to get his jock out of the rafters." Roy retorted with his now-famous line, "I can't hear what Jeremy says, because I've got my two Stanley Cup rings plugging my ears."

While he was very good in the regular season, it was in the playoffs that St. Patrick worked his miracles.

Again the statistics are all on his side. He owns records for most career playoff games played by a goaltender (247), minutes played (15,209), most career playoff wins (151), and most career playoff shutouts (23).

To say he was instrumental in each championship is an understatement. He was the first three-time winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff's most valuable player.

Born on the exact same date as Mario Lemieux, Roy started his NHL career with the Montreal Canadiens, who drafted him 51st overall in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft from the Granby Bisons. Right from his rookie season Roy earned his reputation as a special, if cocky, goaltender. He led the Canadiens to an unexpected Stanley Cup championship in his rookie season. At the age of 20 Roy became the youngest player in the NHL's history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy.

The Canadiens were ecstatic to once again have a French Canadian superstar. Despite not having the same caliber of previous Montreal teams, Roy took the proverbial torch from the likes of Rocket Richard, Jean Beliveau and Guy Lafleur and carried Montreal's Stanley Cup hopes on his solitary back.

In 1989, 1990, and 1992 Roy won the Vezina Trophy. He won the Jennings Trophy (least goals allowed) in 1987, 1988, 1989 (all shared with Brian Hayward), 1992, and 2002. He led the league in shutouts and goals against average twice, was named a First Team All-Star three times, a Second Team All-Star twice, and played in eleven All-Star games.

His best performance was saved for 1992-'93. The Canadiens fielded what seemed to be a fairly average team. To remain competitive, Patrick took the team on his back, winning 31 games and entering the playoffs with momentum.

Things did not look promising early on in the 1993 playoffs. The Canadiens lost their first two games to their archrival Quebec Nordiques in the first round. Nordiques goaltending coach Dan Bouchard, who had been Roy's boyhood idol, proclaimed that his team had solved the mighty Roy. These comments seemed to fire up Roy, who responded by winning the next four consecutive games against the Nordiques. Roy didn't stop there. He swept the Buffalo Sabres in the next round, and winning the first three against the New York Islanders to complete an NHL record eleven postseason game winning streak.

Roy met Wayne Gretzky's Los Angeles Kings in the finals that year, and spoiled The Great One's Californian championship party. Vivid memories of that series include Roy stoning Luc Robitaille and arrogantly winking at Tomas Sandstrom after another impressive save. In true cocky form, Roy confirmed that during a tight game 2, he told his teammates "just get one, because I'm not going to give them any." And he didn't.

Roy set a record during the postseason with 10 straight overtime wins to capture Montreal's most unexpected Stanley Cup championship in modern times. Needless to say, Roy was once again name the Conn Smythe Trophy winner. His performance that post season may have been the best individual playoffs in hockey history.

All seemed well in Montreal until December 2nd, 1995. After letting in nine goals before being pulled in the third period, he blasted rookie coach Mario Tremblay for leaving him in the game and making him look so bad. Before taking a seat when he was finally pulled, from the bench and in front of television audiences the fiery Roy told team president Ronald Corey that this was his last game in a Canadiens uniform and demanded to be traded. A few days later he was inconceivably traded to the Colorado Avalanche.

Traded along with Mike Keane in return for Andre Kovalenko, Martin Rucinsky and Jocelyn Thibault on December 6, 1995, a new era in the Patrick Roy history book was underway. Joining a team which already boasted Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Claude Lemieux, Roy would guide the former Nordiques to a Stanley Cup title in their first year in Denver.

Part of Canada's Olympic team in 1998, Roy went on to play in eleven All-Star games and won three Vezina Trophies throughout his illustrious career. Early in the 2000-01 season, he surpassed legendary Terry Sawchuk in career wins with a total of 447, a number most fans thought was once untouchable.

His play in Colorado is almost as legendary as his time in Montreal. In particular, the Avs-Red Wings rivalry is a great memory of Roy's career, particularly his fights with goaltenders Mike Vernon and Chris Osgood, and his not-always-successful but always entertaining wandering around the ice with the puck. Perhaps most notable was his Statue-of-Liberty save off of Steve Yzerman. In true showboating form, Roy stood up and raised his glove high in the air to proclaim he had the puck. The only problem was Roy didn't realize the puck was lying in his crease as Brendan Shanahan coyly poked it in.

In 2001 Roy was at his best once again, leading the Avalanche to their second Stanley Cup championship and Roy's fourth. He was also awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy for a remarkable third time, and therefore cementing his reputation as the greatest clutch goalie in hockey history.

Although he smirkingly tries to avoid the topic, Roy was one of the few players who really changed the face of hockey.

Firstly, there was his trademark equipment adjustments. Many will credit, or blame, Roy for the NHL's need to crackdown on goaltending equipment by the turn of the century. Roy was known not only to experiment with big padding, but he also liked to wear a grossly oversized jersey. The idea was that while crouching down, his untucked-in-the-back jersey would catch anything that would go through his legs. Others claimed Roy tried to use webbing in his underarms to catch pucks. Roy also experimented with large catching gloves, and cleverly was the first goalie to specifically paint his goalie pads so that the padding nearest to his 5-hole was white. Roy knew that shooters often only have a split second to get off a shot, and this would create an illusion of an opening that did not really exist.

Secondly, Roy perfected the butterfly style of goaltending. Glenn Hall introduced it in the 1950s and 1960s, and Tony Esposito used it with great fanfare in the 1970s, but it was not until Roy's influence that it became the predominant if not only school of goalie thought even until this day.

No where was Roy's impact felt as strongly as in his native Quebec. French-Canadians in particular, maybe even the entire nation of Canada, no longer wanted to be Rocket Richard, Jean Believeau or Guy Lafleur when they grew up. They now wanted to be goaltenders. He made such an impact on the position that not only did they want to be goaltenders, but they wanted to be like Patrick and play the way he played. Suddenly goaltending became the glamour position. No longer was the worst athlete on the youth team pushed into a life of goaltending because of his inability to skate. Now, Quebec coaches had their pick of great athletes to use as the goaltender, each looking to become the next superstar from the province.

Bernie Parent

2008-01-05T18:53:00.001-08:00

Beset by troubling injuries that robbed him of many of his best years of his career, Bernie Parent doesn't always get consideration for the greatest goalie of all time.

Yet anyone who saw him play in the mid-1970s knows few goalies have ever played at a higher level than Bernie Parent.

Much like Dominik Hasek 20 years later with Buffalo, for a period of time Parent was simply incredible. He was "the second coming of Jacques Plante" and the Flyers "undisputed MVP." Neither of the Flyers' much celebrated back to back Stanley Cup championships would have been possible without Parent.

Bernie Parent turned pro in 1965 after backstopping Niagara Falls to the Memorial Cup championship. After stints with the Bruins, Leafs, and the WHA, Parent finally found a permanent home with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Many people forget the Flyers actually gave up on Parent prior to their championship reign. In 1971 the Flyers moved Parent to Toronto. Why? The Flyers, still a struggling expansion team seeking depth at most positions, were equally high on another goalie in their system - Doug Favell, Parent's junior cohort. It was felt that Parent, who was establishing himself as one of hockey's top goalies, would command a higher return than Favell. The Leafs returned veteran goalkeeper Bruce Gamble and the 9th overall draft pick, used to select Pierre Plante, a serviceable NHLer with 599 career games, though only 26 with the Flyers. The Flyers also received the highly skilled Shakey Walton, but immediately parlayed him to Boston in exchange for another Flyers' key, Rick MacLeish.

Though the deal was very controversial in Philadelphia as Parent was already a fan favorite, Parent was more than happy to move to Toronto and play with his idol, Jacques Plante. It turns out Plante was a big fan of Parent's, too.

"He's probably got more natural ability than any goaltender in this league," Plante said at the time.

For the next couple of seasons Plante mentored Parent, who was more than eager to soak up anything and everything his idol would offer. Plante's influence on Parent became obvious. Gump Worsley described Parent as "a carbon copy" of Parent, while Gerry Cheevers called him "a fat Jacques Plante."

Though success was not immediately apparent in Toronto, Parent shockingly became the first Leaf to defect to the WHA. The Miami Screaming Eagles gave Parent a 5 year, $750,000 contract, though the team folded before ever playing a game. In another shocking move, Parent signed a $600,000 deal with the Blazers of Philadelphia, of all cities.

By the end of the first season, Parent ended up quitting the Blazers after a pay dispute. His contract nullified, he returned to the NHL, but told the Leafs he wished to be traded back to the Philadelphia Flyers. After sending a first round pick and Favell to the Leafs, finally Parent had come home.

Parent returned to the City of Brotherly Love to find the Broad Street Bullies at their disgraceful best. Parent gave them the goaltending they lacked to lead them to Stanley Cup.

"When Parent is out there, we know we can win games we have no business winning," said Fred Shero, the calculating coach of the Flyers glory years.

In 1973-74 he established himself as the best goalie in hockey. He played more minutes (4314), had more wins (47), had more shutouts (12) and had a better GAA (1.89) than any other goalie, earning the Vezina trophy. In the playoffs he would impossibly take his game to a higher level, upsetting the heavily favored Boston Bruins, sporting Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito, for the Stanley Cup. Parent was the obvious choice as playoff MVP and earned the Conn Smythe trophy.

The following season Parent proved his success was no fluke. He notched another 44 wins, another 12 shutouts, another Vezina Trophy in the regular season, and another Smythe trophy en route to another Stanley Cup in the playoffs.

The Flyers very well may have won a third consecutive Cup title, and by doing so ensuring a loftier legacy of dynasty, but Parent missed most of the year with a serious neck injury. The Flyers did return to another Cup final thanks to the goaltending of Wayne Stephenson, but they were swept by the new/old power in the league - the Montreal Canadiens.

Parent would recover from the neck injury but three seasons later he suffered a career ending eye injury. Somehow a New York Ranger player's stick ignored the best intentions of Parent's trademark mask and clipped his right eye. He spent the next 10 days in hospital, with both eyes bandaged shut. His retina was badly injured, his depth perception and ability to focus permanently damaged, his career over.

Parent was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984.

Tony Esposito

2008-01-05T18:42:00.001-08:00

One of the game's greatest forwards and one of the game's greatest goalies grew up in the same family home. Phil, the older of the two, practiced shooting against brother Tony for hours on end. By 1970 both had reached the top of the hockey world. Both we're named to the NHL First All Star Team.

Tony Esposito was one of the first players of the modern era to reach the NHL after playing American college hockey. One of the reasons he went this route was to deliberately delay his professional debut. When he started there was only 6 NHL teams and the use of one goalie was still common place - hence only 6 jobs. But just around the corner the NHL would double in size due to expansion, and carrying a backup goalie would soon become an accepted practice. He played three seasons with the Michigan Tech Huskies while studying business. He signed with the Montreal Canadiens in 1967.

The Habs assigned Tony to the WHL Vancouver Canucks for the 67-68 season, where he continued to dominate, leading the league in games played, minutes played, shutouts, and amazingly both wins and losses. Esposito felt that his time in Vancouver was a great hockey education for him. He had only played 20 or so games in the college schedule, but would face lots of ice time and shots in 63 games

Tony O played part of the 1968-69 season with the Montreal Canadiens and earned his only Stanley Cup ring there while serving as the backup goalie. His first NHL game came against brother Phil's Boston Bruins and resulted in a 2-2 tie. In total that season Esposito would only get into 13 contests, with a 5-4-4 record. He did post 2 shutouts, including a 0-0 tie against Phil and the Bruins.

The following year he was acquired by Chicago. The Canadiens had to choose between the young Esposito and the veteran legend Gump Worsley. While the Habs did have Ken Dryden a couple of years away, the move could have proved to be disastrous if Dryden hadn't emerged. Tony inherited Glenn Hall's position in Chicago and played phenomenally for the next fifteen years.

His first full season saw him win the Calder and Vezina Trophies as he posted a 2.17 GAA and 15 shutouts in 63 games. The 15 shutouts is a modern day record for most in one season. He would go on to win or share 3 Vezinas, and five All Star berths. He thrived on a heavy work load. In fact, over 8 year stretch he averaged 68 games a season.

Despite Esposito's incredible play, the Hawks were never able to achieve elite status, which probably holds Tony Esposito back when it comes to discussions about the game's greatest goalies. He was clearly an elite goalie though, and was chosen to play in the 1972 Summit Series with Team Canada. He played in 4 games and by most accounts outplayed number one goalie Ken Dryden.

Tony O also played in the 1981 Canada Cup, but not for Canada. He had acquired his US Citizenship just in time for the tournament, and agreed to play of Team USA since he wasn't invited to Canada's training camp. Tony O instantly gave Team USA some credibility, but ultimately wasn't able to give them enough wins to make a splash in the tournament.

Tony would play past the age of 40, retiring as a Hawk in 1984. He would later go on to NHL management positions with Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay.

He was a bit of an unorthodox goalie. He would play the butterfly style to stop shots, which back then was not as common as it is today. He often would cheat to one side when facing a shooter, displaying extra room and forcing the shooter to shoot, but then would quickly take it away with his quick glove hand. A noted poke-checker, the only thing more active than Esposito's stick was his mouth. He was a loud and talkative goalie, always yelling directions to his defensemen.

One thing is for sure - Tony was an exciting goalie to watch!

NHL Goaltending Legends

2007-07-29T14:23:00.001-07:00

	Murray Bannerman - Murray Bannerman had the unenviable task of replacing the living legend Tony Esposito in the Hawks' goal crease.
	Tom Barrasso - Right out of high school, Tom Barrasso turned in one of the most amazing rookie seasons in NHL history. He would continue on to have a stellar career complete with 2 Stanley Cups.

Bill Beveridge - Bill Beveridge is a long forgotten goaltender of a long forgotten team. There's not many people around anymore that saw the Montreal Maroons play.

	Craig Billington - A true student of the game, Craig Billington went from top prospect, to starter, to backup to Patrick Roy's goalie coach.
	Les Binkley - A long time minor league goalie finally got his chance thanks to 1967 expansion. He was one of the early fan favorites.
	Johnny Bower - "The China Wall" was an aging superstar goalie before he even made it to the NHL. His profile includes war stories and a full version of his song Honky The Christmas Goose.
	Turk Broda - This Maple Leaf great was the clutch goalie of his time. Turk was one of the most popular players in Toronto's long hockey history.

Richard Brodeur - Few players have endeared themselves to the Canucks faithful like "King Richard" Brodeur did and continues to do.

Andy Brown - Though his NHL career was largely insignificant, this second generation NHLer goes down in history as the last NHL goalie to play without a mask.

Gerry Cheevers - Known for his famous mask, Gerry Cheevers is one of the most exciting goaltenders in memory.

Alec Connell - Known as the "Fireman" simply because he was actually a fireman in addition to a hockey player, Alec Connell also put out the fire of opposing NHL sharpshooters.

Ken Dryden - One of hockey's most interesting people, Ken Dryden was Montreal's dominant goal keeper through 6 Stanley Cup championships in the 1970s.

Bill Durnan - An ambidextrous octopus of a goalie, Durnan owned the Vezina trophy during his brilliant career with the Montreal Canadiens.

Tony Esposito - Tony O was an exciting goaltender who gave his all for a Chicago team that never offered him a lot of help.

	Bob Froese - Reliable Bob Froese tutored Ron Hextall and Pelle Lindbergh in Philadelphia. He'd later do the same for John Vanbiesbrouck and Mike Richter in New York.
	Grant Fuhr - The spectacular goaltending of Grant Fuhr landed him many Stanley Cups, world titles and in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
	Charlie Gardiner - Had his life not ended tragically and prematurely, "Bonnie Prince" Charlie Gardiner may have gone on to have the greatest career of all NHL goaltenders.
	Eddie Giacomin - Eddie Giacomin is an immortal legend of Madison Square Gardens. The night he returned to MSG as a member of the Detroit Red Wings was one crazy night.
	Gilles Gratton - They say goalies are some of the flakiest people around. Well "Grattoony The Looney" takes the cake.

George Hainsworth - George Hainsworth, the winner of the first three Vezina trophies, posted a career 94 shutouts, including 22 in one 44-game season!

	"Mr Goalie" Glenn Hall - The grandfather of butterfly goaltending played a record 502 consecutive games without a mask.
	Sugar Jim Henry - This popular goaltender is best remembered shaking hands with a bloodied Rocket Richard in the dramatic photograph.
	Ron Hextall - Rambunctious Flyers goalie Ron Hextall was known for fighting and scoring goals. He was pretty good at preventing goals, too.

	Charlie Hodge - Charlie Hodge had the unfortunate role of being number two goalie to the great Jacques Plante.
	Jiri Holecek - Many in the know will tell you that it was Czech Jiri Holecek who was the best international goalie never to play in the NHL, not Russian Vladislav Tretiak.
	Kelly Hrudey - Now known as the man behind Hockey Night In Canada's feature segment "Behind The Mask," Kelly Hrudey was once one of the top goalies in hockey.
	Mike Karakas - The inconsistent Karakas was hot during the 1938 playoffs, leading the Cinderella Hawks to the Stanley Cup title despite a broken toe.

Dave Kerr - The acrobatic Dave Kerr backstopped the New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup in 1940. Two years earlier, he was the first hockey player to grace the cover of Time Magazine.

Hugh Lehman - Arguably the greatest goalie in PCHA history, he is best remembered by NHL audiences as the first goalie in Chicago Blackhawks history.

	Percy Lesueur - Peerless Percy was the first great goaltender in Ottawa history.
	Mike Liut - For a brief period of time at the turn of the 1980s, Mike Liut took Ken Dryden's torch as the best goalie in the NHL.
	Harry Lumley - "Apple Cheeks" Lumley is often forgotten about nowadays, but he was once one of hockey's top goaltenders.
	Cesare Maniago - Post-1967 expansion fans in Minnesota and Vancouver loved to Hail Cesare!

Ulcers McCool - An unknown goalie from Gonzaga University led the Toronto Maple Leafs to a surprise war time Stanley Cup.

	Kirk McLean - For a period of about 3 years in the early 1990s, Kirk McLean was one of the top 3 goaltenders in the entire National Hockey League.
	Gilles Meloche - In the 1970s and 1980s he played for the Seals, Barons, North Stars and Penguins. No wonder why his 351 career losses is only 1 loss off of the all time record.
	Andy Moog - After backing up too often in Edmonton, Andy Moog had a stellar career with Boston and Dallas.
	Alfie Moore - In the afternoon he was enjoying himself to much at a Toronto tavern, wishing he had tickets to the opening game of the 1938 Stanley Cup finals. By evening he was the starting goaltender.
	Phil Myre - A former Montreal back up, Phil Myre teamed with Dan Bouchard to give the Atlanta Flames instant respectability between the pipes.
	Mike Palmateer - Mike Palmateer wasn't exactly Johnny Bower, but "The Popcorn Kid" was a very popular Maple Leafs goalie in the 1970s.
	Bernie Parent - In 1974 and 1975 Bernie Parent put together perhaps the most impressive back to back NHL campaigns in league history..
	Lester Patrick - Known as the coach who took to the nets in the Stanley Cup finals, that game overshadows Lester Patrick's status as probably the game's greatest contributor.

Pete Peeters - In 1982-83 Pete Peeters won the Vezina trophy and finished second in Hart Trophy balloting.

	Steve Penney - A la Ken Dryden, Steve Penney came out of nowhere to lead Montreal to a Cinderella playoff run in 1984. He disappeared quickly thereafter.
	Jacques Plante - Best known for literally changing the face of hockey, Jake The Snake may be the greatest goalie of all time if not the most important.

	Michel Plasse - Michel Plasse was the first goalie drafted 1st overall. He was also the first modern professional goalie to score a goal by directly shooting it into the opposition's net.
	Bill Ranford - Spectacular Bill Ranford filled the huge skates of Grant Fuhr for both the Edmonton Oilers and Team Canada. .

Dave Reece - Dave Reece will always go down in history as the Bruins goalie who surrendered 10 points in one game to Darryl Sittler.

	Chico Resch - The loveable Chico Resch starred with the New York Islanders and later with the Colorado Rockies, Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils.
	Al Rollins - Chicago's saving grace during the lean 1950s, this superb goalie beat out Rocket Richard and Gordie Howe as league MVP in 1954.

Patrick Roy - The greatest goaltender of all time? The Montreal Forum was St. Patrick's cathedral for many years before moving on to Colorado.

	Terry Sawchuk - Though modern fans will likely choose Patrick Roy or Dominik Hasek, veteran fans will tell you Terry Sawchuk is the greatest goaltender of all time.
	Battlin' Billy Smith - The ornery Billy Smith was as competitive and as clutch of a performer as any goaltender in NHL history.
	Bobby Taylor - As Bernie Parent's back up, Bobby Taylor was probably the least known of the Broad Street Bullies to win back to back Stanley Cups.

Tiny Thompson - As a rookie in 1929, Tiny Thompson backstopped the Boston Bruins to their first Stanley Cup Championship.

	Georges Vezina - The Chicoutimi Cucumber was forever immortalized in hockey history when the NHL debuted the trophy bearing his name to honour the top goaltender each season.
	Bernie Wolfe - Bernie Wolfe was the goaltender for the worst team in hockey. His record shows it.
	Gump Worsley - Rescued from the "jailhouse" known as the New York Rangers, Worsley led Les Canadiens to four Stanley Cup championships in the 1960s..

Shrimp Worters - The smallest man to play in the NHL was also the first goaltender to be named as the league's most valuable player.

International Goalies

	Vladimir Dzurilla - One of Slovakia's greatest hockey players, "Dzurilla the Gorilla" became a legend in Canada too, thanks to the 1976 Canada Cup
	Karl Friesen - Winnipeg born goaltender became one of the top goaltenders in German hockey history.

Pauli Jaks - The Swiss goaltending sensation of the 1991 World Junior Hockey Championships became a cult hero thanks to his amazing performance.

	Steve Janaszak - Jim Craig's backup for the "Miracle on Ice" gold medal USA team, Janaszak was the only competitor in any sport not participate in the 1980 Winter Olympics.
	Ray Leblanc - For two weeks in 1992, Ray Leblanc became the talk of the hockey world. He caught fire as he unexpectedly led Team USA to their best Olympic showing since the Miracle on Ice in 1980.
	Seth Martin - Trail Smoke Eater Seth Martin is a goaltending legend over in Russia and Europe, but he is practically unknown in his native Canada.

Mike Richter - This saving grace may be the single most important player in USA Hockey history. He was the brick wall Team USA leaned on time and time again.

Vladislav Tretiak - Vladislav Tretiak is one of the greatest hockey heroes, not just in Russia but also in Canada and all around the world.

Craig Billington

2007-07-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

I always have a special soft spot for players of the 1980s-early 1990s Canadian national team. And for some reason, goaltenders usually top my favorites list from this team. That is unusual for me, as I prefer and understand skaters more so, but perhaps it was valiant efforts of the horribly overmatched Canadian puck stoppers against the might Soviet Union national team that won me over.

The Nats alumni include Sean Burke, Andy Moog, Rick Tabaracci, even Mario Gosselin. Another favorite...Craig Billington.

Billington was a real studious kid, both on the ice and in the classroom. This probably comes as no surprise for anyone who knew the 1985 OHL scholastic player of the year.

"I always idolized Ken Dryden, who was then the star goalie of the Montreal Canadiens when they were winning all those Stanley Cups in the 1970s. I also was impressed by his intellect and the fact that he continued going to college and eventually became a lawyer. It was terrific how he managed with his education and also played hockey at such a high calibre for such a long time," said Billington in the Stan Fischler book Goalies: Legends from the NHL's toughest job.

The son of two educators was born and raised in London, Ontario, but moved to the smaller Belleville to play junior hockey. He would quickly establish himself as one of the top goaltending prospects in the world. The New Jersey Devils made him the 23rd overall pick in 1984.

"By the time I had reached Belleville, my priorities were pretty much in order. My immediate goal was to help the Belleville club win hockey games, but my long-range goal then was to eventually make it to the New Jersey Devils. If that didn't work out, I had decided that I would get an education. Long range, I had my heart set on going into the business world. Even as a teenager, I thought about business, whether it meant dabbling in the stock market or running my own business."

"Biller" wouldn't need to pursue a business education. It took him a while, but he established himself as NHL goalie by the early 1990s. But not until after many ups and downs, and stints in the minor leagues. But by 1993, he was playing in the NHL All Star Game.

Billington credits veteran presence and friend forever Chico Resch with helping him become a NHL quality netminder.

"At the time the Devils didn't have that good a team, but they did have Chico Resch as their goalie and a nicer guy you'll never find. I spent time living there with his family and getting tutelage from him. It was a difficult time for the Devils organization because they just didn't have the talent, and it certainly was demanding on the goaltenders because of all the rubber we faced."

Billington could never quite fully establish himself as the Devils go to guy between the pipes. He was perhaps mishandled a bit early on his career, not getting the playing time he needed. In fact at one point in his rookie season he was doing radio color commentary rather than dressing for games. But eventually they tried sending him down to the minor leagues to apprentice properly. That is where Billington met legendary minor league coach Tom McVie.

"He was notorious in the business for being a tough hombre, but Tom was very fair. One of McVie's virtues was that he made the game of hockey simple to understand. Another was that he could push you to a level that you may never have thought you could reach before."

But it was an assignment to Dave King's Canadian national team program that really allowed Billington to grow into a big league puck stopper. The former world junior gold and silver medalist was eager to play for Nats as he knew how valuable the experience would be.

"What helped me along the way was the year I spent playing for the Canadian Olympic team. The international experience taught me a couple of things, among them that there is a different style of play overseas with the wider ice. Playing over there, I came to respect the passing and the intricate European style plays. I learned to read plays much better and have come to see how the NHL integrated that formula into its system."

"The other thing I learned overseas was the difference in customs among various nations. I learned how to adjust to different cultures. The sum total of the experience made me mentally stronger and tougher, particularly because I had to perform at a high level under Olympic pressure.

"Looking back, I can say that they Olympic experience saved my career because it put things into perspective for me. It gave me a chance to work at my game and really appreciate the hockey business, where I was, and where I wanted to go from there."

After helping Canada capture a silver medal in the 1991 World Championships, he returned to New Jersey, though he faced stiff competition. Chris Terreri was a highly regarded goalie in his own right, and the Devils were giving him every opportunity to prove his worth. And a young Martin Brodeur had just been drafted into the system.

Undaunted, the improved Billington wrestled the starters job away from Terreri in 1992-93, posting 21 wins and 2 shutouts to earn an invitation to the midseason all star game.

Despite the improved play of Billington, the Devils were forced to part with one of there goalies due to continued expansion. To avoid losing one of there goalies through the expansion drafts, the Devils opted to keep Terreri and moved Billington to the lowly Ottawa Senators.

Though he was a human target in Ottawa, he welcomed the opportunity to be a starting goalie and to be reunited with Chico Resch, who was now a goalie coach. Still, it proved to be a very trying time.

"With the Devils, I was growing up with an expansion organization, and was with them as they became a successful and competitive club. It was very exciting and I felt that I was well respected there. Believe me, it was difficult leaving that kind of environment, going to another expansion team which was five to ten years away from being extremely competitive. I was starting from scratch, so to speak, all over again."

"Chico would remind me what I already had learned which is that it's a lot of fun to be a goalie, although on many nights it doesn't seem that way. I learned that you've got to love the game to get through the kind of frustration that many of us goalies do."

He played in 63 games, winning only 11 and losing 41. His GAA was a bloated 4.59 and his save percentage just 0.859. Despite the statistical facts, Billington played well in Ottawa, although history may have been archived incorrectly because of a rocky relationship with the media.

"I learned in Ottawa that you can't win with the media. The people who cover the Senators can be very difficult and, as a result, I can be very uncooperative at the same time.

"We did the best we could. One of the problems was that we didn't have the size on defense to clear the front of the net. But a lot of times it wasn't the defense. The forwards weren't holding up for them, allowing the D to stand up at the blue line. The system was just not executing, and that was my part of the challenge. But one of the things I learned is that I have to stay positive and remain a positive influence on my team. That's something I can control and something that has to be there, especially in the dressing room and around the guys."

Billington would be pardoned to Boston where he learned to be a back up while playing behind Bill Ranford. That experience proved to be very valuable to him, as in 1996 he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado's other goalie was the incomparable Patrick Roy. Billington immediately knew he was there to pinch hit for the goalie great, and he not only accepted the assignment with zest, but he became one of the few people to become exceptionally close to Roy.

For three years Billington would back up Roy before Billington was moved to Washington to round out his career in 2003. That's when Roy and Biller were reunited, as Billington returned to Colorado as a goaltending coach.

Though he had run a summer goaltending school back in Ontario for years, how could Billington coach arguably the greatest goalie of all time?

"I said Craig would be the perfect guy for the job," said Roy back in 2003. "He's a great student of the game -- and we were always on the same wavelength. I've been around long enough that I don't need someone to baby sit me. But Craig has a set of creative eyes that I trust. And we've already worked on a few of his ideas."

Billington was able to parlay his tenure as goaltender coach into a broader role of director of player development. He oversees the franchises minor league teams and prospect progress, as well as numerous scouting missions. It's a new world for Billington, but one that he excels at because of what he learned in life through the eyes of a goaltender.

"I've been working the mental skills and the mental training for the past six or seven years," Billington once said while still playing. "It's an ongoing process. It's constantly changing, and it's really a journey. I think the greatest lesson I've learned is that it's not just for hockey. I can apply this anywhere in life. In raising a family, you talk about belief, commitment, discipline, and respect. That's the type of person I want to be, no matter what I am doing, because I always want to get the best out of me. We only go through this life once, and I want to get the best out of Craig Billington every day. Whether it's at the hockey rink, the gym, with my friends or family, that's the way I want to be."

Andy Moog

2007-06-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

Andy Moog retired in 1998 compiling a 372-209-88 record in 713 NHL games with Edmonton, Boston, Dallas and Montreal, with an 88-57 mark in the playoffs. Those numbers rank him among the all time greats of the game. His regular season victory total at the time ranked seventh among NHL goalies, while his .622 winning percentage is the highest among the 15 goalies who have more than 300 career wins.

"I've had a terrific run," said Moog, who played on three Stanley Cup winners in Edmonton, mostly as a backup to Grant Fuhr

Moog's 18-year career has seen the Penticton native star with Edmonton, Boston and Dallas, and finally Montreal, a city he described as "the best NHL city there is."

Andy Moog was born in Penticton, British Columbia on Feb. 18, 1960. You could say he was born to play goal. He is the son of Don (and Shirley) Moog who was a goaltender with the Penticton Vees when they won their World Hockey Championship in 1955.

Having grown up with a goalie for a dad obviously gave Andy an edge throughout his childhood years. After playing minor hockey in Penticton, Andy advanced to the junior ranks, first in the BCJHL, and then on to the Billings Bighorns of the Western Hockey League, where he was named a WHL all star in 1979-80.

Andy was the 132nd player taken in the 1980 entry draft by the Oilers. The next couple of years Andy apprenticed in the minor leagues with CHL Wichita Wind, where he became an All Star by 1982. In the meantime he did make 15 appearances at the NHL level. He impressed everyone in 1980-81 when the rookie all but came out of nowhere. After 7 games (3 wins, 3 losses) in the regular season, Moog was a surprise started in the playoffs for Edmonton. He went 5-4 as the young Oilers upset the mighty Montreal Canadiens!

After a strong showing like that, 1981-82 must have seen like a bit of a disappointment. Moog spent all but 8 games in the minor leagues. The highly rated Grant Fuhr walked into training camp and stole the starting job from Moog. The Oilers felt that Moog would be better off playing games in the minors than backing up in the NHL.

Moog redeemed himself in 1982-83. It was Fuhr's turn to stumble somewhat and Moog had a spectacular season. He went 33-8-7 in 50 games played and was the regular goalie come playoff time as the Oilers went all the way to the Stanley Cup finals before bowing to the defending champion New York Islanders.

That would be high point for Andy on an individual basis in his 7 year career in Edmonton. He starred with the Oilers for 7 years, winning three Stanley Cups (1984, 1985, 1987). However Moog had to share the puck stopping duties with Grant Fuhr. The dream tandem is one of the better goaltending duos in league history, but it did lead to frustration on Andy's behalf. Fuhr seemed to get the nod for the big games and especially the playoff games. Despite a 143--43-21 record in the regular season, Moog only got to appear in 11 post season games in the three years that he earned a Stanley Cup ring.

Andy did his best to play a team role as the backup but eventually wanted a chance to prove he was a number one goalie. Moog sat out much of the 1987-88 season without a contract and awaiting a trade. He played most of that year with the Canadian National Team and played for Team Canada in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. The Olympics were special as they were hosted in Canada (Calgary) and Moog was the star. Unfortunately Team Canada finished just out of the medals that year.

Following the Olympics, Moog was traded to Boston in exchange for Geoff Courtnall and Bill Ranford. Moog became one of the most popular sports figures in a town that has many popular sports heroes. Moog led the Bruins to two Stanley Cup Championship series (1988 and 1990), only to fall short to, ironically, his old teammates from Edmonton both times.

Moog was moved on to Dallas for Jon Casey in what became a steal for the Stars in a 1993 off season trade. Casey flopped while Moog had 4 strong seasons

However Dallas felt they needed to get a slightly younger goalie who was capable of playing more games - this despite the fact that Moog posted his best goals against average in his 17th season. They went out and got Eddie "The Eagle" Belfour. Moog didn't want to finish his career as a backup, so he moved on to Montreal where he signed a three year contract in 1997-98.

Moog only played one season in Montreal, and he played very admirably. It was a bit of a surprise when he did announce his retirement, given his strong play and existing contract.

Immediately following his retirement, Moog got into the goaltending consulting business. He served in that position for the expansion Atlanta Thrashers until they entered the league. At that point he took a part time job with the Vancouver Canucks. He later would return to his home in Texas and work with the Dallas Stars.

Moog has several other endeavors as well. Most notably from a hockey standpoint he is the managing general partner and president of the Western Professional Hockey League’s Fort Worth Brahmas.

"It's an investment opportunity," said Moog "I own a small percentage of the team, and it's an opportunity to get a better understanding of hockey on the administrative side," he added.

Mike Liut

2007-06-13T17:54:00.001-07:00

By all standards, Mike Liut had a stellar career highlighted by his fantastic 1981 season.

Liut finished second in Hart Trophy balloting - a true rarity for a goaltender of any era - while leading his St. Louis Blues to the Smythe Division championship. The only player to get more votes that season was Wayne Gretzky.

Liut had an unbelievable season. His 33-14-13 record was among the best in the league, though he didn't have as much as help as some of the other goaltending leaders. Thus the NHL named him a First All Star. To make up for his Hart Trophy snub, Liut's true measure of success was in winning the Lester B. Pearson award. The trophy named after the great Canadian Prime Minister was given out annually to the player deemed to be the best that particular season, as voted on by the players themselves! You can't get a much higher honor than that.

In the absence of recently retired Ken Dryden, Liut had become arguably the best goalie in the game right out of nowhere. He was very similar to Dryden in many ways. He was an articulate man who took the American college route to the NHL while the practice was still fairly uncommon. He was a big octopus of a goalie, much like Dryden before him. And after leading the NHL in wins in his first year, Liut had established himself as one of, if not the best goalie in the National Hockey League with his incredible sophomore year. (note: Liut didn't win the Vezina trophy, as at that time the award was still given to the goalie with the best GAA, not necessarily the best goalie in the league.)

When it came time to select Team Canada for the 1981 Canada Cup, Liut was an obvious choice. Once Billy Smith went home with a broken finger, Liut was the man expected to lead the team between the pipes. Liut wasn't his midseason self in the September tournament. He played well, but wasn't as dominating as he was the previous year with St. Louis. He looked shaky at times, and rarely looked brilliant. Yet Canada had floated through the round robin tournament undefeated.

Despite his less than expected performance, head coach Scotty Bowman stuck with Liut over Don Edwards, who was Bowman's goalie with the Buffalo Sabres. Liut was given the green light to play in the final game of the 1981 tournament against the Russians.

The rest as they say is history. As fans at the Montreal Forum and around Canada and the world on television sets at home watched in disbelief, the Soviets lit up the red lamp behind Liut 8-1. Canada had played well in the first half of the game, but the Soviets, particularly Sergei Shepelev, were able to pounce often on Liut in the second half of the middle period. Then in the third period, with Canada seemingly deflated and surrendered, the Russians added 5 more goals to completely humble Liut and the Canadians.

Liut was never quite the same after that. He went on to an enjoyable long career in the NHL, with St. Louis and later Hartford and Washington. He was often the most valuable player on some weak teams, especially in Hartford. In fact he finished runner up in Vezina trophy voting in the summer of 1987.

Despite his fine 1986-87 season which saw him post 31 wins and a league leading 4 shutouts with the Whalers, Liut was overlooked for Team Canada for the 1987 Canada Cup, much like he was in 1984. For all the respect that Liut had earned in his long NHL career, it was as if he was never forgiven for the 1981 debacle

"That all goes back to the disastrous game in 1981" recalled Liut at the time. "That's a game I'm going to have to live with for the rest of my life. That's just the way it is."

In fairness to Liut, it wasn't his fault entirely. The defensemen and forwards in front of him were flat and later quit on him. And when Canada suffered its worst defeat in history, somebody needed to be named as the scapegoat. Why not the goalie who let in 8 goals?

Liut said he didn't take his omission from future Canada Cup invitations personally, though deep down you know he would have liked to have the chance to redeem himself.

"I'm disappointed in a way, but it really doesn't ruffle me." said Liut of the 1987 tournament where his chances of playing would have been slim regardless with Grant Fuhr and Ron Hextall invited to camp. "There's my family and rest and golf and another NHL season to prepare for. I really don't mind."

Liut also didn't like the Canada Cup format.

"We're all better at Christmas than we are in September. The guys who play in the Canada Cup pay a big price."

Liut then pointed admiration in the direction of the New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers players who routinely showed up for international play.

"For 4 years the Islanders played into June, and then there was a Challenge Cup and Canada Cup and so on. Hey, that's hard on anybody. You get only one or two months off and you're at it again. A pace like that is bound to take its toll."

"I think the Edmonton players probably best understand what the Islanders had to go through because, now, they have to go through the same thing."

"Players have to pay a big price to represent their league and Canada and the United States" continued Liut, forgetting to mention the various European countries that had NHL representatives. "It's an honor, to be sure, but the players have to pay a big, big price."

Michel Plasse

2007-05-30T13:27:00.000-07:00

Michel Plasse is most famous for being the first professional goalie in modern times to score a goal.

The feat happened with one minute left to play in a February 21, 1971 Central Hockey League game between Plasse's Kansas City Blues and Oklahoma City.

"We were ahead 2-1," recalls Plasse, a native of Montreal. "And we got a penalty. Oklahoma City pulled out its goalie and put on an extra forward. They were really putting it to us, believe me."

Michel had had enough and decided to solve the problem himself.

"They threw the puck into our end from center, and when it came right to me, I skated out a bit - maybe ten feet - and flipped it down the ice. It went up over the Oklahoma City players and straight into the enemy net - not slow, either, but quick. It was a hell of a shot!"

So the question begs - did he intend to do that?

"No! I was just trying to clear the puck out of there!"

That season was also memorable to Plasse as he got his first NHL game under his belt - a win with just 3 goals against. Despite being drafted 1st overall in 1968 by Montreal, his first game came with St. Louis, who acquired his rights in exchange for cash earlier in the year. By the beginning of next season he was reacquired by the Habs, again for an undisclosed amount of cash.

Plasse came in handy in Montreal. After a second season in the minors he played two years in Montreal, including 1973-74 when Ken Dryden sat out the year. But when Dryden returned for 74-75, Plasse was exposed in the expansion draft and was selected by the Kansas City Scouts.

It was a short homecoming for the Plasse. He played quite well with the poor expansion team in the first half of the year before being traded with Jean-Guy Lagace to Pittsburgh in exchange for Denis Herron.

Plasse played well in Pittsburgh again, this time posting an above .500 record of 33-24-4 in his 1 1/2 seasons in Steeltown.

A weird turn of events happened in the summer of 1976. The Pens, looking to find a goalie of a higher level to improve their fortunes, signed a restricted free agent. That goalie was Dennis Herron, the same Herron who was traded for Plasse a couple of years earlier.

Since Herron was a restricted free agent, it was necessary to compensate the Colorado Rockies, who Herron played for after the franchise's move from KC. Plasse and Simon Nolet were give to the Rockies as compensation.

Plasse played most of the next four years in Colorado. In 1980-81 he signed as a free agent in Quebec. He was traded to Hartford in 1982 but never played for the Whalers and was sent to the minors. That's where he finished his career, as he retired at the end of the year.

Unfortunately Michel Plasse died on December 30th, 2006 after suffering a heart attack. He was 56 years old.

Steve Penney

2007-04-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

Steve Penney's debut in the NHL was a Cinderella story almost like when Ken Dryden entered the league 13 years before him.

Like Dryden, Penney debuted with the Canadiens. He had been hauled up from Nova Scotia Voyageurs in the AHL, exactly in the same manner as Dryden. He played four out of the six last regular season games of the 1983-84 season, losing all four of them, including a 7-0 defeat to the NY Islanders.

So far no Cinderella story, but that would come next in the playoffs. Rick Wamsley and Richard Sevigny were the regular goalies in Montreal at that time. They had struggled all season long and when Wamsley went down with an injury coach Jacques Lemaire decided to play a hunch and give Penney a chance in the playoffs. It was a gamble that proved to be successful. Penney had been the 3rd goalie in Nova Scotia only weeks prior to the playoffs and now here he was suddenly the starting playoff goalie for the Montreal Canadiens.

His play in the playoffs was spectacular. First he led the Habs to a 3-0 series sweep over their arch rival Boston Bruins, including two road victories at the hostile Boston Gardens. Penney then pushed the Canadiens to a six game victory over the Quebec Nordiques, another other hated rival. Penney's magic would fall just short In the semifinals as the Canadiens lost to the defending champions NY Islanders in six games.

Penney was a sensation as the rookie led all playoff goalies with a fine 2.20 GAA. His 3 shutouts in the 15 games also led all goalies in the playoffs.

Canadiens management were hoping that they had a new Dryden on their hands and signed Steve to a three year one way contract. Steve was thrust into Montreal's number one goalie role starting in the 1984-85 season and played 54 games finishing with a respectable 3.08 GAA. He followed that up with a 3.27 GAA in 12 playoff games.

Much of the 1985-86 season was a write-off for Penney, as he suffered cartilage damage in his left knee and was not able to play most of the season. He was replaced by a prospect goalie by the name of Patrick Roy. That rookie would lead Montreal to a Cinderella Stanley Cup victory in 1986. Though Penney was a part of the team, his lack of games played in the regular season and his inability to play due to injury in the playoffs prevented him from getting his name on the Stanley Cup.

Unfortunately Penney, a Francophone born and raised in St. Foy, Quebec, was not the "next Ken Dryden." The Canadiens management accommodated Penney's trade request and moved him to Winnipeg for Brian Hayward on August 19, 1986. Steve only played a total of 15 games for Winnipeg and finished his career in the AHL for the Moncton Hawks during the 1987-88 season.

The pressure of being hailed as the new "Ken Dryden" was just too much for him. He never fully recovered from it and retired at the tender age of 27. He had played in 91 NHL regular season games, with a record of 35-38-12.

Charlie Gardiner

2007-04-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

Charlie Gardiner was Chicago's first hockey superstar. He led them to the top of the league and eventually their first Stanley Cup in 1934 and put hockey on the map in the Windy City.

Born in Scotland in 1904, the Gardiner family moved to Winnipeg when Charlie was 7. It was in Winnipeg where he discovered two sports that loved - hockey and trap shooting. While playing with the amateur Winnipeg Maroons, the Chicago Black Hawks, who were the League's cellar-dwellers, found the goalie that would turn them into champions.

Though Gardiner's play was spectacular, the turnaround was far from immediate. In his rookie campaign, 1927-28, Chicago finished dead last and Gardiner led the league in losses with 32. As a sophomore Gardiner lost a league high 29 games despite a 1.93 GAA. The Hawks won only 7 games. But Gardiner continued to play with unbreakable spirit, and earning high praise despite the statistics. The great Howie Morenz once claimed "Bonnie Prince Charlie" was the toughest goalie to score upon.

The Hawks continued to struggle as the 1930s progressed, but Gardiner emerged to become what many people feel was the best goalie of his day. He posted 42 shutouts and 2.02 GAA in 7 seasons. He won the Vezina Trophy in 1932 and 1934 and was named to 4 All Star Teams. He played with a team that offered very little offensive support (the whole team scored only 33 goals in 44 games in 1928-29). But Gardiner's play, much like that of Dominik Hasek years later with Buffalo, made the team a contender to reckon with.

Gardiner's finest moment came in the 1934 playoffs, as "Smiling Charlie" advanced the Hawks to the Stanley Cup Finals against Detroit. This despite the fact that Gardiner was feeling quite ill at the time. Unbeknownst to him or his doctors, Gardiner had long suffered from a chronic tonsil infection. The disease had spread and had begun to cause uremia convulsions. Undaunted, Gardiner pressed on as winning the Stanley Cup had become an obsession with him. Though playing in body-numbing pain, the Hawks prevailed over the Wings. He permitted only 12 goals in 8 playoff games - a 1.50 GAA.

A well liked and jovial fellow, Gardiner served as the Blackhawks captain, a rarity for a goalie even when it was allowed. Before the decisive 4th game, the "Roving Scotsman" showed his leadership and reportedly told his teammates that they would only need to score one goal that night. Sure enough, the game had gone into double overtime at a 0-0 tie. Suffering from growing fatigue, Gardiner was weakening considerably as the game went on. But he managed to hold the Red Wings scoreless until Chicago's Mush March finally scored.

The Hawks hoisted their first Stanley Cup, but Gardiner, the only goalie to captain a Cup champion, was just as happy he could escape the ice and collapse in the dressing room. A few weeks later Gardiner underwent brain surgery after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage. Unfortunately complications from the surgery would cost him his life on June 13, 1934.

Had Gardiner been healthy enough to continue his career, he undoubtedly would be looked upon as one of the greatest goaltenders in hockey history. As it is, he persevered with an incredibly weak team and, with championship effort, he led them to the Stanley Cup in his short 7 year career.

That championship effort landed Gardiner into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1945.

Kelly Hrudey

2007-03-31T16:07:00.001-07:00

Kelly Hrudey began his career in the NHL in 1983-84 after being drafted by the New York Islanders in the second round (38th overall) of the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. Kelly was a top prospect brought into replace the legendary Islander netminder Battlin' Billy Smith.

Needless to say, Kelly had big skates to fill!

Kelly was in the crease for one of the most memorable dates in NHL history, Game Seven of the Patrick Division semifinal against Washington in 1987. During that famous playoff battle, Kelly stopped 73 of 75 shots in a 3-2 quadruple overtime victory against the Capitals. The game was the sixth longest in NHL history, and was ended by a Pat Lafontaine slapshot.

After six solid seasons on Long Island, Kelly was traded to the Los Angeles Kings late in the 1988-89 season in exchange for Mark Fitzpatrick, Wayne McBean and Doug Crossman. Kelly was an instant hit in LA and had his best days with the Kings. He backstopped the team to the Stanley Cup Finals during the 1992-93 season and was selected Kings MVP during the 1991-92 and 1994-95 seasons.

Kelly fondly remembers his days in LA.

"I was there to ride the boat, basically," Kelly said. "I couldn't believe how fortunate I was to be a part of it."

Kelly signed as a free agent with the San Jose Sharks for his final two seasons of NHL play. He provided veteran leadership and NHL quality goaltending on a struggling expansion franchise.

During his 15-year career, Kelly played in 677 career games and posted a 271-265-88 mark with 16 shutouts and a 3.43 GAA. An excellent standup goalie with a rapier like glove hand.

Kelly had a weakness on his stick side and could give up huge rebounds, although he was fast to recover on these rebounds. Kelly was an aggressive goalie who thrived on a lot of work. Since he played for a lot of mediocre teams during his career, facing a lot of shots was something Kelly was used to. And under the barrage of shots that he faced on many nights it happened that he got yanked.

"That 100-foot skate to the bench after you have been pulled is the longest, slowest skate in the world. It seems likes five miles," Kelly once said.

He played a total of 85 career playoff games, posting a 36-46 record with a 3.28 GAA..

Kelly retired on July 30, 1998 to become a full-time analyst with Hockey Night In Canada. Kelly seems as comfortable with a microphone as he was in the crease.

"The game didn't come as easy or naturally as it once did. I knew that I had no interest in going anywhere else. I had no interest in leading the life of a gypsy. I have no feelings of sadness," he said in a conference call from his home in Canada when he announced his retirement. "I just cannot believe the opportunity I've had."

Today Kelly resides in Calgary, Alberta. He has become a mainstay on Hockey Night In Canada.

Steve Janaszak

2007-03-14T22:33:00.000-07:00

It was the greatest moment in American hockey history. In the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, a bunch of college kids upset the mighty Big Red Machine from the Soviet Union en route to capturing the gold medal. Mike Eruzione was forever immortalized for his goal, while many players from that team went on to significant NHL careers.

The person with the best seat for the whole Olympic tournament was backup goaltender Steve Janaszak. Playing second fiddle to hero Jim Craig, Janaszak was the only player on any team in that Olympic tournament who didn't see even a second's worth of ice time.

"Yeah, a lot of people don't even know I was there, which is just fine," Janaszak admits in a CNNSI.com interview. "That's what I tell people. I had the best seat in the house there, timing the shifts for [head coach] Herb [Brooks.] And making sure I don't spill my tea."

Janaszak took his regular turn between the pipes during the pre-season and exhibition games, but once Team USA got to Lake Placid, he was relegated to the bench by the stellar play of Jim Craig.

Janaszak fully understood..

"He played phenomenal goal," Janaszak remembers of Craig's play in front of the net. "You don't mess with that."

Janaszak did get his few minutes of fame in that tournament too though, or so his teammates will have you believe.

"I've been accused of knowing where the cameras were," he said with a laugh as he held up the original game jersey with his name on the back. "But yeah, the name shows up and it's reasonably recognized in a lot of photographs that came out of this, which is kind of funny."

Janaszak is now an unassuming investment banker working on the 85th floor of the World Trade Center in New York City. Many of his co-workers have no idea of his sporting past..

"There are people that I've dealt with for years that have no idea that this is part of my background and then they find out and again, they've got the answer to a great trivia question that they never lose on," Janaszak said.

If forced, Janaszak loves to talk about the Olympics. One of his favorite stories shows how far reaching the victory was.

"And I'm hearing stories about guys in ships at sea wiring the Russian submarines that they're tracking around and saying, 'Ha-ha, we beat you guys,'" Janaszak said.

"The gold medal to me is living proof that miracles do happen and possible dreams do come true," he said.

Steve did get into parts of 3 NHL games, but otherwise his short professional career was limited to bouncing around the minor leagues until retirement in 1983. The former NCAA playoff MVP (he led his University of Minnesota to the NCAA title in 1979), Janaszak played in a 2-2 tie late in 1980 with the Minnesota North Stars. He later signed as a free agent with the Colorado Rockies and appeared in two games in 1981-82, but was shell-shocked with 13 goals against in 100 minutes of action.

Bernie Wolfe

2007-02-23T16:16:00.000-08:00

Bernie Wolfe was a goaltender for the Washington Capitals from 1975-1979. Those Caps were perhaps the worst team of all time. The 1974-75 Caps went 8-67-5 while giving up a record 446 goals against in the process. The 1975-76 Caps didn't do a whole lot better going 11-59-10. After being subjected to such mediocrity, it should come as no surprise that Wolfe doesn't miss playing anymore.

"I think I'm one of the few to say that I've never missed hockey for as much as a day since I retired." said Wolfe in all seriousness.

Wolfe was playing with Sir George Williams University in Quebec when the Caps signed him in June of 1974. He was actually the first goaltender under contract for the new franchise. Bernie spent that season in the minors but battle mononucleosis and as a result never played for the big club. He arrived in the US capital in the Caps' second season.

Wolfe's first NHL game came in Kansas City. The game was a rare 6-2 road win for the Caps. In fact Wolfe's first game and first win also marked only the second time in Caps history that they earned two points while on the road! Wolfe played in 40 games that year. He won 5, lost 23 and tied 7 with a 4.16 GAA.

Wolfe picked up his only NHL shutout in his second season. The shutout was against the Detroit Red Wings at the old Olympia. For Wolfe it was the highlight of another long season in which he went 7-15-9.

In all Wolfe played 120 NHL games with a career record of 20 wins, 61 losses and 21 ties and a career GAA of 4.17. He played his whole career with the Washington Capitals.

Playing goal on such a bad team caused Wolfe to feel insecure about his future as a hockey player. He was smart enough to continue his education in the off season as well as getting his feet into the financial consulting business which he began to take a liking too. Finally, on the first day of training camp for the 1979-80 season Wolfe announced his retirement so that he could get on with his life and worry about his future.

Johnny Bower

2007-02-15T10:14:00.001-08:00

Johnny Bower, born as John Kishkan, in essence had two outstanding hockey careers: One "riding the bus" in the minor pro leagues for 13 years, and a second enjoying 11 full NHL seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

But before his hockey career had begun, Johnny almost lost his life and/or freedom in Europe due to World War II.

At 15 he lied about his age in order to fight for his country. Johnny was supposed to be a part of the 1942 invasion of Normandy at the port of Dieppe. The 6000 man mission was simply disastrous as about 3400 men lost their lives or were seriously wounded and most of the rest were taken prisoner.

"I'd been all set to go but a day or two before the raid, nine fellas in my company, including myself, got so sick with a respiratory infection, they had to take use of the boat and put us in hospital - we could hardly breathe, " remembered Bower, an 18 year old infantryman at the time. "I guess if I'd gone, I probably would have lost my life. Most of my friends did."

After dodging bullets on the battlefields of Europe, dodging frozen hockey pucks as a long time goaltender must have been a piece of cake for Johnny. That being said it was amazing he was ever able to pursue hockey even at a recreational level. Johnny developed an acute form of arthritis in his hands, a condition which led to his discharge from the army.

"I used to think I'd never be able to hold a goal stick again."

Later on he said "When I was with the Leafs, I'd finish a game, and my stick hand would be locked right up like a claw. Some nights, it was so stiff and sore, it'd take me an hour just to get it open and working."

Despite the battles with arthritis, Johnny became one of the swiftest and most graceful goaltenders ever to play the game, although it took him a long time to crack an NHL lineup.

Johnny bounced around the minors for a long 13 years. He was named the American Hockey League's best goaltender and the league's most valuable player on three occasions. He also played one season with Vancouver in the Western League, and was named top goalie.

Bower had a stint with the New York Rangers, but did not stick in the National Hockey League until 1959 when he became a 35 year old "rookie" with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It's truly amazing that one of the greatest goalies the game has ever seen took so long to get established, but he was worth the wait for Maple Leaf fans. Of course, back in these "Original Six" days there were no backup goalies and therefore only 6 jobs in the NHL for a prospective net keeper. It wasn't a matter of Johnny not being good enough more than just a lack of an opportunity.

The opportunity to join the Leafs presented itself when Punch Imlach gained power in Toronto. Under Imlach's vision and Bower's goaltending, the Maple Leafs would capture four Stanley Cup championships. He shared the Vezina trophy in 1965 and played in five all star games. He had an amazing 2.52 goals-against average in 552 games, 251 of which were victories.

The Leafs had struggled through much of the 1950s, but upon Bower's arrival the team's outlook improved dramatically. In his first season he guided the Leafs to the Stanley Cup finals, but were ousted by an incredible and seemingly unbeatable Montreal team.

In 1961 he turned his most sensational regular season - posting a league leading 33 wins and 2.50 goals against average. But the Leafs suffered a major setback and made a quick exit from the playoffs.

Bower wouldn't let the setback ruin this team's destiny, and backstopped the Leafs to three successive Stanley Cup championships in 1962, 1963 and 1964. The mask-less wonder who was known for dangerously diving head first into the feet of a skater in order to perfect the poke-check had cemented himself as the toast of Toronto.

To aid in the making of the legend was the television program Hockey Night In Canada. After the first few years Hockey Night firmly established itself as on television and Bower's rise to greatness was literally witnessed by an admiring nation.

The "China Wall" played with the Leafs through 1969. In the years following the "three-peat," the aging Bower found himself splitting the goaltending duties with the great Terry Sawchuk, and then another minor league veteran in Bruce Gamble. Bower counts the opportunity to play with Sawchuk among his career highlights. Even though he was a 40 year old veteran of 20 professional seasons and one of the all time greats himself, Bower found he was learning so much about goaltending while playing and practicing with arguably the greatest goaltender of all time, even if Sawchuk himself was in his twilight also.

Bower and Sawchuk backstopped the Leafs to one last hurrah in the surprise 1967 Stanley Cup championship. That year the Leafs and Montreal Canadiens faced off as the Canada celebrated 100 years of nationhood. The Leafs weren't supposed to win - they were a team of old warriors but they were supposed to be too old to knock off this Canadiens team. Yet somehow, as if it was there destiny, this team of overachievers enjoyed one last championship. It proved to be the last championship, and probably because of that is held in such high regard by Leaf fans of the modern era.

"I never dreamed at my age that I'd even be playing for Toronto so winning the Stanley Cup was just unbelievable," says Bower.

"A lot of guys on that team were way over 30, and a lot of them had never had their name engraved on the Stanley Cup.

"They gave the best effort they possibly could. We played with a lot of injuries, too. Nobody said anything about it at the time. If we had to play one more game against Montreal, we would have lost because of all the injuries we had."

Bower finally retired in 1969 and was rightfully inducted into Hockey's Hall of Fame in 1976. One of the most visible figures from the Leafs much-loved 1967 Stanley Cup championship team, he remains one of the most popular Toronto Maple Leaf in history.

Not everyone knows it, but Johnny Bower fancied himself as quite the singer. In his most famous recording, Johnny teamed up with his own son John and some other children, known as the Rinky Dinks, to release Honky The Christmas Goose (click on link to listen to the entire song). They also sang "Banjo the mule," but to no great success. Honky actually made it to #29 on the Canadian music charts in 1965

Clint Benedict

2007-02-14T22:20:00.001-08:00

Many fans today automatically assume Georges Vezina was the first great goaltender, after all his name lives on with the trophy that honours the best goalie in the NHL each year. But many would argue Clint Benedict of the Ottawa Senators and later the Montreal Maroons was the better netminder. And if it were not for Vezina's tragic death, goalies today could very well be dreaming of winning a Benedict Trophy.

Yet you would be hard pressed to find a fan who knows who "Praying Bennie" was.

Clint Benedict greatly influenced goaltending as we know it. He was responsible for a significant rule change that allowed goalies to leave their feet to stop the puck. Originally, and unthinkable to today's fans, goalies would be given a 2 minute penalty for falling on the ice to make a save. But Benedict made an art out of the accidental fall on the puck, admitting that "if you did it a bit sneaky and made it look accidental, you could fall on the puck without being penalized." These comments made NHL rule makers aware of the problem and from that point on goaltenders were allowed to fall to the ice to stop pucks. He spent so much time on the ice he quickly earned the nickname Praying Bennie!

Also influencing the position was his rudimentary mask. Jacques Plante is inaccurately portrayed as the first goalie to wear a mask. While Plante was the first to regularly wear one, Clint Benedict was the first to wear a mask in a game. Benedict was hit in the nose by a rifle- like shot by Howie Morenz. Benedict wore a tailor made mask in an attempt to protect the wound, but after just one game, a 2-1 loss against Chicago, with the leather mask he decided not to wear as he felt it obstructed his vision and would lead to more losses.

Born in Ottawa in 1892, he played for 17 seasons, four of which were on Stanley Cup winning teams -- three with the Ottawa Senators and one with the Montreal Maroons.

Born in Ottawa in 1892, Clint Benedict would star with the original Senators. He apprenticed for 5 seasons with the Sens in the National Hockey Association, the forerunner to the NHL, guiding his team to an unsuccessful Stanley Cup appearance in 1915. An equally notable lacrosse player, Benedict was a solid goaltender on the verge of stardom. Wearing his trademark cricket-style leg pads that he would wear beyond Pop Kenesky's creation of the modern goalie pads, the ill tempered Benedict was already establishing himself with opponents as an unfriendly and combative foe.

Benedict reached his prime as the Senators joined the newly minted National Hockey League. Led by the goaltending of Benedict, superstars Cy Denneny and Frank Nighbor, and the clutch playoff scoring of Jack Darragh, the Senators were the NHL's first dynasty, winning three Stanley Cups in the four seasons between 1920 and 1923.

Based on the rudimentary statistics of the era, Benedict was undisputedly the NHL's top goalie. He led the NHL in wins in 6 of the 7 seasons with Senators, and lead or shared the lead in shutouts and GAA in each of those 7 seasons. In fact, in his most impressive season (in 1919-20) his 2.66 goals-against mark was 2.13 goals better than the league average. However there was no such thing as a Vezina trophy back then to honour the best goalie each season. Under the original Vezina trophy rules of best GAA, Benedict would have had owned the trophy.

In October 1924, the cash-strapped Senators sold off Benedict and scoring ace Punch Broadbent to the Montreal Maroons in exchange solely for cash. His six seasons with the weaker Maroons were not quite as dominant statistically, yet he was honoured as Montreal's best player upon his arrival. A year later in 1926, Benedict, with a puny 0.75 GAA, led the Maroons to the Stanley Cup, giving him the the distinction of being the first netminder to backstop two different NHL teams to Stanley Cup championships.

Clint Benedict was enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1965, two decades after Georges Vezina and Charlie Gardner, the two goalies among the original 12 inductees. Benedict himself suggested this was a blatant example of how political the hockey world can be, for some reason the powers that be kept Benedict out of the Hall, instead inducting the very worthy Hugh Lehman, Percy LeSueur and George Hainsworth as Hall of Fame goaltenders before finally inducting Benedict.

Georges Vezina

2007-02-13T17:26:00.000-08:00

"The Chicoutimi Cucumber," known for his relaxed style in a tense game, was one of the game's early great goaltenders. But you probably already know that since the memory of Georges Vezina is forever etched in hockey history, as his name perpetuates the trophy annually awarded to the NHL's outstanding goaltender

Born in 1887, Georges grew up around the game of hockey. His parents, the local bakers, bought the local rink which allowed Georges to become the ultimate rink rat. He grew up playing goal in his boots, not an uncommon tactic in those early days. In fact, it was not until Georges was 18 that he learned how to skate.

Vezina was discovered in an exhibition match between his Chicoutimi team and the already famed Montreal Canadiens. He performed spectacularly against the "Flying Frenchmen" in a 11-5 Chicoutimi victory, impressing them so much that he became the Habs starting goalie later that year. Joseph Cattarinich, the Habs goalie at the time and soon to be part owner, was so impressed that he persuaded the Canadiens new owner, George Kennedy, to sign Vezina

In the era when goaltenders were prohibited from falling on the ice to stop or cover the puck, Vezina bravely stood tall in his net blocking shots during his brilliant 15 years from 1910 to 1925, playing in 328 consecutive games. With Vezina in net, the Canadiens won two NHA championships (the NHA was a forerunner to the NHL), three NHL regular season titles and two Stanley Cups.

His first great success came in 1915-16. The Habs sported a high powered offense led by Newsy Lalonde and Didier Pitre, and of course Vezina in net. The Habs captured the NHA championship and faced off with the Portland Rosebuds of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association for the Stanley Cup. Vezina was said to be instrumental in the Canadiens very first Stanley Cup championship.

Vezina and the Habs returned to the Cup finals in 1917 and 1919, losing the first and never deciding the second due to an influenza epidemic.

Vezina and the Habs had to wait until the spring of 1924 to return to the Stanley Cup, knocking off NHL Ottawa, PCHA Vancouver and WCHL Calgary in what proved to be Vezina's last championship.

Also known as the "Silent Habitant," Vezina was a man of few words who never drank or smoked. He ran a tannery business back in Chicoutimi while he played with the Habs. He fathered 24 children, although only 2 reached adulthood.

Frank Boucher, the legendary New York Rangers player and coach, remembered Vezina in awe. "He was the coolest man I ever saw, absolutely imperturbable. He stood upright in the net and scarcely ever left his feet; he simply played all his shots in a standing position. Vezina was a pale, narrow-featured fellow, almost frail-looking, yet remarkably good with his stick. He'd pick off more shots with it than he did with his glove.

Perhaps it was the acceptance that Vezina was usually pale and frail looking that prevented everyone, not even his family, from knowing that Vezina was seriously ill.

In what to proved to be his last game on November 28th, 1925, Vezina collapsed during the first period, bleeding from the mouth. He tried to return to the game, only to be forced to leave again. Only then did everyone learn he was battling tuberculosis. Unable to play the game he loved, it was reported he went into a deep depression. Four months later Vezina passed away.

When the Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1945, Georges Vezina was one of the first 12 players immediately inducted.

Gerry Cheevers

2007-02-12T23:15:00.001-08:00

The name Gerry Cheevers instantly brings to mind images of his unmistakable goalie mask. A simple white old-school mask, Cheevers had it covered in painted stitches.

"There were different types of masks but they were all white," Cheevers recalled in an interview with the Hockey Hall of Fame. "I hated white. It reminded me of purity, which was not the case the way I played goal. My thought was to get out of practice. One day, the puck came up and hit me. It wouldn't have cut me without my mask, but I fainted, passed out and on the training table. (Coach) Harry (Sinden) came in and said, 'Get out there! You're not hurt.' So I said okay. I turned to Frosty Forristall, our trainer and said, 'Frosty, paint a stitch mark or two on the mask,' so he painted this big gouge over the right eye and it got a laugh. We started to paint stitches every time I got hit. Frosty would calculate where it would have been and how many stitches it would have taken."

Beyond the mask, Cheevers is remembered as one of the greatest goaltenders in history, despite never winning a Vezina or never making a NHL All Star team.

He was an extremely popular figure and among the most entertaining goaltenders in hockey history. "Cheesey" had a style described as "aggressive and instinctive." He loved to skate around the ice and handle the puck, becoming one of the earliest goalies to roam the ice. A standup goalie who charged out of his net to challenge shooters, he was far from the perfect textbook goalie. Instead he relied on great reflexes and anticipation, often making saves look incredibly spectacular.

"Cheevers is the most exciting goalie you'll ever see," said Joe Crozier, a former goalie great and Cheevers minor league coach in Rochester. "He'll have your fans on the edge of their seats all night."

He was also very combative, not afraid to mix it up and take matters into his own hands, much like a later-day Billy Smith or Ron Hextall. The truculent goalie's combined 304 career PIMs between the NHL and WHA were once a major league record.

He was also recognized as one of hockey's true clutch goaltenders. He backstopped the Bruins to two Stanley Cup championships, in 1970 and 1972, and helped them reach the finals in 1976-77 and 1977-78. Harry Sinden said: "Certainly we had Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito, but I'm sure we couldn't have won the Cups without Gerry Cheevers." Cheevers was one of the all time best "money" goalies. When the games were big, Cheevers was at his best.

Born in the "Garden City" of St. Catherines, Ontario on December 7, 1940, Gerry Cheevers grew up with hockey in his blood. His father was a part-time scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the local arena manager, and he was very active in the young goalie's upbringing.

His father encouraged his son to play junior hockey in the Leafs system with the St. Mikes Majors, although it was a no-brainer for the impressionable youngster who had always cheered on Turk Broda and the Leafs. He played well with St. Mikes, backstopping them to a Memorial Cup championship in 1961, his final year of junior hockey.

Cheevers actually played part of that final junior season as a forward.

"In my last year of junior, I played a month of forward," Cheevers recalled in an interview with the Hockey Hall of Fame. "They needed a goaltender for the next year, and Dave Dryden was available, but he could only come to the team if he could play ten or twelve games that year. Father David Bauer made a deal with him and put me at forward to satisfy both Dave Dryden and to show me what it was like to play forward. I played ten or twelve games at forward that year. I was never so happy to get back in goal! A lot of guys were trying to get even for wayward sticks in the crease! I could always skate. I was just missing the instinct of knowing what to do with the puck."

In 1961-62 Cheevers turned pro and bounced around with three minor league teams in two different leagues. But on December 2, 1961, just 5 days before his 21st birthday, he was called up by the Leafs to play two games due to injuries to Johnny Bower and Don Simmons.

"It was a great thrill — no mask, Bobby Hull, scared to death. Billy Harris got three goals (the Leafs won 6-4). Then we got on the train and played the next night in Detroit. We got beat 3-1. I'll never forget that night. Gordie Howe came down, shot what I thought was a routine wrist shot and knocked the stick right out of my hands! I thought, 'Oooh....They're a little bit bigger and stronger up here!"

That would prove to be the extent of his career with the Leafs. Those were the days of the Original Six, and goaltending jobs were hard to come by, and the Leafs were a powerhouse backed by Bower. Cheevers was moved on to the Bruins organization, but did not find regular employment until 1967-68, the first season of NHL expansion.

Cheevers confessed he wasn't all that excited about the Bruins, who at the time were a weak team.

I really wasn't crazy about sticking with the Bruins. But when Bobby Orr showed up (in 1966-67), they got a different perspective. You knew that it as just a matter of time before the team turned around. And then (in May 1967), they made the big trade with Chicago for Phil (Esposito), Kenny Hodge and Freddy Stanfield. It looked like things were going to be pretty good. I thought, 'I've gotta be on that team.'"

Powered by Cheevers, Orr and Esposito, the Bruins quickly evolved into a championship team, going from last place in 1966-67 to winning the Stanley Cup in 1970 and again in 1972.

Shockingly, Cheevers defected from the Bruins to sign with the upstart World Hockey Association. Citing unhappiness with the Bruins contract offers, he signed with the Cleveland Crusaders for 7 seasons and a whopping total, back then anyways, of $1.4 million.

"I had wonderful days in Cleveland. I would never trade them in."

Cheevers would play with the Crusaders for the next 4 seasons, but would return to the Bruins in 1976. He would play four more years with the Bruins before retiring in 1980.

Cheevers was one of the few goaltenders to become a successful coach. He took over as the Bruins coach in 1980-81, lasting until 1985. In that time he had an impressive record of 204 wins, 126 losses and 46 ties, though the Bruins could never go far in the playoffs.

Gump Worsley 1929 - 2007

2007-01-27T19:41:00.000-08:00

Hockey fans know there's only one man known as Gump.

Lorne "Gump" Worsley was hockey's hard luck goalie for over a decade before joining the Montreal Canadiens. Nicknamed for his likeness to cartoon character Andy Gump, Worsley was one of hockey's greatest characters. A seemingly happy-go-lucky soul would bravely stand in his net, collecting over 200 stitches and claiming "my face is a mask."

Born in Montreal in 1929, Worsley grew up in extreme poverty. The great depression left his family penniless, but this did not stop Gump from dreaming of becoming a big league goalie. Worsley, who had to borrow equipment for much of his youth, did not dream of playing for Montreal Canadiens. Instead he admired Frank Brimsek of the Bruins and Davey Kerr of the Rangers.

Employing the old stand-up style of netminding, Worsley advanced from the Verdun Cyclones junior team, he would turn pro in 1948 as a New York Ranger farmhand. Despite numerous All-Star seasons with several teams in several leagues, it wasn't until 1952-53 that Worsley got a shot at the NHL. Rangers starter Chuck Rayner was injured for much of that season, and despite a last place finish Worsley impressed enough to earn the Calder trophy as the NHL's best rookie.

The short and stocky Worsley never would have expected what would happen next. The following season the NHL's best rookie never had a chance to play. Instead he was sent to Vancouver of the old Western Hockey League. While earning a league championship and top goalie and MVP awards with the WHL Canucks, Worsley watched his replacement in New York, Johnny Bower, flounder.

1954-55 saw Worsley return to the Big Apple for the next decade, though that wasn't necessarily a positive thing. The Rangers continued to be completely hapless, surrendering nightly onslaughts of 30 and 40 shots a night, leading the quotable Worsley to term his experience there as a "jailhouse." A reporter once asked Worsley which team game him the most trouble. Gump quickly answered, "The Rangers."

Gump came across as loveable and admirable on the ice and in the eyes of the public, but he actually suffered from depression and alcoholism during his tenure in Manhattan.

After ten years of being a live target with the Rangers, Gump was traded to the defense-oriented Montreal Canadiens. The trade salvaged Gump's legacy as a loveable goalie on a terrible team to a legacy of Stanley Cup championships and a Hall of Fame nod. Worsley backstopped the Habs to Stanley Cup championships in 1964-65, 1965-66, 1967-68 and 1968-69. He was selected to the NHL's First All-Star Team in 1968 and to the Second Team in 1966. Worsley and partner Charlie Hodge shared the Vezina Trophy for lowest goals-against average in 1965-66. Gump and Rogie Vachon shared the same award in 1967-68.

Early in 1969 he suffered a nervous breakdown due to his petrifying fear of flying, the new norm in NHL travel thanks to western expansion. His career seemed to be over, but the expansion Minnesota North Stars took their chances with the goaltending icon by picking up his rights. The 40 year old goalie returned in 1970, playing some of his best hockey ever. His enthusiasm helped the Stars get into the playoffs for three straight years.

Gump ended up playing in 24 seasons, allowing a 2.91 goals against average in 862 games, and recorded 43 shutouts. Elected into the Hall of Fame in 1980, Gump was not only one of the greatest players, but one of the games most likeable characters.

Dave Kerr

2007-01-25T20:36:00.001-08:00

After bouncing around with the Montreal Maroons and New York Americans and several senior league circuits where he established his reputation, Davey Kerr gained fame when he joined the New York Rangers in 1934. In Manhattan he became one of the league's best netminders until his retirement in 1941.

His best season was the 1939-40 campaign. He won his only Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie with a 1.54 GAA and a league leading 8 shutouts. Then in the playoffs he was spectacular in leading the Rangers to their now-famous 1940 Stanley Cup championship. He was also named to the First All Star Team that year.

But even before that legendary season he was a hit. In fact, on March 18th, 1938, Kerr became the first hockey player to be pictured of Time Magazine. He was hockey's first cover boy.

The Toronto born Kerr was extremely popular with the fans, in part because he was as agile as a ballet dancer. He loved to do the splits to take away the entire lower part of the net. In practice one of Davey's favorite maneuvers was to lay his stick across the goal mouth in front of the goal line while he did the splits to take away the lower portion. Then he'd have both hands free to catch his teammates practice shots. He would dare his buddies to beat him, and they rarely did.

One of the most impressed was teammate and later Ranger coach Frank Boucher.

"Kerr was gifted with an excellent right hand that picked off shots like Bill Terry playing first for the (Baseball's NY) Giants. He was deliberate and methodical in everything he did. Davey retired long before his time, when he was at his peak and only 30 years old," said Boucher.

Boucher, one of the all time greats, also saw Kerr as a leader. Davey was very vocal in the nets, often instructing his team, almost acting as an on-ice coach.

"In a commanding way, Davey was able to shout at his defensemen, giving them guidance without offending them and getting them to do the job he wanted done in front of him, talking continually when the puck was in our end. I don't ever remember Dave accusing a defense player for a mistake when a goals was scored against him. He always assumed the blame," said Boucher.

"King" Richard Brodeur

2007-01-14T13:41:00.000-08:00

His statistics are unimpressive, downright awful in some cases. But Canucks fans, and for that matter early Nordiques fans, can tell you that the stats are not truly indicative of "King" Richard Brodeur's stellar play.

Brodeur played most of his NHL career in the early to mid 1980s. Those years featured horrible Canuck teams in the same division as Wayne Gretzky's high scoring Oilers, Lanny McDonald's Calgary Flames, Marcel Dionne's LA Kings and Dale Hawerchuk's Winnipeg Jets. That's a whole lot of offensive firepower gunning at the poor Canucks, who relied on Brodeur to keep them in most games, and sometimes just to keep the score respectable.

Brodeur was, literally, the Canucks saving grace. He was an exciting goalie to watch, pretty acrobatic and had lots and lots of shots against. His career 3.85 GAA his grossly inflated by the high scoring Smythe division of the 1980s. His win/loss record is very respectable considering how bad the Canucks were in comparison to their divisional foes.

Brodeur's career highlight, like that of most Canucks and their fans of that generation, was the improbable 1982 Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup finals. Brodeur backstopped the Canucks with an 11-6 record and a 2.70 GAA. While the Canucks were lucky to have the LA Kings upset Gretzky's Oilers, The Canucks handled their opposition quite handily until they reached the Finals. Once there, the dynastic New York Islanders tore apart the Canucks, winning easily in 4 games. Dubbed "King Richard" for his fine play during the '82 playoffs, Brodeur's fine play couldn't stack up against the likes of Bryan Trottier, Denis Potvin, Clark Gillies and most noteably - Mike Bossy.

It was fitting that Brodeur the goalie who was faced with the task of stopping the Islanders. Back in the Islanders first Cup season of 1979-80 Brodeur was a star goalie with the Isles farm team. He was a CHL all star with the Indianapolis Checkers, posting 4 shutouts and a 2.88 GAA with 22 wins. He also appeared in his first two NHL games with the Isles, posting 1 win and 1 loss.

The Isles of course already had Billy Smith and a very capable backup in Chico Resch, so they moved Brodeur to Vancouver in exchange for a 5th round pick which never panned out. Brodeur instantly became the Canucks number one goalie. In fact it wasn't until the 1987-88 season that Brodeur was ousted out of that spot as the Canucks starting goalie. The arrival of a young Kirk McLean meant that Brodeur was now being asked to be a backup. Unhappy with that situation, Brodeur asked to be moved somewhere where he could play. He was eventually dealt to Hartford in exchange for veteran goalie Steve Weeks. But Brodeur only played in 6 games for the Whalers before retiring after the 1988-89 season.

Brodeur's career actually started 8 years before he made the NHL. Drafted by the Islanders in 1972, Brodeur opted to skip out on the NHL and jump at the chance to stay in his home province by playing with the Quebec Nordiques of the World Hockey Association. Brodeur ranks as one of the best goalies in the WHA history. His 165 wins ranks second all time, only 2 wins behind Joe Daley. Brodeur also set a record for wins in 1975-76 when he had 44. That same season the Nordiques won the Avco Cup championship, symbolic of WHA supremacy.

Sugar Jim Henry

2007-01-14T11:42:00.001-08:00

After Dave Kerr, one of the true Rangers greats, retired after the 1940-41 season, the Rangers needed a new goaler. They signed the acrobatic Jim Henry out of Western Canada. Universally known as "Sugar Jim" because of his childhood love of brown sugar, The proud Winnipeger was a star with the junior Brandon Elks and then the Allan Cup winning senior Regina Rangers.

The next season he made the jump to the Big Apple, and made quite the impression. He played all 48 games that season, winning a league high 29 games en route to leading the Rangers to first place.

Henry's career, like that of many NHLers, was put on hold due to World War II. He enlisted in the Canadian military and later transferred to the navy. Based in Canada, he continued to play hockey with the Allan Cup winning Ottawa Commandos in 1942-43, and later in Red Deer and Calgary.

Henry returned to the Rangers for 1945-46, but found the Rangers had secured the great Chuck Rayner while he was away. But coach Frank Boucher knew Henry was a good goalie too and kept Henry around. Boucher, years ahead of his time, formed the first two-goalie rotation in NHL history. Rayner and Henry, who quickly became best friends and later business partners, would alternate games and even periods, and reportedly would even alternate shift to shift on a few occasions.

The two-goalie system eventually proved cumbersome, and after four seasons with the Rangers, Boucher traded Henry to Chicago for Emile Francis and Alex Kaleta just prior to the 1948-49 season.

Henry toiled valiantly for the weak Blackhawks, but the most he could do was lift them out of the cellar. When the great Frank Brimsek became available to the Blackhawks, they bought him and Henry was demoted to Kansas City of the minor leagues. Brimsek couldn't lead the Blackhawks out of the doldrums either, so desperate for a quality netminder, Chicago made a big trade with Detroit involving Henry and others going to Detroit in exchange for Harry Lumley. Henry wasn't going to beat out Terry Sawchuk in Detroit by any means, so he was farmed out again, to the Indianapolis team of the USHL.

Unable to come to contract terms with Frank Brimsek's successor Jack Gelineau, the Boston Bruins bought Henry from Detroit just before the 1951-52 season. Henry almost never made it to Boston. Henry, in partnership with Rayner, opened a hunting and fishing camp in Kenora, Ontario. Henry was severely burned in a shed fire.

Lucky to be alive, Henry refused to listen to doctors who said he would never play goal again. The badly scarred goalie made it to Boston in time for NHL training camp, and would play the next 210 games in succession.

Henry had a fine first year, recording 7 shutouts and leading Boston to the playoffs, losing to the Montreal Canadiens in a memorable first round series. In those 1952 playoffs Henry is remembered in one of the most dramatic hockey photos of all time. The image showed Henry, right eye blackened, shaking hands in the ultimate sign of respect with Maurice "Rocket" Richard, the man who scored the over time winning goal in game seven.

Henry continued on in Boston with strong regular seasons, but he tended to get injured in the playoffs. In 1953 he hurt is ankle and was not able to play all games as the Bruins bowed to the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup final. In the 1955 playoffs Henry suffered a broken jaw, an injury which would force him to retire from the NHL.

He returned to Manitoba where he could live a life based around his love of fishing and hunting. He did don the pads on occasion for senior league games.

In 406 NHL games he recorded 27 shutouts, had a 2.87 career goals-against-average and was a Second Team All-Star in 1952-52. He passed away in 2004.

Minor league goalie scores 5 goals already this season

2006-12-14T13:55:00.000-08:00

Not exactly your normal story about a legend of hockey, but I found this story from the Florida Times-Union quite fascinating.

Puck stopper Tyrone Garner played 3 games in the NHL with the Calgary Flames. The former Oshawa Generals goaltender was once a decent prospect, drafted 83rd overall in 1996. He was employed in the Florida Panthers organization for some time before realizing the NHL was a distant dream gone by, and he jumped to Europe in 2003.

Last season, in Norway, Garner suffered a horrible groin injury, ripping the muscles right from the bone. Due to the nature of the injury, doctors told Garner under no circumstances was he allowed to perform as a goaltender for at least one callendar year, and then his injury would be reassessed.

The injury has not kept Garner away from hockey employment. In an unusual move, Garner returned to North America and is playing as a forward for the Jacksonville Barracudas of the lowly SPHL minor leagues. I have never heard of a goalie, injured or otherwise, skating as a forward.

Garner has even scored 5 goals and 3 assists in 13 games. The 6'2", 225lb goalie has been described as the team's most consistent forward.

Garner desperately wants to return to the nets, however. He expects to begin practicing as a goalie in the new year, although he understands he will not play in net for the Barracudas at any point this season.

Garner also hopes to return to Norway. He hopes to gain his citizenship in time for the 2010 Olympics.

Terry Sawchuk

2006-11-30T00:18:00.000-08:00

It is a common joke that to play goal in professional hockey, you have to be a little bit crazy. For Terry Sawchuk, this was no laughing matter.

Record books show that Terry Sawchuk was one of the greatest goaltenders ever to play in the NHL. He played in 21 seasons with five different teams. His 103 career shutouts set a record that might never be broken. Sawchuk did a tremendous amount for the game of hockey, but it's a shame to see what hockey ended up doing to him.

Mike Sawchuk, Terry's older brother, was the true goalie in this family, but at the tender age of 17, Mike died of a heart ailment. The loss of his older brother had a devastating impact on 10-year-old Terry, who also lost another brother at an early age.

"I couldn't believe when it happened," Terry told an interviewer many years ago. "I missed him for a long time afterwards."

The sudden death of his brother changed Terry's personality completely.

Terry eventually strapped on his brothers pads after the regular goalie on Terry's bantam team had left.

"The pads were there, where I could always look at them," Terry said in another past interview. "The day they put me in the net I had a good game. I've stayed there since."

It was also from that moment on that it seemed he had signed a pact with the devil:

Terry's traumatic youth wasn't over. When he was 17-years old his father wrecked his back in a bad fall off a scaffold. Young Terry was left as the family's sole breadwinner. Hockey proved to be his family's salvation. He immediately cashed in a $2,000 signing bonus check from the Detroit Red Wings.

On his 18th birthday, while playing pro minor league hockey in Omaha, Terry was hit in the eye by a hard slap shot. Luckily for him a surgeon who happened to be passing through town saved Terry's vision with a successful operation.

Sawchuk entered the National Hockey League in 1951 as a bright young prospect with the Detroit Red Wings. He played all 70 games for the Wings that season, compiling 11 shutouts and a puny goals against average of 1.98. He was awarded the Calder Trophy for his spectacular play. Things went well for Sawchuk over the next four years. He won three Vezinas and three Stanley Cups, including back-to-back wins in 1954 and 1955.

Seemingly on top of the world, Sawchuk then started running into trouble. After winning the Cup in 1955, Detroit shocked everyone by trading Sawchuk to the Boston Bruins. The trade stunned Sawchuk. He started to have doubts about his abilities to play the game. He kept wondering if he was good enough despite his impressive feats.

These games going on inside of his head helped Sawchuk falter in Boston, and his absence in Detroit caused the Red Wings to falter as well. Sawchuk would soon rejoin the Wings, and eventually regain the form that made him perhaps the greatest goalie of all time. However he remained mentally unstable. The mental stress of playing goalie in the NHL combined with an incredible amount of physical injuries took their toll on Sawchuk.

Considering the serious injuries that Terry sustained during his career it's simply amazing how he could put up such impressive numbers. As a child he fractured his right arm that later required three surgeries and still grew back two inches shorter than the left one, the bone chips in Terry’s elbow numbered almost 60. Some of his other injuries included:

- The eye injury in Omaha
- A punctured lung in a car accident
- Torn tendons in his hand
- An emergency appendectomy
- Ruptured spinal discs
- Mononucleosis
- A nervous breakdown
- More than 600 stitches
- Neuritis in the nerves of his legs
- A swayed back brought on by his style of playing goal
- Insomnia
- Migraine headaches

He was once known as a good natured, fun-loving kid, but the dramatic events of his life transformed him into a very angry, chain-smoking adult, full of hate. He lived, as one can readily imagine, in constant physical pain. He was often seen in public poking and scratching at his many bodily scars. One can only imagine the severe mental anguish and trauma that went hand-in-hand with the physical sufferings.

Hockey seemed to be Sawchuk's release from the stress and games going on inside his head. He is arguably the best the game has ever seen between the pipes. He played more games and seasons than anyone. He had more wins (since surpassed) and shutouts than anyone. His amazing 103 career shutouts was once thought to be untouchable.

Terry's tragic-laden, hurt-filled short life created a moody, complex and angry individual. "When we woke up in the morning, I would say good morning to him in both French and English," said one-time Red Wings' roommate Marcel Pronovost. "If he answered, I knew we would talk at least a little that day. But if he didn't reply, which was most days, we didn't speak the entire day."

But it was Terry's actions on the ice that spoke much more loudly than his words. He won tons of awards during his playing career. Terry adopted the style of a reflex goalie, placing scarcely any emphasis on covering/cutting down angles. He had a low crouching stance and was extremely tough to beat on the first shot and he had explosive movements.

"Sawchuk was the greatest goalie I’ve ever seen, no doubt about it," Bob Pulford later said. He and Sawchuk were teammates with Toronto from 1964 through 1967. "He was the quickest I’ve ever seen."

By 1970, Terry was 40 years old and wasn't as sharp as he was during his heyday, but he clung to the only thing he knew. He spent his last hockey days with the New York Rangers. After returning home from Detroit, quite affected by his inability to get a failed marriage back on track, Sawchuk picked a fight with his Ranger roommate, Ron Stewart. Stewart had no inkling of what or why. He was just a nice guy, sharing a Long Island home with, maybe, the wrong guy.

In the unnecessary skirmish, both fell over a barbecue pit and Sawchuk suffered severe internal injuries. He seemed like he was going to recover and even forgave roommate Stewart and said it was his own fault it happened. Stewart regularly visited him in the hospital, but soon it was revealed the Sawchuk had life-threatening liver damage. During surgery, a blood clot worked its way through an artery and finally stopped this long-hurting heart.

Terry Sawchuk's hockey career began with a broken heart and an abandoned unused set of goalie pads. Just as tragically, his career ended in much the same way.

One year later after Terry had passed away he was elected into Hockey's Hall of Fame.

Brodeur Closing In On Legends

2006-10-05T23:44:00.000-07:00

Martin Brodeur has been so successful during his career with the New Jersey Devils that his greatness is almost taken for granted. His excellence could be and should be celebrated time and time again this season as he closes in on some very significant career milestones.

Brodeur's next win will be the 448th of his NHL career, surpassing Hall of Famer Terry Sawchuk, who held the all-time victories record for decades until Patrick Roy and Ed Belfour surpassed Sawchuck in recent seasons. Roy finished with 551 victories and Belfour stands at 457 entering the season.

Brodeur also is making a concerted run up the all-time shutouts list. He enters the season with 80 shutouts in his career. One more ties him with Hall of Famers Tiny Thompson and Alec Connell. That will put Brodeur fifth on the all-time list. Last season, Brodeur posted five shutouts. A similar total this season would vault him into third place, surpassing two more Hall of Famers, Jacques Plante and Glenn Hall.

Sawchuk holds the all-time record with 103 and George Hainsworth, another Hall of Famer, is second with 94.

"These are great things," Brodeur told NHL.com. "Hopefully, it's going to be a great season and I add to the total again and stay healthy. At the end of the day, it's how the Devils do that will give me the opportunity to do that.

Tiny Thompson

2006-10-05T14:04:00.000-07:00

Cecil Thompson was better known as "Tiny," even though at 5'10" and 170 pounds he had good size for a goalie, especially in the 1920's and 1930's when Thompson played.

Thompson was born in British Columbia, making him one of the first West Coast born and raised NHL stars. In the early days the vast majority of players came from the far more populated Quebec and Ontario.

Thompson joined the Bruins prior to the 1928-29 season and immediately took over as starting goalie from Hal Winkler. Thompson quickly proved himself to the Bruins faithful, registering a 1-0 shutout victory in his National Hockey League debut on November 15, 1928.

That was just the beginning for Thompson and the Bruins that first season. Thompson heroics led the Bruins all the way to their first Stanley Cup championship. The Bruins became the talk of New England because of this championship, and to this day remains perhaps the hottest hotbed for hockey in the United States.

Thompson, the brother of Chicago/New York standout forward Paul Thompson, would play for 10 seasons with the B's before being replaced by Frank Brimsek. He earned an unprecedented four Vezina Trophies and four NHL All Star team selections in that time. He recorded an absolutely staggering total of 81 shutouts in his 12 years of hockey.

He would finish out his career with a couple of seasons in Detroit, arriving with great fanfare in exchange for Normie Smith and a reported $15,000. In his short term he was Detroit's most popular player, and turned the NHL worst team around into a Stanley Cup semi-finalist.

Tiny will forever be remember as the goalie in the 1933 marathon playoff game between Boston and Toronto. The game featured over 104 minutes of overtime in addition to the regulation 60 minutes before Toronto's Ken Doraty finally found the net in a 1-0 Stanley Cup playoff classic.

Thompson is also the answer to an interesting trivia question. During the 1935-36 season, Thompson entered the record book when he fed a pass to defenseman Babe Siebert, who went on to score. Thompson became the first goaltender to register an assist in NHL history.

Tiny Thompson retired with 284 wins, 194 losses, and 75 ties with a career 2.08 GAA. Elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1959, Cecil "Tiny" Thompson died on February 9, 1981.

Alec Connell

2006-10-05T13:48:00.000-07:00

Known as the "Fireman" simply because he was actually a fireman in addition to a hockey player, Alec Connell also put out the fire of opposing sharpshooters.

He was also better known as Alex Connell. Newspaper reporters way back when often mistakenly referred to him as Alex. Alec didn't mind and it continued throughout his career and throughout history in books.

Alec Connell, who wore his trademark black cap while tending net, played from 1924 until 1937 most notably with the Ottawa Senators, but also with Detroit, the New York Americans and the Montreal Maroons. In that time he recorded 199 wins and a miniscule 1.91 GAA in 417 games.

Connell also recorded an amazing 81 career shutouts, which ties him with Tiny Thompson for 5th place on the all time shutout leaders list.

During the 1927-28 season Connell set a record that has stood the test of time, and assured him his spot with the Legends of Hockey. He registered six consecutive shutouts and was not scored upon for 446 minutes and nine seconds, a record that still holds firm to this very day, and will likely never fall.

Connell was one of Canada's star lacrosse player, and only picked up the game of hockey while he was serving in the armed forces in WWI when he was asked to play goal for one game. By 1924 Connell had perfected his skills and joined the Ottawa Senators.

With Connell in goal, Ottawa won the Stanley Cup in 1926-27 and the following year he set his fabulous shutout streak. That year he allowed only 57 goals in 44 games. Connell retired in 1933, but came back for two more years in 1934 to help the Montreal Maroons win the Stanley Cup.

Enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958, Connell coached junior hockey for more than decade after retiring as an active player.

George Hainsworth

2006-10-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

George Hainsworth played brilliantly for 11 seasons in the National Hockey League. No season was more brilliant than the 1928-29 season.

Hainsworth allowed only 43 goals in a 44 game schedule and recorded a remarkable total of 22 shutouts. Amazingly, his team only won 22 games that season. That's right! If Hainsworth did allow a goal, the Montreal Canadiens would not win. They finished with a 22-7-15 record. Hainsworth posted a miniscule 0.92 GAA and captured his third consecutive Vezina Trophy.

He turned professional with Saskatoon of the Western Hockey League in 1923-24 and remained with that team until 1926-27, where he was an immediate sensation with the NHL's Montreal Canadiens. Replacing the beloved late Georges Vezina, Hainsworth won the Vezina Trophy in his first three seasons with the Canadiens, playing behind such greats as Howie Morenz and Aurel Joliat. In a combined 132 consecutive games played, Hainsworth posted a 76-32-24 record and an amazing 49 shutouts. In those three seasons he posted a combined 1.20 GAA.

The 1929-30 season saw rule changes such as forward passing in order to increase offense. Goaltender statistics were the victim, and Hainsworth was not spared. In the new NHL his GAA ballooned to 2.42. He once again led the NHL in shutouts, but this time with only 4.

The only blemish on Hainsworth's record was his lack of success in the playoffs. This changed in the new NHL, as Hainsworth backstopped the Habs to back-to-back championships in 1930 and 1931.

In 1933-34 he was traded to Toronto in exchange for Lorne Chabot. Despite twice leading the league in wins and taking his home town Leafs to the 1935 Stanley Cup finals, Hainsworth never truly found the same success as he had in Montreal. He remained there until 1936 when a young Turk Broda ousted him. After a short comeback stint with Montreal, he retired from the game.

He enjoyed 11 solid seasons in the NHL. Not bad considering he started out as a 31 year old rookie. He retired with a career 1.91 GAA, the lowest in history (shared with Alex Connell). His 94 career shutouts were an NHL record until Terry Sawchuk surpassed him in 1963-64. Although his statistics were greatly aided by the pre-1930 rules, there is no doubt George Hainsworth was one of the greatest goalies of his era.

Despite that status, Hainsworth was almost apologetic for his lackluster style. While some goalies were quite acrobratic, Hainsworth preferred the stand-up style that blocked pucks.

"I'm sorry I can't put on a show like some of the other goaltenders. I can't look excited because I'm not. I can't shout at other players because that's not my style. I can't dive on easy shots and make them look hard. I guess all I can do is stop pucks."

Following his playing days he would go on to become a very popular politician, but died prematurely on Oct. 9, 1950, in an auto accident.

Bobby Taylor

2006-09-27T23:46:00.000-07:00

Calgary, Alberta native goalie Bobby Taylor only appeared in 46 NHL games during a span of five seasons, and despite never being a regular goalie in the NHL he always had a very upbeat attitude. He had a booming self confidence that rubbed of on his teammates around him. For a short time he was the perfect backup netminder.

He entered the professional ranks after having played for the Edmonton Oil Kings (AJHL), St.Catherines Black Hawks (OHA) and Calgary Spurs (WCSHL). He then played in the EHL, WHL and AHL between 1968-71. In September 1968 he was signed by Philadelphia Flyers but continued to play in the minor leagues.

In one of the Eastern Hockey League games he was in goal for the New Jersey Devils and surrendered 18 goals! After the game he almost quit hockey since he didn't think that he needed the aggravation. He quickly disbanded the negative thoughts and worked hard to make it to the NHL instead.

Bobby's break came late in the 1971-72 season after Bruce Gamble had suffered a heart attack during a game and Doug Favell suffered an injury. Philly's coach Fred "The Fog" Shero called up Bobby on an emergency basis up from the Richmond Robins in the AHL. He faced Chicago Black Hawks in his debut and shut out Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita for more than two periods. The game eventually ended in a 3-3 tie but Bobby had played well enough to start in the next game as well. After Bobby retired he said that the first game was easily his biggest thrill ever as a goalie.

In his second NHL game he beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 for his first victory. During the 1972-73 season he was sharing the goaltending duties with Doug Favell until suffering a mid season knee injury that kept him out for a long time. After his injury Bobby only played sporadically, appearing in a total of 15 games for Philadelphia between 1973-76.

Probably Bobby's lowest point of his career came in a game in Vancouver. Don Saleski and Greg Boddy became involved in an altercation up by the glass. Unfortunately, a nimrod fan reached over the glass and grabbed Saleski by the hair. Taylor instantly reacted by scaling the glass and attacking the fan. In all 7 Flyers ended up in the stands, as well as numerous police officers, one of whom was hit, although no one knows who hit him. Crown council pressed charges against Taylor and the other 6 Flyers. All were fined but the judge also found Taylor guilty of assaulting the police officer as the cop testified he remembered seeing goalie equipment. Taylor to this day denies hitting the cop.

Taylor was sentenced to 60 days in jail, but only spent about 15 minutes in the slammer. The Flyers bailed him out and appealed. The appeal was successful.

Coach Fed Shero had a great line about the incident. "I wish they'd kept Taylor in jail until September. Then he would have been in the best shape of his life when he reported to training camp," he said jokingly.

Of course Bernie Parent had become the best goalie in all of hockey, and played almost every game, when Taylor was also a Flyer, which is why he appeared in only 15 games over the course of multiple seasons. Taylor was essentially being paid to take extra practice shots and to open the door to the bench during games!

"The practice was my game" Taylor told Dick Irvin in the great book In The Crease. "When I went to practice I forced myself to be mentally prepared, just as though I was going to a game. It served two purposes. Number one, it helped the guys at practice because they knew they had to work hard against you, that you just weren't out there going through the motions. Secondly, it helped me keep sharp."

And that is what makes the perfect backup goaltender.

Taylor backed up Parent in more ways than just the occasional relief appearance.

"Nobody really knows what a goalie goes through other than another goalie. If you're there with him, patting him on the back, it makes for a much easier relationship. It creates a better atmosphere in the room. The players treat you better and have more respect for you because they see what you're going through and they understand it to a degree."

And that is how Bobby Taylor played an important role in two Stanley Cup championships for the Flyers.

On March 8, 1976 Bobby was traded to Pittsburgh Penguins together with Ed van Impe for Gary Inness and future considerations. However Taylor only appeared in two contests before finishing the season in the minor leagues. Following that season he decided to hang up the pads at the age of 31.

In the end Bobby Taylor played in 46 NHL games - winning 15, tying 6 and losing 17. His career GAA is unimpressive at 4.10 and he never had a shutout or playoff experience. Yet he was an important and little known member of the Broad Street Bullies.

"Mr. Goalie" Glenn Hall

2006-09-05T21:25:00.000-07:00

Hockey players, especially goaltenders, have pre-game rituals. Some are more unusual than others. But no one had a stranger ritual than former NHL goaltending great Glenn Hall who, because of nerves, would literally become physically ill while waiting the start of a game.

More often than not, before the first face-off, during the rest periods or after the game was concluded, Glenn quietly and unobtrusively would throw up .

"I always felt I played better if I was physically sick before the game. If I wasn't sick, I felt I hadn't done everything I could to try to win," Hall once said.

It obviously worked for Hall, as the man nicknamed "Mr. Goalie" has to be considered a prime candidate as the greatest goalie ever played.

Glenn Hall is also renowned as the grandfather of the butterfly goalie. He was the first goalie to practice and perfect the now common butterfly stance, as he'd fall on knees, spread his legs to take away the bottom corners and five-hole and let his rapier-like arm reflexes take care of the top corners. Glenn would meet the shot with his feet wide but his knees close together to form an inverted Y. Instead of throwing his whole body to the ice in crises, he would go down momentarily to his knees, then bounce back to his feet, able to go in any direction. Practically every goalie in hockey today relies on the strategies he perfected.

During his 18-year NHL career, which began in 1952 and ended in 1971, Glenn posted a 407-327-163 record, 2.51 goals-against-average and recorded 84 shutouts. He was a First Team All-Star seven times, won three Vezina Trophies, was voted the league's top rookie in 1955-56 and was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy in a losing cause in 1968. Despite his lengthy career, Glenn won his only Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 1961—the last time Chicago captured the title.

Hall actually started his career buried in the Detroit Red Wings system in the early 1950s. With the great Terry Sawchuk established as the number one goalie, it seemed as though Hall would have to wait forever for his turn to get a chance at full-time play in the league. But Hall kept the pressure on Sawchuk, eventually leading to the surprising Sawchuk trade to the Boston Bruins in 1955. Hall took to the Red Wings crease, and turned in a memorable rookie season, coming within one shutout of Harry Lumley's modern record of 13 set two seasons previously. He allowed only 2.11 goals against as he played in each and every game and won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie.

Hall played one one more season with Detroit, before yet another shocking trade involving a Red Wings goalie. This time Hall was packaged up in the infamous Ted Lindsay trade to the Chicago Blackhawks.

It was in Chicago that Hall is best remembered. Hall was a huge part of the Blackhawks turnaround, backstopping them to the Stanley Cup championship in 1961. The Hawks became the toast of Chicago for much of the 1960s, selling out every ticket for 14 seasons. With the likes Pierre Pilote, Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull, the Hawks were hot. But it was Hall who was synonymous with the Hawks, playing seemingly every game. In fact, despite his taxing pre-game ritual, Glenn holds the NHL record for most consecutive complete games, 502, by a goaltender. That's 502 straight contests without missing a minute of play. Not one single minute over the span of 8 seasons. That is one record that is certain never to be broken. Even more amazing is he accomplished this feat while playing without a mask.

At the age of 36, he was left unprotected in the 1967 Expansion Draft and was chosen by the newly minted St. Louis Blues. Due in large part to Hall's improbable heroics, the Blues marched all the way to the Stanley Cup final in their first year in the league. Though they would eventually lose to the Montreal Canadiens in four games, Hall was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the league's top playoff performer. In 1968-69, Jacques Plante joined the team and the two veterans shared the goaltending duties, and split the Vezina Trophy. The duo returned the Blues to the Stanley Cup finals in both 1969 and 1970, only to lose again.

Hall retired in 1971, returning to Alberta to tend to his farm, while working with the Blues and later Calgary Flames as a goaltending coach and consultant.

Vladislav Tretiak

2006-07-13T23:13:00.000-07:00

Vladislav Tretiak was never given a chance to play in the NHL, but he captured the hearts of many North American fans when he helped the Soviets push Canada to a gigantic eight game battle in the 1972 Summit Series.

Tretiak was the hero of the tournament. Not only was he a hero on the Russian front, but he became a hero on the Canadian side as well. In fact no Russian player has the respect of Canadians more so than Tretiak.

Tretiak was an unheard of 20 year old at the beginning of September 1972. He was dismissed as the weakest link of the Soviet "amateurs" due largely to a single scouting trip by Team Canada. Scouts Bob Davidson and John McLellan spent just 4 days in Russia and saw Tretiak in just one intra-squad contest. Tretiak allowed 8 goals and the Canadians chuckled at the man that was supposed to play in nets against Team Canada just a couple of weeks later.

The scouts made a huge mistake by only watching the one game. As it turned out Tretiak had spent much of the previous night partying as he was getting married soon after. As a result he played horribly before Team Canada's watchful eyes in the stands.

In the end, Tretiak chuckled the hardest. "Maybe it was a trick," hinted Tretiak years later, referring to the Russian's mysterious ways of playing possum with their sporting opponents.

Team Canada's players fully believed their scouts' observations early in game one in Montreal. Tretiak allowed a goal just 30 seconds into the game, and before the 7 minute mark it was 2-0 Canada.

But from that point on Tretiak shut the door. Tretiak emerged seemingly from nowhere to rob and frustrate Canadian shooters who peppered him relentlessly..

Canada outshot the Soviets in 6 of the 8 Summit Series games including game 4 when Tretiak stopped 21 third period shots in a 5-3 Soviet win. And while Tretiak's save percentage of .884 isn't spectacular by today's standards, his play was spectacular by any era's standards.

Ultimately, Tretiak came up one spectacular save short. Paul Henderson's goal on a defenseless Tretiak with 34 seconds left is the series' defining moment.

"God give him that goal," Tretiak said. "I wish Henderson not fall down behind net because maybe he never get up and never be in front of net and score.

"Lucky, just lucky. I make first save. Defense no help me, why? (Valeri) Vasiliev and (Yuri) Liapkin no help me."

Despite what Tretiak termed as his "most maddening of all goals scored on me in hockey," he has always been proud of what his team was able to accomplish in the series, and rightfully so. He and his comrades showed that Europeans, Russians in particular, were every bit as good if not better than Canada's NHL stars.

By the time of his first Canada Cup appearance in 1976 Tretiak was already a seasoned veteran and the player the Soviets relied on in pressured situations. Even though the Soviet Union came to the 1976 tournament with a lot of new faces the fourth place was seen as a failure.

Tretiak had many memorable moments in his illustrious career. When reflecting back at his marvellous hockey career he picked a rather surprising moment as his career highlight.

It wasn't the gruelling eight game series in 1972, or any of the three Olympic gold medals. It wasn't even the 1972 Summit Series or the 1981 Canada Cup triumph when his team romped Canada 8-1 in the final. No, it was the 1978 triumph during the World Championships in Prague, home of the two time defending champion Czechoslovakian team.

"I remember playing the Czechs in the decisive game of the 1978 World Championships. In the first game we lost 4-6, and in order for us to get back the championship title we needed to win the last game by two goals. We won 3-1, and became the World Champions, and that was a feat. We were amazingly and infinitely happy. No one had given us a chance."

With that Tretiak started a phenomenal string of 45 straight World Championship games where he went undefeated. It lasted between 1978-83. The Soviets lost the 1980 Olympic gold to a bunch of American college kids but Tretiak & Co bounced back from that with a vengeance and cruised past their opponents for the next few years.

In the 1981 Canada Cup tournament Tretiak played better than ever and captured the MVP award after posting a brilliant 1.33 GAA in 6 games. In five of these games he yielded just one goal. Years later Tretiak said he had an awful pre-game warm up before the final. It bothered him a lot but he got to make a few tough stops in the beginning of the game which restored his confidence.

Tretiak was constantly faced with pressure.

" When I came to be called one of the world's best goaltenders, I found that it was a huge responsibility, especially in my last playing years. I didn't care so much where and with whom I was playing, but I had to play for my reputation. It was as if I had been given some sort of quality stamp, and I had to maintain that level. I always felt that I didn't have the right to make a mistake. So I began to practice more to prove myself in every game."

Tretiak's darkest professional moment came at the Lake Placid Olympics in 1980. An unheralded group of college kids from USA somehow beat the mighty Soviet hockey machine in what is forever remembered as the Miracle on Ice. Tretiak was pulled, a true rarity in his career, after what was deemed to be a weak first period.

"Yes, I will never forget that as long a I live," Tretiak told IIHF.com. "Coach Viktor Tikhonov pulled me from the decisive game against USA after the first period. He told me that I made a bad mistake on Mark Johnson's 2-2 goal and that reserve Myshkin would play the rest. I would have had four gold medals if not for Tikhonov's bad judgment."

Vladimir Alexandrovich Treitak was born in Orudyevo, Moscow on April 25, 1952. As a little boy he wanted to become an airline pilot like his father. His interests in sports came naturally as his mother was a very good bandy hockey player. She gave a young Vladimir his first skating lessons and at first he played as a forward. When Tretiak was 11 years old he donned the goalie pads for the first time after sustaining a serious injury. It was the start of a spectacular hockey career.

Some of his many personal achievements include being named the First All-Star Team Goalie in the Soviet Elite League during 14 consecutive seasons. He won thirteen league titles with CSKA Moscow and was named Soviet player of the year a record five times. Tretiak won the Gold Stick three times, given to the outstanding player in Europe. He collected over 90 medals in international competition, including three golds and one silver in the Olympics, 10 World Championships golds and 12 European Cup championship golds.

Tretiak never did get a chance to fulfill a dream and play in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens who drafted him in 1983. During the cold war the Communist government were not about to let a lieutenant-colonel in the Soviet army, not to mention national hero and public relations vehicle, slip away to North America, even if it meant a lot of dollars. Varying reports hinted that the Canadiens and Soviets were in negotiations to secure his release following the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics, although it is unlikely the Soviets were ever serious about releasing him.

Unhappy with the refusal to let him play with the Habs, and upset at coach Tikhonov's strict ways, Tretiak opted to retire after Sarajevo.

He became involved with the NHL after his playing days were over, being the goalie coach / consultant for the Chicago Blackhawks. There he helped goalies like Eddie Belfour and Dominik Hasek. Tretiak also opened a hockey school near Moscow and in cities in North America.

While he may never have played in the NHL, Tretiak did receive the highest honour a hockey player can get when he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989. By doing so he became the first European-born player without any NHL experience and first Russian player ever elected to the hallowed hall.

Eddie Giacomin

2006-07-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

New Yorkers love Hockey. Many greats have played on Broadway - most notably Frank Boucher, Bill and Bun Cook, Jean Ratelle, Rod Gilbert, Phil Esposito, Walt Tkaczuk, Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier. Yet no one, with the possible modern except of Messier, is more popular with Manhattan fans than goalie Eddie Giacomin.

Case in point: Shortly after being traded to Detroit after a brilliant career with the Rangers, Madison Square Gardens fans cheered for Giacomin and the Red Wings and jeered the hometown New York Rangers!! Long time Ranger followers insist that other than the 1994 Stanley Cup victory, there was never a more intensely moving night as November 2, 1975 - the night Eddie came home.

Eddie was born and raised in Sudbury Ontario, where he and his older brother shared one set of goaltending equipment. The older brother had opportunities to play in the minor leagues, but never left Sudbury. In fact Eddie's first pro experience came as a result of his older brother not being able to get time off of work to fill in as an emergency goalie for the EAHL's Washington Eagles. Eddie went instead, and he played extremely well. He went 4-0 with 13 goals against.

That caught the eyes of some of the professional teams. The Providence Reds of the AHL signed him up, but sent him to their farm teams in the EAHL for the first year. By 1960-61 Eddie embarked upon a long career with the AHL Reds. He was the workhorse puck stopper for the Reds until 1965. He played admirably and that caught the attention of the NHL. Reportedly the Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings and the Rangers were all after the services of Giacomin. The Rangers won out, by sending 4 players to the Reds - Marcel Paille, Aldo Guidolin, Buzz Deschamps and Jim Mikol.

Known for his acrobatic, sprawling style of goaltending, along with his dangerous wandering far from his crease to get a loose puck and pass it to a breaking teammate, Giacomin joined the Rangers in 1965 in the midst of a rebuilding era. Jacques Plante and Paille split the duties of puck stopping the year before. Plante retired and Paille of course was traded for Eddie. But Eddie's first season was far from a storybook tale - he didn't look great in a 8-19-7 campaign which saw the fans boo the unknown goalie. He was even demoted to the minors at one point.

By his second season things had changed. Giacomin's heroics led the Rangers into the playoffs and earned a First Team All Star selection. He led the league in games played (68) wins (30) and shutouts (9). Suddenly Eddie was the talk of Manhattan.

Giacomin went on to be the Rangers work-horse in the nets for the next 10 seasons. He led the league in wins the following two seasons (recording 36 and 37 respectively) and twice led the league in shutouts. During those seasons the Rangers were never a true powerhouse in the same way Boston and Montreal were at that time, but Giacomin's play made them a surprising playoff team that everyone feared facing. The Rangers would go on to pull of some of the most surprising upsets in the NHL playoff history, such as the defending champs Boston in 1973, and Montreal in 1972 and 1974 -largely because of Eddie.

Towards the end of his career, Giacomin was placed on waivers in 1975 and picked up by Detroit where he finished his career finished his career in Detroit. He played three seasons in Detroit, without much success. But will be forever remembered for his days as a Ranger. To this day the fans in Madison Square Gardens chant his name.

So why would the Rangers let Eddie go - and get nothing in return? Eddie shared his thoughts on that in Dick Irvin's book In The Crease.

"As I look back, and I don't know if I'm right and I don't know if I'll ever find out because Emile Francis doesn't say too much, but I think when I was put on waivers it was already a foregone conclusion that Detroit was going to pick me up. I think it was to pay back a little debt for what happened in 1970 when the Montreal Canadiens got knocked out of the playoffs by the Rangers. Detroit came into New York the last day of that season for an afternoon game. It meant nothing to them and they left a bunch of players home. We pulverized them, beat them 9-5. We had to make sure we finished the season with more goals than Montreal. I was sitting on the bench for three of the Detroit goals because they kept pulling me to an extra skater on, especially during power plays. Roger Crozier was in goal for Detroit and we must have had 60 shots on him. That night Montreal played in Chicago and pulled their goalie all night and got beaten 10-2. Both teams had the same point total, but we made the playoffs because we scored two more goals. Deep down I really think that what happened to me was a pay back to Detroit."

How popular was Eddie? Once he was invited on the Johnny Carson show. Eddie was to demonstrate his superior puck stopping ability while taking slap shots from the legendary Boom Boom Geoffrion. Then Johnny Carson would put on the pads and do the same. Boom Boom deliberately put the first shot wide, but the thundering bang it made spooked Carson. He decided for the next shot he'd place his catching glove over his crotch. Eddie stepped in and told him that was not the proper way to play, and Johnny quipped "you play goal your way, I'll play my way!"

Eddie actually missed a week of action because of the appearance on the Johnny Carson show. One of Geoffrion's shots hit Eddie in the Adam's Apple and he couldn't talk for days. Of course Eddie was from the old days where goalies didn't wear a mask. We are unsure if Johnny Carson had one or not.

Eddie's jersey number 1 has been retired by the Rangers and he is a member of Hockey's Hall of Fame. He appeared in 610 NHL contests, winning 289, losing 208 while tying 97. He had 54 career shutouts and led the league in that category 3 times. He shared the Vezina trophy with partner Gilles Villemure in 1971 and was a participant in the midseason all star game 6 times.

Ken Dryden

2006-06-03T17:50:00.000-07:00

There is an old hockey adage that goes something like this: "A team is only as good as its goalie."

Ken Dryden ranks among the greatest goaltenders not only in Montreal Canadiens history, but in hockey history. Dryden follows in the Habs footsteps of Georges Vezina, George Hainsworth, Bill Durnan, Jacques Plante, Gump Worsley and followed by Patrick Roy as great goalies to wear the "CH"

But try to imagine this - Ken Dryden wearing a Boston Bruins uniform.

Unthinkable right? Well what many people don't know is that Boston actually drafted the 6'4" 225lb "octopus" of a goalie in 1964, 14th overall. Days later he was traded to Montreal with Alex Campbell for Guy Allen and Paul Reid. The trade wasn't even an after thought at the time. The other three never appeared in the NHL, and no one really expected Dryden to, either.

Ken Dryden was far from the stereotypical NHL goalie. The average goalie is always edgy and a little nervous, and you really can not blame them for that. But Dryden was as cool and confident as could be. He never played junior hockey. Instead he went to Cornell University in 1965. It was very uncommon for a US college player to make it to the NHL at that time.

Ken loved hockey as a kid, but since he was one of the youngest kids in his neighborhood, the only way he could play in the pick-up games was to be a goaltender. That was fine by Ken, as he wanted to emulate his big brother Dave. Dave, 6 years older, often played goal too, and like Ken would enjoy a lengthy professional career as a puck stopper.

Ken Dryden made a spectacular and unsuspecting NHL debut. He spent the entire 1970-71 season in the American Hockey League, but received a late season call up in what was expected to be a chance to give a young goalie some apprenticeship behind established starter Rogie Vachon. It was standard with the Habs back then to serve a lengthy apprenticeship. It was part of their tradition. It was a big part of their success.

Dryden watched the first game from the press box, and then played in 6 games, only allowing 9 goals. People still expected Vachon to start the playoffs, but to everyone's surprise, the Canadiens started the rookie at such a critical point. The first round series against Boston is now considered a classic. Dryden made spectacular save after spectacular save against the likes of Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and Johnny Bucyk. The Habs upset the defending champs 4 games to 3. Propelled by this feat, they went on to win the Stanley Cup themselves. It is hard to believe that any of this could have happened with Dryden, a veteran of only 6 games. He had a GAA of 3.00 in 20 games, and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

The rest, as they say, is history. The following year he was named top rookie after posting a 2.24 GAA in 64 games. Dryden is the only player in NHL history to be named MVP of the playoffs before proving to be the best rookie. Dryden was named five times to NHL All-Star teams, and won or shared the Vezina Trophy five times. He played every game in helping Montreal win six Stanley Cups, four of them in succession. He finished his career prematurely with an all time record of 258 wins, 57 losses and 74 ties in 397 games. He won 86% of the games he participated in, easily the best mark in hockey history. Four times he led the league in wins, including a career high 41 in 1976-77. He had a career goals against average of just 2.24 per game, and led the league in GAA in 4 seasons. He had 46 career shutouts, leading the league 4 times in that category. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983.

Following his spectacular debut, Ken was asked to play in the 1972 Summit Series against the powerful Russians. It was one of his most memorable moments and a true career highlight, even though at times it proved to be a huge nightmare as well. Attimes Ken was at times outplayed by backup Tony Esposito and Soviet counterpart Vladislav Tretiak, and seemed to have trouble with the quick passing, criss-crossing Russian offense. Canada almost fell flat on their faces, but Dryden was the victorious goalie in the deciding 8th game.

Dryden was far from your one-dimensional jock-type. He had always expressed a desire to practice law and was willing to sacrifice hockey to do it. In 1973, with the sky as the limit for the young goalie, the toast of the hockey world announced his retirement at the age of 26 to work with a Toronto law firm. Dryden had been unhappy with contract talks with Montreal and shocked the hockey world with his announcement.

That season the Canadiens struggled with three different goalies, and quickly gave in to Dryden's contract demands, and he would return the following season. Dryden played 5 more years, leading the Canadiens to 4 straight Stanley Cups.

Of all the Stanley Cup victories, Ken chooses the 1976 victory as the sweetest moment in his hockey career.

"It was a Stanley Cup of triumph, of revenge, of setting things right, of responsibility self imposed." he wrote in Dick Irvin's great book In The Crease. The Habs defeated the two time defending champion Philadelphia Flyers to regain the Cup. The Flyers of course were known as the Broad Street Bullies and supposedly represented all that was bad in hockey - the violence and trapping defensive schemes. Many feared that the Bullies success was giving hockey a bad perception, and many cheered for Montreal in this battle of good guys vs. bad guys. The Habs - supposedly representing all that is good in the game - were victorious in a convincing 4 game sweep. With their artistry on ice, and Dryden in net, it was the first of 4 consecutive Cups for the "good guys."

Still considered at the top of his game, Dryden again retired, this time for good, after the 1979 season. Ken couldn't have picked a better time as it marked the end of the Habs dynasty. The Habs wouldn't win another Cup until 1986 when a young Patrick Roy put on a Ken-Dryden-like show.

More than any of his dazzling moves, big saves or stolen games, it was his "thinker's pose" that most people vividly remember about Ken Dryden. When the puck was cleared from his zone or when the play was whistled dead, Dryden would coolly dig the tip of his blade into the ice and fold his arms across the top. He simply relaxed until the puck came back down to his end.

When he retired it was expected that Ken would put his passion for law to good use. However Ken initially packed up his family and moved to England and wrote perhaps the greatest book in hockey history - The Game. The best selling author also penned Face-Off At The Summit, Home Game, which was also turned into a television mini-series, and the non-hockey book In School: Our Kids, Our Teachers and Our Classrooms over his writing career.

He returned to Canada in 1982 and served as the Ontario Youth Commissioner, his first hint of interest in the world of politics.

But political ambitions would have to wait. In 1997 Ken returned to the National Hockey League to be named as president of the Toronto Maple Leafs - the arch rivals of the Montreal Canadiens. He oversaw the return to glory of the Leafs, although Stanley Cup success remained elusive in Canada's largest city.

Following the turn of the millennium Dryden was twice elected as a member of parliament. During his first term he served as a caucus member of the minority Liberal government where a national day care program was his main focus. In 2005 he was re-elected even though the Liberals lost power. In 2006 Dryden announced he would run for the leadership of the Liberal party. Perhaps this goalie-turned lawyer-turned best selling author-turned executive-turned politician will one day be Prime Minister of Canada.

Gilles Gratton

2006-05-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

Gilles Gratton was a pretty good goalie from an early age. Dick Irvin, the famous Hockey Night In Canada broadcaster first knew of him as early as the age of 12. Gratton went on to star in the OHA and WHA, as well as appearing in the NHL before retiring at the early age of 24.But the interesting stories of Gilles Gratton lies in Gratton the man, not the hockey player.

Gilles claimed that he knew all about his previous lives. An obvious believer in reincarnation, Gratton could describe in great detail events that happened in his previous lives.

In one interview with Marv Albert, Marv asked him about one of his many nicknames - the Count.

"Well, I've got something to tell you," Gratton began to explain. "In my last life I was a Spanish Count and one of the things I loved to do when I was a count in Spain was take all the commoners, line them up against a wall and throw rocks at them."

Can you imagine the look on Marv's face?!

But this wasn't the only past life that Gratton claimed to have stoned people to death. He also claimed he did similar things in a life during the biblical times.

Gratton once claimed that maybe being a professional hockey goalie was punishment for his bad habits in past lives. After all, having frozen pieces of rubber coming at you at 90 miles an hour is probably as close as you can get to getting stoned to death in today's day and age.

In his only full NHL season, Gratton split the New York Rangers schedule with fellow goalie John Davidson. "J.D." remembers Gratton well.

"He was a pretty good goalie, a pretty talented player. But he was a piece of work all right. A real piece of work" said Davidson.

While living with Gratton, Davidson pointed out to an incident that makes you wonder if Gratton really does have past lives.

"He'd just walk in, drop his coat on the floor and go right over to the piano. He could play classical piano and had never taken a lesson in his life! And I mean heavy classical music!"

Some other weird things about the man they called "Grattoony the Loony," among other things:

- Gilles once refused to play goal because the moon was in the wrong place in the sky.

- Gilles had a habit of hanging out naked after practices. He often threatened to do a complete strip show in the last game of the 1976-77 season. Despite his teammates yelling at him to actually do it, Gilles fortunately didn't!

- John Davidson would tell stories of how Gilles didn't really want to play. He is convinced that Gilles hated the game of hockey. He would often fake illness in order to convince the coach not to put him in the nets, although no one ever believed him.

- Gilles once explained his recurring abdominal pains by claiming that he was a reincarnated soldier from the Spanish Inquisition. He told The Hockey News in 1977 - "I've seen it in my mind. Was I a knight? No, just a simple soldier. But I was killed when I was run through with a lance."

Gratton quit hockey at the age of 24. The last time anyone had heard from him he was living in some old abandoned castle in Europe somewhere and was apparently a photographer.

Despite all the crazy antics, Gilles did have the hockey talent. He was an All Star in his last year of junior hockey. He played three years in the World Hockey Association for three years, compiling a respectable 81-66-7 record (with 4 shutouts and a career 3.69 GAA) in 161 contests. He was even part of the WHA Summit Series team that took on the Soviets in 1974, although he only saw 2 minutes of action.

His NHL numbers are a little less impressive. He played in 6 contests for the St. Louis Blues in 1975-76, sporting a 2-0-2 record and a 2.49 GAA. He actually retired in November of that season because he didn't want to play for the Blues, and instead wanted to return the WHA Toronto Toros. The Blues blocked any attempt for him to rejoin the WHA, and Gilles was forced to sit out out the rest of the season.

The following year Gilles became an unrestricted free agent, and signed with the New York Rangers. He appeared in 41 games, winning 11 while losing 18 and tying 7. His GAA ballooned to 4.22

Gratton, the brother of former Buffalo Sabre and Minnesota North Star Norm Gratton, retired for good after playing just one game with the AHL New Haven Nighthawks in the 1977-78 season.

"Ulcers" McCool

2006-05-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

World War II was particularly tough on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Legendary coach and GM Conn Smythe headed overseas to fight against evil. Several key players, such as Syl Apps, Pete Langelle and starting goalie Turk Broda, joined him.

Replacing these players was of course never easy, but replacing superstar netminder Broda was toughest of all. The Leafs settled on a 26 year old rookie from Calgary, Alberta named Frank McCool.

McCool was a strange pick in many ways, most notably because of the ailment that he would suffer by strapping on the pads. He developed serious ulcers when he got nervous, and as you can imagine playing in the NHL without a mask must have been a heart-wrenching experience! Frank would always drink a quart of milk before each game in order to calm his stomach. Sometimes he'd have to delay the game during action in order to head to the dressing room in order to regain comfort.

Conn Smythe, who still kept up to date on Maple Leafs happenings while on the battle fields of Europe, was not very happy with this choice. He didn't know much about McCool's ability, but how couild a NHL team play with a goalie with such uncertain health?

Despite the concerns, McCool went on to turn in one of the finest rookie seasons in NHL history. He played in all 50 games, sporting a respectable 24-22-4 record. He had a 3.22 GAA and led the entire league in shutouts with 4. He earned the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's best first year player, edging out Boston's Kenny Smith.

Even with such a fine rookie season, McCool's best was yet to come. McCool backstopped the Leafs to a surprise Stanley Cup championship, and did it in fine form.

The Leafs met the the highly favored Montreal Canadiens in the semi-finals. McCool set the stage for the series by shutting them out 1-0 in the fabled Montreal Forum. McCool was outstanding in game two, which went 3-2 in Toronto's favor. The series headed back to Maple Leaf Gardens for game 3. The Canadiens earned a 4-1 victory. The Leafs took a commanding 3-1 series lead with a 4-3 win in game 5 thanks to a Gus Bodnar overtime goal, but the Canadiens stormed back in game 5 with an outstanding 10-3 trouncing of McCool and the Leafs. Rocket Richard, who had been shutdown in the first 4 games by Leafs checking ace Bob Davidson, scored 4 times on McCool. However McCool must have drank a couple of quarts of milk before game 6, as he excelled, allowing just 2 goals while his teammates scored three. The Leafs upset the highest scoring team in hockey, due in a large part to their rookie netminder.

In the final series between Detroit and Toronto, McCool's goaltending brilliance in the first three games was record-shattering. He accumulated three straight shutouts and wasn't beaten until 8:35 of game 4, which was won by the Wings 5-3. The pendulum of momentum then swung in the Red Wings favor as their own young goalie Harry "Apple Cheeks" Lumley went on a shutout streak - winning the next two games 2-0 and 1-0 to force a final and deciding 7th game for the Stanley Cup!

Game 7 was played before a sell out crowd at Detroit's Olympia Stadium. The game was tied 1-1 in the third period when Toronto's big defenseman Walter "Babe" Pratt rushed in on Harry Lumley to score the winning goal. McCool led the Leafs to the Stanley Cup, despite finishing 28 points back of the regular season champs.

Frank McCool didn't do himself any favors the following season though. After backstopping an overachieving squad to the Cup finals, McCool sat out and demanded more money, allegedly 500 bucks more a year. Remember, this was in 1945 when $500 was a far more significant sum than it sounds nowadays. McCool eventually left the team and went home claiming he was ill. One Toronto newspaper reporter said "McCool was sick all right. He was sick and tired of arguing over $500 difference in salary." The Leafs eventually convinced McCool to return, as the team dropped back to reality early in the 1945-46 season, winning only 3 of the teams first 13 games. Apparently McCool never did get that extra $500 either.

McCool had a less than great season once he did return. Despite having six regulars, including Syl Apps, return from the War, the Leafs returned to their mediocre form and missed the playoffs. McCool had a 3.68 GAA and wasn't nearly as effective, despite a 10-9-3 winning record.

The Leafs gave McCool his outright release at the conclusion of the season. Conn Smythe never was excited about a sick goalie who demanded extra money. Add to that the fact that Turk Broda returned from the war in time for the 1946-47 season and there simply wasn't any room for McCool anymore.

McCool never played a high level of hockey again. He did turn to coaching for a while.

According to his daughter, his ulcers did play a role in his early death at the age off 55 on May 20, 1975.

Karl Friesen

2006-05-23T19:48:00.001-07:00

Karl Friesen was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba but has spent most of his career playing in Germany, where he is one of that countries greatest goalies.

A starting goalie for the West German national team, Friesen played in 6 World Championships in the years of 1981-1989. He also participated in 3 Olympics (1984, 1988 and 1992) and the 1984 Canada Cup. Best known for his days with Rosehheim in the German Leagues, Friesen was named the German Player of the Year on 4 occassions - 1982, 1988, 1989 and 1990.

He was born in Winnipeg,so how come that he ended up playing for Germany for so many years? Well, his parents had emigrated to Canada from Germany only a month before his birth. Karl played some hockey around the Winnipeg area as a youngster and was invited to Winnipeg Jets training camp in their inaugural NHL season 1979-80. He didn't make the team and was ready to quit hockey to pursue a career in the accounting field.

Karl,a deeply religious man had no plans to continue with the sport,but two things changed his life. He got married and then moved with his wife Judy to West Germany in time for the start of that country's club league season. Karl had dual citizenship and was considered a resident by the West German Ice Hockey Federation. He had been approached by West German teams earlier but declined the offers.

" In previous years, I had just passed off the offers from Germany because I didn't want to go out there by myself. In 1980, I got married and we decided we would give it a try there. Even though I never wanted to make hockey a career. I thought that for one or two years it would be an experience that I probably wouldn't be able to get at another time. We enjoyed it so much that before we knew it five years were up." Karl said.

Friesen, who played junior hockey in Manitoba, was never drafted by the NHL. But after 5 seasons of international competition, the New Jersey Devils, desperately seeking goaltending help, signed the free agent in 1985. Friesen spent the entire 1985-86 season with the Devils farm team in Maine of the AHL. Friesen shared duties with Sam St. Laurent and also shared the Hap Holmes Memorial Award for fewest goals against in the AHL.

The following season Friesen returned to Germany for good - but only after getting his cup of NHL tea. Friesen appeared in 4 games (130 minutes) going 0-2-1. He let in 16 goals on 96 shots (.800 save percentage).

Although he never played more than four NHL games he had a rich career, both money and playing wise.

"For someone who thought he would just get married, settle down in his job, go to school, it's just been an unbelievable life. Most people try it in the pros, get sent to the minors and play there and the try to go to Europe. I did that first." Karl said.

During his years in Germany, Karl earned more money per season than half of the No.1 goalies in the NHL. As one of Germany's top players he could smile all the way to the bank. He retired in 1996, 38-years old.

Grant Fuhr

2006-05-23T19:48:00.000-07:00

Grant Fuhr was the best goalie in the world in the second half of the 1980's. He struggled once departing from Edmonton, but late in his career resurrected his profile to elite status once again with St. Louis.

Grant Fuhr was a highly talked about junior goaltender when Glen Sather used his 1st round (8th overall) draft pick in 1981 to select him. Fuhr was labeled as a can't miss prospect and the goalie of the '80s. His 78-21-1 junior record spoke for itself. Sather knew he had to have a great goalie in order to take his team to the next level. He had Wayne Gretzky to score goals, but he needed someone to stop them.

For the first few years, there was a bit of goaltending power struggle in Edmonton. Fuhr and Andy Moog would split the work, but Fuhr became the go-to guy once the playoffs rolled along.

The playoffs was when Fuhr was at his best.

It has often been said playing goal for the Edmonton Oiler dynasty of the 1980's must have been an easy job and that even an average goaltender could have done well. While it is true that the Oilers held on to the puck the majority of the game and would often give Fuhr large leads to work with, but they were also guilty of not supporting their goalie with as much defensive help as most champions, especially in the earlier years during the regular season. During his prime, Fuhr's GAA ranged from a low of 3.43 to 3.91, which is extremely high for someone who is supposed to be the "best goalie in the world." But considering the Oilers' run and gun style and Fuhr's lack of support on many nights, those numbers are very respectable.

Fuhr's best season came in 1987-88 when he led the league in minutes played (4304), wins (40), shutouts (3.43) and then won 16 more games in the playoffs en route to the Stanley Cup. He also was named to the NHL's First All Star Team and won his only Vezina Trophy. He finished second to teammate Gretzky in voting for the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player.

The season started with the 1987 Canada Cup. Many believe that that was the strongest Soviet national team ever assembled. Many agree that it was the greatest hockey Wayne Gretzky ever played. It also marked the emergence of Mario Lemieux as a superstar like no one before him. It was a new generation's 1972 Summit Series. It might have been the greatest hockey ever played.

And Grant Fuhr stood on his head! The Russians swarmed and swarmed but Fuhr continued to turn away shot after shot after shot. Remember right before Mario Lemieux's famous goal on a drop pass from Wayne Gretzky? There was mad scramble in front of the Canadian net, Fuhr kept the puck out. The results of the 1987 Canada Cup could very easily have been reversed had it not been for Grant Fuhr.

While Fuhr received little respect for his regular season play, he became recognized as the world's greatest goaltender because of his international play and the Stanley Cup playoffs. Spectacular sprawling saves were the norm in Edmonton during their Cup years. While most people give Gretzky and Messier the credit, it is highly unlikely the Oiler's would have been as successful as they were without the caliber of play Grant Fuhr supplied them.

Fuhr fell on hard times towards the turn of the decade. An addiction to an cocaine followed by the dismantling of the Oilers found him in Toronto. After one spectacular season he found himself backing up rookie sensation Felix Potvin the next year. He then moved to Buffalo just as Dominik Hasek evolved into the dominant goalie of the 1990s. Then he went to Los Angeles but things just didn't work out there either.

Fuhr, an excellent golfer, returned to form once he landed in St. Louis. He looked like he was 23 again, thrilling fans with his acrobatic style and is stealing games for the Blues which they have no business winning. It was great to see the living legend between the pipes back on top after most people had written him off.

So strong was Grant's play that many thought the Blues could go far in the 1996 NHL playoffs. However the Blues' playoff hopes ended when Toronto Maple Leaf's forward Nick Kypreos controversially crashed into Fuhr as the goalie was trying to cover a loose puck. Many suspected Kypreos deliberately ran the goalie with the intent of seriously shaking up Fuhr, and that's exactly what he did as Fuhr twisted his leg awkwardly. Fuhr's season was done, and so too was the Blues'.

Though he continued to play strongly in the following season, he was never able to repeat his excellence in year one in St. Louis. By the 1998-99 season, Fuhr began to show his age. Injury problems riddled Grant's performance and the Blues started looking for a replacement for the aging wonder. When they acquired Roman Turek from the Stanley Cup champion Dallas Stars, Fuhr and his big salary became dispensable.

In the summer of 1999, Fuhr's career took a dramatic turn.

Fuhr's playing rights were acquired by of all teams the Calgary Flames - the team that Fuhr had so many memorable battles with during his prime. Although its not Grant's fault, it seems so weird to see him tending the nets of the hated Flames. Can you imagine Gretzky in a Flame's jersey? Or Messier? Fuhr had to undergo knee surgery during the season, which limited him to just 23 games in what proved to be his final season.

The Spruce Grove, Alberta native finished his career with 868 games played, with a 403-295-114 record. He posted 25 shutouts and a career 3.38 GAA, though under the circumstances his inflated GAA is largely irrelevant. In the playoffs Fuhr went 92-50 with 6 shutouts and 4 Stanley Cups, good enough for the Hockey Hall of Fame. Grant also holds the records for most points in one season by a goaltender - 14 in 1983-84 (all assists).

Though it is now overly celebrated, Fuhr was the first true black superstar in the NHL. Adopted by white parents when he was just two weeks old, Fuhr generally refused to talk about race, saying colour was not an issue for him nor would he let it be for anyone else.

Chico Resch

2006-05-23T19:47:00.000-07:00

Born in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, Glenn "Chico" Resch was one of the last players to be part of the old sponsorship system. Instead of drafting players, NHL would literally invite 12 or 14 year old kids to junior programs sponsored and funded by the NHL. In turn, players playing in that organization's system basically became property of that team.

Resch was invited to the Regina Pats junior system which was coached by former Montreal defenceman Bob Turner. Resch was told by Turner that he would guarantee that Resch would make the NHL if he stayed in Regina, but Resch hadn't played very well in his short time there, and decided if he got a college scholarship offer he had better not pass up on the opportunity.

The University of Minnesota at Duluth offered him that scholarship, and Resch jumped at it. In three seasons in the WCHA Resch had an okay career. His GAA was high and his win/loss record was below .500. Probably his biggest highlight while in college was when Resch backstopped the team into the NCAA championships. The team was knocked out after losing a tough fought 1-0 game in double overtime against Cornell. The goalie in the Cornell net was Ken Dryden.

Ken Dryden inadvertently played a big role in getting Resch to the NHL. Following the NCAA championships, Resch was invited to the Montreal Canadiens training camp. Resch was a raw rookie who had never even seen a live NHL game before. And the Habs had several veteran goalies in camp such as Rogie Vachon, Phil Myre, Wayne Thomas, Michel Plasse and Ken Dryden - who the season before backstopped the Habs to the Stanley Cup as a rookie.

Needless to say Resch was buried in the Montreal system, and likely would have just toiled in obscurity had he stayed in the Montreal system. The Habs sent Resch to the lowly Muskegon Mohawks of the IHL where Glenn had a good season, leading the league in GAA and shutouts. But an old friend helped fulfill a promise. Remember how his old coach Bob Turner in Regina guaranteed Resch would make the NHL? Well Turner was a friend of New York Islanders GM Bill Torrey and told Torrey that Resch was a long shot but a worthy gamble. Torrey acquired Resch in a trade.

After a couple of years playing in the minors, Resch made the Islanders and the NHL on a full time basis in 1974-75 when he played in 25 games, with a record of 12-7-5 with a 2.47 GAA and 3 shutouts. By the playoffs he had become the number one goalie and like Dryden a few years earlier, Resch pulled a playoff miracle of his own.

"Until then Turk Broda had been the only goalie to bring a team from three games down in the playoffs and win the series," recalled Resch as he setup his story. "It was the Islanders first year in the playoffs. First we played the Rangers in a best of three and beat them, and that was a massive upset. That's what really started the rivalry between those two teams. Then we played Pittsburgh and lost the first three games. Billy Smith was the other goalie and we both played early in the series. But I played the last five games and I was there all the time for the comeback."

After rallying from the 3-0 deficit to beat the Pens, the Isles played the defending champion Philly Flyers. The Isles of course were huge underdogs and lost the first three games. But then wouldn't you know it, the Islanders battled back and tried doing what they had just done in the previous series. The Isles won 3 games to force a game 7 before bowing out in game 7.

For the Isles, it was the first of several memorable playoffs to come. But until the reached their dynasty years of the early 1980s, the Isles were faced with several disappointing playoff upsets, and more often than not the goalies got the blame. In 1978 it was Toronto as Lanny McDonald scored the game winner in overtime in game 7 against Resch. In 1979 it was the Rangers who upset the Isles. Resch was again in net in the final game of the year.

1980 was the first year the Islanders won the Cup. And you certainly can't blame the Isles for using Billy Smith in the playoffs - he was one of the all time best money goalies. But late in the season Resch was the hottest goalie in the league, going undefeated in his last 10 games. Despite his spectacular play, Isles coach Al Arbour remembered Resch's past playoff failures and went with Smitty. Resch played in only 120 minutes of the Isles championship run.

It was a very tough situation for Glenn. Normally winning the Cup is the highest high a hockey player could ever experience. But for Glenn, it marked a terrible time in his life.

"A lot of things changed in my life because of that. I actually became a Christian, a committed Christian, through that experience because when all of that happened I realized my life was out of control. I remember being on the bench just about in tears because I couldn't play. I couldn't say anything to the press but I was really wondering if it was the end. I would go home and be in tears. I just could not understand why it was that I had waited my whole life for this moment, to help my team win the Stanley Cup, and I couldn't do anything about it."

Resch came back in 1980-81 and played well as Smith's backup before he was traded in a late season trade to the Colorado Rockies. He played a lot in Colorado, appearing in 61 games in 1981-82, but the Rockies were at the opposite end of the spectrum from the Islanders, and Resch's stats reflected that. He went 16-31-11 with a 4.03 GAA. I've always felt a goalies stats are more indicative of the team he played for, and you can tell just how bad the Rockies were.

That was actually the Rockies last season in Denver, and Resch accompanied the franchise in moving to New Jersey to become the Devils. For the next 4 years Resch played well for the Devils, who remained a weak sister in the NHL. Resch played in the majority of games before he was traded to Philadelphia late in 1986.

Resch finished the 1985-86 season with the Flyers and returned the following season for what proved to be his last year in the NHL. He backed up a hot young rookie named Ron Hextall who took the Flyers to the Finals. This time Resch knew he'd be on the bench during the Finals and I think he enjoyed that Cup run better than he did with the Islanders. Wiser and older, he savored every moment as the Flyers fell just short, losing to the mighty Edmonton Oilers in game 7.

Resch had an interesting viewpoint on life in the NHL.

"When I became an NHLer I realized the perception I had of the glitz and the glamour was wrong. It wasn't what I had imagined and at times I almost wished I hadn't made it. But when you retire and look back on the people you got to know and the tough times you overcame, and the highs you experienced, and you can look back with great satisfaction."

Gilles Meloche

2006-05-23T19:46:00.002-07:00

Judging a hockey player based on his stats often leads to inaccuracies, particularly when it comes to goaltenders. Gilles Meloche is the perfect example of this.

He surrendered 2756 goals against, more than anyone else in history. His 270-351-131 career record is pretty weak, and his 351 losses is only one shy of the NHL record - set by Hall of Famer Gump Worsley, who played nearly 900 games.

One would decipher from those stats that Gilles wasn't a very good puck stopper. But in actuality nothing could be further from the truth. Quick, agile and a tremendous attitude were his trademarks. Meloche was a very good goalie on some VERY bad teams. If Meloche had played in Montreal during the 70s and Ken Dryden played in Oakland and Cleveland, then we very well might be saying Meloche is one of the all time greats and Dryden would be the one with the poor numbers.

Gilles actually got his start in the NHL with Chicago. He was a happy 70th overall draft pick of the Hawks in 1970 as Gilles grew up idolizing Hawk legend Glenn Hall. Meloche played his first pro year with the IHL's Flint Generals but did appear in two NHL games when Hawks backup Gerry Desjardins broke his arm. It was a good debut for Gilles - he won his first two starts - 6-4 in Vancouver and 5-2 against the California Golden Seals.

Those were the only two games Meloche ever played for Chicago. In the summer the Hawks sent Gerry Desjardins to Oakland for Gary Smith. However Desjardins' broken arm had not healed properly and the NHL nullified the trade. The two teams agreed to new terms and this time Meloche and defenseman Paul Shmyr were sent out west.

An interesting story happened immediately after the trade. Shmyr and Meloche disappeared for the next three days. There was much speculation that two would not report to California as they never showed up for their flight. However Shmyr had wanted his car with him out west, so he convinced the young Meloche to join him as they drove 3 days across the country!

You probably wouldn't have blamed anyone for not wanting to go the Seals franchise though. Soon the WHA would raid their roster and they became the NHL's doormats. But Meloche very much enjoyed his time there and looks back on it fondly.

"Oakland didn't have a very good team for most of my time there, but those were good years for me because I was in my early twenties and playing 50 to 60 games a year. I just wanted to play the game. When you're losing three games out of four, four games out of five, its easy to lose your confidence. But I was getting great press and the fans were always with me. I just enjoyed playing the game and I was having fun so I really didn't mind my days in Oakland. I was in the NHL and that was all that mattered," remembered Meloche in Dick Irvin's great book In The Crease.

With such an awful record the Seals were having trouble making a go of it in Oakland, and the team finally moved in 1976 to Cleveland and became the Barons. Meloche accompanied the team to Cleveland, but as Gilles recalls, not much changed.

"In fact it got worse. Nobody went to the games. It didn't feel like the National Hockey League with only 5000 or 6000 fans in the stands. It wasn't run like a big league team and it was the only time I went into a team's office and asked to be traded.

The Barons wouldn't move Meloche however, as he was one of the very few bright spots.

In 1978 the Barons merged with the Minnesota North Stars. Meloche described his time in Minnesota as "the best time in my career."

"The North Stars had finished in last place overall the year before and they ended up picking Bobby Smith, Steve Payne and Craig Hartsburg in one draft. My first year there we missed the playoffs by three or four points but we made them the next six years and they were great years."

Great was right, especially in 1980 and 1981.

In 1980 the North Stars faced off with the 4 time defending Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens. The heavily favored Habs were looking for their unthinkable 5th Cup in a row! But Meloche and the Stars had a different idea. Meloche was brilliant - so brilliant that long time hockey broadcaster Dick Irvin said "Meloche's goaltending in that series rates among the best I have ever seen in the playoffs!"

Meloche, who had been criticized for not being a "big game" goaltender, shook that label with a 3-0 shutout victory in the Montreal Forum in game one. The very next night the Stars again shocked the Habs with a 4-1 win! The Habs stormed back in the next three games and took a 3-2 series lead, but the Stars continued to fight on. The Stars forced a game 7 with a 5-2 win in Minnesota in game 6. Then the exciting game 7 showdown in Montreal was played. Minnesota's Al MacAdam scored the winner on Denis Heron with around 2 minutes left to play as Meloche backstopped the Stars to one of hockey's biggest playoff upsets.

"That was the greatest thrill of my career" later admitted Meloche.

The Stars bowed out to Philadelphia in the next round of the playoffs, but the next year they made it all the way to the finals where they met the New York Islanders, who won the Cup in 1980. It was an exciting ride for the Stars and their fans, but Meloche knew they were heavy underdogs.

"You know, you get into a series where you don't think you have too much of a chance to win and that's bad because the mental edge has something to do with it. We weren't really in the series but it was still a thrill. I remember losing on the Island and seeing the Stanley Cup on the ice. You know then why its something everybody dreams about."

Meloche continued to play with the Stars until the conclusion of the 1984-85 season. After talking contract with the Edmonton Oilers, Meloche was put on the trading block. There was some serious thought that the Montreal Canadiens were interested in Meloche as Doug Soetart was apparently unhappy in Montreal. Meloche would have loved to finish his career in Montreal, but that did not materialize.

Gilles finally landed in Pittsburgh where he finished his career with 3 more seasons. Following his playing days he became a goalie consultant and scout for the Pens.

So there you have it - one of hockey's better goalies with some of hockey's worst records.

Ray Leblanc

2006-05-23T19:46:00.001-07:00

Ray Leblanc is a long time minor league goalie. he's played in some weird places like Pinebridge, Flint, New Haven, Saginaw, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Jacksonville....the list goes on. He appeared in just one NHL contest.

All in all Leblanc, an American born in Fitchburg, MA, has had a very forgettable career. But for one two-week period in 1992 Leblanc was the talk of the hockey world!

Leblanc was the red hot goalie who almost single-handedly got the United States national team into the medal round of the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France! In the days before NHL participation He was absolutely brilliant as his much weaker US team showed up some of the tournament favorites.

It was as if this veteran had come out of nowhere. Suddenly he was the poster boy of American hockey. His Stars and Stripes goalie mask is now legendary.

An 11th-hour addition to Team USA, Leblanc sparkled in goal as the United States became the only team in the tournament to play through the preliminary round with an undefeated record. He was the focal point on a team that - temporarily, at least - captured the country's imagination.

"Ray's history had been that he can be pretty streaky, as well as being well-qualified," says Dave Peterson, who coached that team. "Once we started with Ray and saw how well he was playing, we pretty much were going to stay with him unless he fell down. And, of course, he didn't, until we fell down as a team near the end."

For those two weeks in France, LeBlanc played like a star. His goaltending was the biggest reason for Team USA's strongest Olympic showing since it won the gold medal in 1980 in Lake Placid. LeBlanc turned away 281 of 298 saves percentage. Two of his victories in the preliminary round were shutouts: 2-over Germany and 3-0 over Poland.

Shortly after the U.S. lost a semifinal game to the Unified Team (former Soviet Union), 5-2, and then lost the bronze-medal game, 6-1, to Czechoslovakia, and the Americans went home without a medal. If they had, Leblanc would have been compared to Jim Craig - who backstopped the US to a shocking gold medal victory in 1980 at Lake Placid.

At the time Leblanc was property of the Chicago Blackhawks. After the Olympics were over, the Hawks rewarded Leblanc with some time up in the big leagues. He was able to experience life the NHL way, pick up a NHL paycheck, and even got into one game - a 5-1 Blackhawks victory over the San Jose Sharks.

However Leblanc's taste of the NHL was just that - a taste. He would vanish from national consciousness as quickly as he burst into it. He returned to the minors the following year and struggled. He would never again get a shot at the NHL. Instead he would toil in the minor leagues until the turn of the century.

"It used to get me down about not having an NHL career," he said. "But the older I get, the more I realize how fortunate I am to have made a career out of playing the sport I love, and for so long. I've been blessed. The Olympics were a dream come true, and that's something I'll always have."

Steve Buzinksi

2006-05-23T19:46:00.000-07:00

A week before the start of training camp in October 1942 the New York Rangers were facing quite a predicament. The war that was raging in Europe had not only claimed over half of the members of the team which finished in first place the season before, it had also enlisted the services of their goalie, Jim Henry, as well. The Rangers were on the verge of opening camp without a goalie to play for them.

The Hall of Famer Lester Patrick, then the manager of the Rangers called his coach, another Hall of Famer Frank Boucher, into his Madison Square Garden office to talk the situation over.

"Frankie," he earnestly spoke, "what are we going to do for a goaltender?" Boucher could think of only one reply, "Lester, comb every blessed town in Canada for one." With that Patrick wired all the Ranger scouts across Canada with the immediate plea to find him a goaltender.

Three days later a telegram came from a scout in Saskatchewan named Al Ritchie. "HAVE YOUR MAN. WILL REPORT NEXT WEEK. HIS NAME: STEVE BUZINSKI." The Rangers tried to do some checking up on the man who would be their new goalie, but all that they could find out about him was that he was a grain and cereal expert with the Dominion Experimental Station who had played with Swift Current in an intermediate senior league.

With that telegram a legend for the annals of NHL history was born with the start of the career of Steve "The Puck Goes In-ski" Buzinski.

In the old days the Rangers always used to train in Winnipeg and Coach Boucher would always remember the camp of 1942 very well.

"When we got there and started workouts," he said, "I discovered that nobody named Buzinski had arrived. Well, there was nothing much we could do but sit around and hope that he'd show up; meanwhile we sent the boys through practice skates and light workouts. After a day or so I really began to get worried but on this particular afternoon we were on the ice when I looked over toward the sideboards and got the surprise of my life."

Boucher further explains. "In the Winnipeg Amphitheater the sideboards were quite a bit higher than in other rinks and as I looked at them I saw this tiny fellow walking along, wearing a black helmet -- but all I could see was the helmet over the sideboards. I first though that it was a "rink rat," one of those lads who hang around the rink and clean the ice between workouts. But soon I saw one goalie pad, then another, climb directly over the boards and, sure enough, this little chap skated directly to the net. I remember saying to myself when I looked at him, "Oh my gosh, it can't be him!!"

When Buzinski got into position at the net not only did Boucher see but a slight 140 pounds 5 foot 7 inch goalie, he saw how terribly bowlegged his new goalie was.

"Buzinski was," Boucher insisted "the most bowlegged goalie I ever saw in my life. When Buzinski stood in front of the net you felt that he had already been shot full of holes. He wore a pair of old tattered goalie pads that curved with his limbs like a pair of rawhide cowboy chaps."

If the sight of his new goalie didn't shock Boucher enough, then what happened when the Rangers started testing him with shots did. "He was marvelous," his coach said, "we just couldn't seem to get the puck past him. We tried everything, and he kicked out pucks like he was a new Davey Kerr."

That a bowlegged goalie could stonewall his own teammates during training camp should have told Boucher about the kind of team he had assembled for the season. The Rangers were destined to go 11-38-8 and finish last 20 points out of a playoff spot, no mean accomplishment in a 50 game season. With Buzinski, or anyone else in the net, the Rangers were destined to be a bad defensive team that gave up over an average of 5 goals per game.

The season opened with a 7 to 2 loss to the Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens and the Associated Press reported how "Steve Buzinski looked flimsy on a couple of Leaf goals." Regardless, Buzinski, the Prarie boy, sure gave the Rangers something to talk about after the game.

About midway in the second period the Leafs Bob Davidson took a shot on net from a melee in front of the Ranger's net and Buzinski went down and out like he had been pole axed. His teammates charged straight at the referee. "Give Davidson a major penalty for high sticking," demanded the Ranger's Ott Heller, who was standing protection over the downed Buzinski. "Take gas," Davidson shouted, "he just got hit with a puck." "Stick," screamed Heller. "Puck," retorted Davidson.

Frank Boucher from behind the Ranger bench thought Davidson had bashed his goalie flat with his stick. Then he suddenly saw Buzinski in a sitting position, then his goalie was back to being passed out again. When the Ranger's Lynn Patrick came over to the bench from the goalmouth he was laughing so hard that he could barely skate.

"What in the world is going on out there ?" Boucher asked. "You'll never believe it," Patrick answered with tears rolling off his cheeks. "We thought Steve had been knocked out by Davidson's stick and were yelling for a penalty on him. Davidson was shouting it was just the puck when Steve, lying there like a dead mackerel on a plate, sat straight up and said to the referee, "It's a damn lie, he high sticked me," and then he just fell back dead on his back again!!"

The next game in Detroit, a 12 to 5 loss to the Red Wings, gave the team more to talk about with their former grain and cereal expert turned NHL goalie. The Red Wings had zoomed out to a quick 7 to 1 lead and when their forward Carl Liscombe launched a shot from center ice that was quite wide of the net, Buzinski made a desperate leap to snag it in the webbing of his glove. As he casually flipped it into the corner of the rink he exclaimed to teammate Bryan Hextall who glided by, "Hex, it's just like picking cherries off of a tree," in a tone that made you feel he'd been doing it all game.

If that wasn't bound to bring a few jokes from teammates, what happened a few minutes later sure would. The Red Wings attacked and again sent a high shot against Buzinski who gloved it, but as a Detroit player veered in upon him the bowlegged goalie took a notion to shadow box the opponent and bobbed and weaved like he was counterpunching against the on-coming rush. As he paused to stop and say something to the Detroit player, his glove hand fluently swept out clutching the puck to toss it into the corner OF HIS OWN NET! "Steve," as one Ranger explained years after, "had actually scored upon himself."

It was obvious to most everyone by now that the Rangers were a bad team with a goalie who would make it worse. By the time four games had been played Buzinski had been rung up for 32 goals, which made one New York scribe wonder if Steve hadn't been pained by a sunburn on the back of his neck by the perennial red glow of the light behind him.

None the less, it seemed that Lester Patrick thought he had something in Buzinski. "It isn't fair to pass judgment on Steve after such a short time," he stated. "Remember Charlie Gardiner was murdered in his first four games. Then Charlie improved and developed into one of the greatest goalies of the game."

Buzinski was taking his rise from the grain elevators of Swift Current to the NHL life style of a player in the Metropolis of New York as if it was a leap of little consequence. A reporter asked him about what the differences between the NHL and the Intermediate Senior Leagues were and Steve seemed a little surprised at the question.

"No difference at all," he answered, "Same as back home. Only difference I notice is that the rinks are classier and there are more people than I am accustomed to seeing at one game."

The Rangers were beaten twice by the Bruins in the home and away weekend series on the weekend of November 14 -15 and Buzinski's style of play seemed to be melting under the pressure of being a bad team's goaltender.

"Steve has begun to show a new technique," wrote Dan Daniel in the New York World-Telegram. "He adopted the falling system. Persuaded that he who drops over the disk need not have fears of it being elsewhere, Buzinski spent more time on the ice than a mackerel in cold storage."

By the third weekend of the season the Rangers were firmly entrenched in last place with a 2-6-1 record with Buzinski having allowed 55 goals in the nine games. By this time, his teammates were convinced that Buzinski wasn't of top calibre and when they heard that Jim Franks, an AHL goalie who had played only two NHL games in his career so far, was available, they went to Lester Patrick and threatened mutiny unless Buzinski was replaced. Patrick arranged the loan of Franks from Detroit for the season and the change was made.

"I'm not hitting Buz below the belt," explained the Ranger's Phil Watson when the change to Franks was announced, "because considering his experience, or lack of it, he did a marvelous job. But his newness in NHL play was disconcerning to us."

Despite it all, Lester Patrick still couldn't bring himself to part with his bowlegged goalie and he kept Buzinski on the payroll.

"He was a refreshing prarie boy," Frank Boucher explained, "always good for laughs. Lester simply listed him as a member of our public relations department."

It was also thought that Patrick still believed he had a diamond in the rough of a goalie with Buzinski. Whatever it was, Patrick seemed awful patient with him.

"Steve just sat around and played cards and got paid," said player Alf Pike. "No matter what we said to Lester, he wouldn't get rid of Buzinski."

One afternoon the Rovers farm team which the Rangers ran out of Madison Square Garden approached Patrick about lending them a few players to round out a scrimmage. Patrick got Pike to agree to go and thought Buzinski should get some practice in as well.

"Go along with Alfie," he told the goalie. Buzinski, the public relations man, was kind of taken back by the request. "Gee, I'd like to help you out, Mr. Patrick," he innocently replied to one of the greatest all time legends of the game, "but I've got a lot of letters to write."

The next day Lester Patrick had Steve Buzinski on a train back to his grain co-operative job in Swift Current. "We were sorry to see him go," said coach Boucher, "kind of missed the little guy. He was a lovely little fellow, earnest and sincere, and we all liked him tremendously, but that simply doesn't stop pucks. Granted he was one of the worst goalies in NHL history, but he was also one of the funniest."

Even years after his departure from the Rangers, stories of his stay in New York, always claimed by Buzinski as being made up, were still joked about and insisted as true facts by members and officials of the Rangers at the time.

Mike Richter

2006-05-23T19:45:00.001-07:00

Team USA didn't beat Canada in 1996. Mike Richter did.

That was a commonly heard sentiment among Canadians at the time. Maybe it was an excuse for the unthinkable loss to the southern neighbors. But at the same time, and more importantly, it was the ultimate compliment to the great goalie Abingdon Pennsylvania

By 1996 Mike Richter had solidified as an elite a goalie as there was in the National Hockey League. While never quite got to the status of Patrick Roy or Dominik Hasek, few could dispute that Richter was already one of the all time superstars who would one day be a legend. The man with the Lady Liberty goalie mask possessed rapier-like reflexes that brought the crowd to its feet. His concentration was second to none, and his one on one ability, especially on clear cut breakaways, were otherworldly. There may have been no goalie in history who was better on breakaways. Just ask Pavel Bure, who was frustrated by Richter in the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals. That was the year that Richter backstopped the Rangers to hockey's holy grail - the Stanley Cup.

The Americans came into the World Cup boasting as good a blueline that existed in the world at that time. They had their usual group of hardworking forwards, but also had a couple of skaters who could be classified as superstars, so offense wouldn't be a problem either. But, as always is the case in elite hockey, No matter how good your players are, your team will only go as far as your goalie will take you.

The Americans put the responsibility of achieving their destiny in the glove hand of Mike Richter.

Richter was in mid season form during the entire tournament, but only got stronger as the games became more meaningful. By the time the best of 3 finals came along, Richter was simply in a zone few goalies could reach. Especially in that deciding game, where he very well might have stolen the World Cup away from the first nation of hockey single-handedly.

"We wouldn't have won the game without him," said Team USA forward Joel Otto. "He was a sensation tonight. The other night here. The first game in Philly. Against the Russians. I don't know how he got his tempo to where it was in such a short time."

Canada stormed out of the gates, taking the play directly to the Americans. They didn't just out play the Yankees, they dominated them. They were showing that maybe they really were the better team, at least during the first 40 minutes of play.

Yet Richter frustrated not only the 20 Canadians on the ice, but the 30 million at home as well. He spectacularly devoured anything that came his way. It was a classic performance in as big a game as there is in hockey. You will never see a better performance in a game of such consequence.

He was that damn good.

Richter, the savvy veteran, was as quick to deflect accolades as he was point shots.

"It was an incredible game. The shots were so lopsided, but the team let me see most of them. I was surprised we came out as strong as we did in the third. It was incredible to see events turn so quickly."

An incredible game and an incredible goaltender. Richter forever secured his place not just in American hockey lore, but hockey legend period.

Bill Ranford

2006-05-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

The Boston Bruins selected Bill Ranford with their second round pick in 1985. Despite playing solidly in 41 games in the 1986-87 season, it wasn't until he joined the Edmonton Oilers in late 1988 that he got a real chance to play.

Up until 1988-89, Ranford spent most of his time apprenticing in the minor leagues. Touted as a premier goaltending prospect, the Oilers coveted the young Brandon, Manitoba native when they were forced to deal contract hold-out Andy Moog. Moog - one of the best goalies of his era - was traded to Boston on March 8, 1988 in exchange for Ranford and left winger Geoff Courtnall. The moved helped the Oilers win the Stanley Cup that year - though Ranford backed up starter Grant Fuhr the entire way and Courtnall played a 4th line role.

Ranford again backed up Fuhr for most of the 1988-89 season, playing in just 29 games. It was beginning to look like Ranford would be destined to be backup goalie forever.

1989-90 was a different story altogether however. Fuhr suffered a serious shoulder injury that ended his season after 21 games. How would the Oilers be able to compete without their acrobatic superstar goalie? That question was quickly answered, as Ranford proved himself to equally as acrobatic and entertaining. It seemed as if Ranford's ability to raise his level of play so high infused the Oilers, giving them tremendous confidence. The Oilers went on to win the Stanley Cup in 1990, due largely to Ranford's brilliance. His 2.53 GAA in 22 post season games made him the unanimous choice for the Conn Smythe trophy as the playoffs most valuable player. And to make Ranford's second Cup championship even sweeter was the fact that it came against the man he was traded for and his old team - Andy Moog and the Boston Bruins.

Ranford was among the elite goalies in the league for the next few years after that. In 1990-91 he had the lion's share of the workload only to have Fuhr return from injuries late in the season. Coach John Muckler opted to go with Fuhr in the playoffs over the red hot Ranford. The move did not result as well as Muckler had hoped, as the Oilers were bounced from the playoffs.

1991-92 was another great season for Ranford. He regained his status as the Oilers number one goalie and almost got them back to the Cup finals, falling just short in the conference finals. And the season started off incredibly as Ranford was arguably Canada's best player in the 1991 Canada Cup. He was named MVP as Canada went undefeated en route to their 4th Canada Cup victory in 5 tries.

The Oilers fell on hard times as the mid-1990s approached. Financial restraints such as a low Canadian dollar and small market revenues forced the Oilers to trade off many of their remaining talents. Ranford remained a constant until 1996 though. His numbers would be greatly inflated over that time period, but he was spectacular and easily the best player on a weak Oilers team.

Perhaps Ranford's biggest highlight during that period was again in International Hockey. In both 1993 and 1994 Ranford was Canada's goalie at the World Championships. 1994 was especially sweet as Ranford back stopped Canada to their first gold medal finish in over 30 years.

By mid season 1995-96, the Oilers opted to trade Ranford. He was easily their biggest asset but he too became priced out of small-market Canada. The Oilers traded him back to the Bruins in exchange for a slew of prospects - Marius Czerkawski, Sean Brown and a first round pick which turned out to be Matthieu Descoteaux. Boston was desperate for goaltending help. Ranford turned in a very solid regular season for the Bruins, but was unable to get the team far in the playoffs.

Things started going downhill for Ranford from there on. He struggled with a weak Boston team in 1996-97 before being traded in a blockbuster to Washington. Joining Ranford were fellow veterans Adam Oates and Rick Tocchet while Jim Carey, Anson Carter, Jason Allison and a draft pick headed to Bean town.

Ranford never really got untracked in Washington. Soon Olaf Kolzig would emerge as the number one goalie there.

The hockey world began to write off Billy after he backed up Kolzig in Washington's thrilling ride to the Finals in 1998. Then he was released and jumped around a bit - Tampa Bay, Detroit and finally back to Edmonton where he backed up Tommy Salo for the 99-00 season - his last in the NHL.

"It was a great thrill to be able to finish my career where so many of my highlights happened" said Ranford.

Ranford did not leave any hints as to what he was going to do with the rest of his life at the time of his retirement, although he has been involved in a bar-and-grill chain restaurant in British Columbia.

Ranford also tried his glove hand at Hollywood. Ranford was asked to perform the goaltending scenes in Kurt Russell's movie "Miracle" which honoured the 1980 United States Olympic team that upset the mighty Soviets.

"Here's the weirdest thing," stated Ranford in a article for The Hockey News. "Having played for Canada on five different occasions, putting on the USA jersey was just bizarre."

Ron Hextall

2006-05-23T19:44:00.001-07:00

I remember one particular discussion with a fan about Ron Hextall. We were discussing how all the great goaltenders throughout history somehow revolutionized the art of goaltending. With Ron's incredible puck handling ability, this fan said "Hextall revolutionized the game with his puck handling ability. He took it to a new level and was like a third defenseman back there. Too bad he forgot how to stop the puck late in his career."

While his comments were tongue in cheek, they are kind of accurate.

Ron Hextall's career started out like gangbusters. As a rookie he challenged Grant Fuhr for top status as the games best goalie in the late 1980s. He was incredible and made the Flyers a true Stanley Cup threat. Over time Ron's play leveled off to the point where he continued to play solidly, but was a victim of his own early success. Ron was unable to duplicate or better his accomplishments as a youngster. In a game that demands that you take your play to a higher level every year, many fans soured on Hexy's abilities as a #1 goaltender. He became a favorite target of fans and reporters in the late 1990s as Ron developed a tendency to give up weak goals from time to time. The Flyers were supposed to be a great Cup threat, but goaltending, be it Hexy, Garth Snow or John Vanbiesbrouck, was considered to be the weak point of the team.

While many fans will remember Hextall for his late career tendency to give up soft goals, he should be remembered as one of the most exciting goalies to watch, at least during his early years. He excited fans in a way that Dominik Hasek or Tony Esposito did. Fans will also remember Hexy for his uncontrollable temper. He set an NHL record for goaltenders with 113 PIM in 1988-89. Memorable skirmishes with Edmonton's Kent Nilsson and Montreal's Chris Chelios always stick out in the minds of many hockey fans.

Hextall in a way revolutionized a game. He certainly wasn't the first goalie to handle the puck, but he was so good at handling and shooting the puck. Teams couldn't dump and chase against the Flyers because Hexy would roam behind the net to stop the puck and then lift it over everybody into the neutral zone where a quick Flyers forward like Brian Propp or Ilkka Sinisalo was waiting to pounce on a loose puck. Also, Hextall was the leader of strong Flyers teams of the late 1980s. The Flyers came oh so close to knocking off the might Edmonton Oilers. Hextall's fiery play definitely characterized that team, something which is extremely rare for a goaltender to do.

Ron of course comes from a famous hockey family. Ron's grandfather is Hall of Famer Bryan Hextall. Sr. Bryan Hextall Jr. was Ron's dad, who also played in the NHL, as did Ron's uncle Dennis Hextall.

But right from an early age Ron wanted to be a goaltender.

"I remember going to my dad's practices, sitting behind the glass and watching the goalie the whole time," said Hextall in Dick Irvin's great book "In The Crease." "I can't explain it, can't pinpoint it. I twasn't like I watched a certain guy one time and sai "I want to be a goalie like him." It was there from the start."

Although he and his brother were rink rats at the NHL practices, Ron never actually started playing hockey until he was 8 years old. At that point his hockey was played in Pittsburgh where his dad played for the NHL Penguins. Later Hextall would play low quality hockey in places like Atlanta and Detroit before his dad retired from hockey and returned to his native Brandon, Manitoba when Ron was 12.

The family bloodlines and the hanging out with NHLers must have made up for the lack of regular hockey training as Hextall made it to Major Junior hockey. The Brandon Wheat Kings were a pretty weak squad during Ron's tenure, which oddly enough Ron credits as a major reason for his development. A goaltender faces lots of shots while playing for a bad team, and can really develop. Where a goalie playing for strong team may have strong junior statistics, but isn't nearly as good a goalie or is behind in his development comparitively.

The Flyers selected Ron in the sixth round (119th overall) of the 1982 NHL Entry Draft, but it wasn't until 1986-87 when he made his NHL debut, playing in 66 games and posting a league-leading 37 wins, a career-high. He played in the 1987 All Star game, a rarity for a rookie. He was named to the NHL First All-Star Team and All-Rookie Team and won the Vezina Trophy as top goaltender. In the playoffs Ron's fiery play backstopped the Flyers to the '87 Cup Finals where he was named as the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as Most Valuable Player in the playoffs despite the fact that the Flyers lost to the Edmonton Oilers in a memorable 7 game series. Despite all this, somehow Hextall didn't win the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie, as a young Luc Robitaille notched 45 goals in his rookie campaign.

Hextall seemingly came out of nowhere to accomplish one of the greatest individual seasons in hockey history. He was surprised to even make the team. The Flyers had Bob Froese, who had been runner up for the Vezina Trophy the season before, and cagey veteran Chico Resch returning. Coach Mike Keenan played a bit of a hunch by starting with the rookie, and it obvioiusly paid off.

Despite playing just one NHL season, Hexy was named to Team Canada in the 1987 Canada Cup. Hexy and the Islanders Kelly Hrudey never played however as Grant Fuhr went the distance. But it was still a definite honor for the big goalie. In 1987-88, he again played in the NHL All-Star Game and was awarded his second Bobby Clarke Trophy as the Flyers' Most Valuable Player. Ron would win that award again in 1988-89 when he posted his third straight 30 win season.

1987-88 was also memorable because Ron fired the puck into an empty net to become the first goaltender in NHL history to actually shoot the puck to score a goal. Nearly 10 years earlier Billy Smith was credited with a goal when he was the last player to handle the puck before the Colorado Rockies accidentally put the puck into their own goal. Hexy's goal came against Boston on December 8th, 1987. On April 11, 1989, Hextall duplicated this feat by scoring the first goal by a goalie in the Stanley Cup Playoffs!

Hextall downplays the importance of the goals.

"Everybody wanted it more than I wanted it. As much as I thought, yeah, it would be great, it would be fun, this and that, I didn't think it was that big a deal when I actually scored the goal. It was a thrill and when I look back it will still be a thrill. But it won't be in my book of the greatest memories of my career. I doubt if either of my goals will be there."

1989-90 was not a good season for Ron. He appeared in only 8 games. He was forced to sit out the first 12 games of the season due to a suspension for an incident in the previous playoffs. Hextall charged Montreal's Chris Chelios in a memorable battle in game 6 of the Wales Conference Finals. Ron later was felled by nagging groin and hamstring injuries, resulting in his most disappointing season ever.

"It was an awful feeling for me to sit out," confessed Ron to Dick Irvin. "I remember thinking that there I was, 25 years old and my career might be finished. I'm not a real spiritual guy but I must admit I said a prayer or two just to play until I was 32. At that point I was scared, very scared, that I was finished."

Hexy returned in 1990-91 to play 36 games, but some say he was never quite the same after his battle with the injuries. The stats support that argument, as Hextall struggled for the next two seasons. But in all fairness the Flyers team had deteriorated to the point where they were no longer playoff contenders.

Hextall's life changed on June 20, 1992 when the Flyers and Quebec Nordiques shook the hockey world with perhaps the biggest trade ever. Hextall was traded to the Nordiques with Peter Forsberg, Steve Duchesne, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, Chris Simon, first round picks in the 1993 and 1994 drafts, and $15 million in exchange for the rights to a young phenom named Eric Lindros.

Hextall had a good season in Quebec, He went 29-18-6 and played a big role in turning around the once sad-sack Nords and bringing them back to the playoffs.

"Until the playoffs we had a great year," said Hextall of his lone season in Quebec. "We had 104 points. I still don't know what the hell happened in the playoffs. I played good for 4 games and then the wheels fell off. But overall we had a fun year. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

However Hextall's stay in Quebec lasted exactly one year as on June 20, 1993, he was traded with Quebec's first-round draft pick in 1993 to the New York Islanders in exchange for Mark Fitzpatrick and a first round draft pick in 1993.

In 1993-94, Ron played 65 games for the Islanders, one game shy of his career high. He also compiled a career-high five shutouts with an impressive 27-26-6 record on an average Isles team.

On Sept. 22, 1994, Ron returned to city of brotherly love. He was traded with the Islanders' sixth round choice in the 1995 draft to Philadelphia in exchange for Tommy Soderstrom. Ron celebrated his return by posting a league and career-best 2.17 goals-against average in 1995-96. He also posted 31 wins that year, the second highest of his career.

Towards the end of his career, Ron played more of a backup role. He shared the nets with Garth Snow for a couple of years before becoming a true backup to John Vanbiesbrouck in 1998-99. At the end of 1999, Hextall was bought out of his contract by the Flyers. The Flyers were looking to make room for a younger goalie to be brought up in their system.

Ron played in 608 NHL contests with a decision record 296-214-69. He had 23 shutouts and career goals against average of 2.97. He led the NHL in wins once and in GAA once. He is also the most penalized goalie in hockey history with 584 minutes, plus another 115 in the playoffs. He even scored 2 goals!

All in all fiery Ron Hextall will be remembered as a great competitor and a very good and entertaining goalie. He epitomized Flyer's hockey.

Turk Broda

2006-05-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

Regarded as perhaps the best clutch goaltender of all time, Walter "Turk" Broda was "Mr. Maple Leaf" for 16 seasons, with two years lost to Canadian armed forces duty in World War II.

Broda’s rise to the top was completely unexpected. He was a pudgy fellow and a poor skater, yet he contained an incredible enthusiasm for playing hockey. As a boy he was always stuck in net because of his poor skating. Although he wasn’t overly refined, he stuck with the game admirably.

Broda played his early hockey back home in Manitoba for the Brandon Athletics and Brandon Native Sons. He even got the Native Sons to the Abbott Cup final but lost to the Regina Pats. After stints with Winnipeg Monarchs, St. Michael Majors (he was the practice goalie when they won the Memorial Cup in 1934) and Detroit Farm Crest, he was given a shot at the NHL by the Detroit Red Wings. Turk had introduced himself to the Red Wings during an exhibition tour which brought the NHL stars to Winnipeg. A naïve but determined Broda only wanted to meet some of his NHL heroes. In addition he was given a training camp try out offer.

With John Ross Roach and Normie Smith already in Detroit at the time, there was no chance Broda would start in the NHL, so he started his pro career in the International Hockey League with the champion Detroit Olympics in 1934. Broda was an immediate hit in the IAHL and led the league in both wins and goals against average, both in the regular season and in the playoffs.

Suddenly the pudgy goalie from Winnipeg was one of the most sought after commodities in the game. He was ultimately sold to the Maple Leafs in 1936 for the then steep price of $8000! It was money well spent by the Leafs, as he became the first, and arguably the greatest Toronto Maple Leaf puck stopper of all time.

Broda quickly proved he belonged in the NHL, but by the beginning of the 1940s he was emerging as the league’s best. He led all goaltenders with 28 wins in 48 games in 1940-41 – the same year he captured his first Vezina trophy. In 1941-42 he followed that up with his first Stanley Cup. It wasn’t a likely Cup victory either. Down three games to none and on the verge of defeat in the finals against Detroit, the Leafs, thanks in large part to the great goaltending of Broda, stormed back and unthinkably won 4 straight games to capture the championship!

Broda’s reign as the top goalie in the league was put on hold in 1943 when he spent 2 and ½ years in the military during World War II. He would return late in the 1945-46 season.

Broda’s second tour of duty with the Leafs proved to be more successful than the first. The Leafs emerged as one of the greatest teams of all time. Broda would be the puck stopper in each of the Leafs Stanley Cup wins in 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1951. He was very good during those regular seasons, but come playoff time he somehow was able to take his game to a new level – he led the entire league in wins and shutouts in each of those Stanley Cup years, and in goals against average in 3 of the 4.

Broda's own explanation for his playoff success was simple.

"The bonus money for winning wasn't much but I always needed it," he said. "Or maybe I was just too dumb to know the situation was serious."

In that comment you can see Broda lived up to the standards of the stereotypical goaltender – a touch on the crazy side. Mind you goalies back then stopped fast flying rubber bullets with his maskless face for a living, so his craziness can be somewhat understood.

One of the most famous and publicized incidents in Broda's career was his constant "Battle of the Bulge." The often witty though short-tempered Broda had caught the Toronto media's attention as he and Leaf boss Conn Smythe constantly battled over Turk's playing weight.

Smythe once ordered Turk to cut his grocery intake enough to lose some weight. Smythe then bought up minor leaguer Gilles Mayer and brought Al Rollins from Cleveland Barons (AHL). The Toronto press had a field day and called the goaltending trio "The Long" (Al Rollins 6'2"), "The Short" (Gilles Mayer 5'6") and "The Fat" (Turk Broda), but there quickly became serious concern about the Leafs’ fortunes if the popular Broda could not get his weight down. Turk was able to lose the weight and restored his position as the Leafs goaltender.

Broda's career statistics are amazing: over 300 wins, (in an era when seasons were only 48-60 games long) 62 shutouts, and a lifetime GAA of 2.53. He won or shared 3 Vezina trophies back when the award was given to the goalie with the fewest goals against – a truly amazing accomplishment considering the Leafs of the 1940s were known more for their offensive production than for their defensive awareness.

It was in the playoffs where Turk's star shone the brightest. With 5 Stanley Cup rings, he is without doubt one of if not the greatest money goalies of all time. With 13 more playoff shutouts and GAA under 2.00, Turk Broda was simply a phenomenal post-season puck stopper, which was necessary for the Leafs dynastic teams of the 1940s.

Turk retired in 1952 as he approached the age of 38. He became a junior coach and led the Toronto Marlboros to back to back Memorial Cup championships in 1955-56. He would be welcomed into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1967, but passed away just 7 years later at the early age of 58.

Smoke Eater Seth Martin

2006-05-23T19:43:00.001-07:00

Every young player must have someone to look up to, to idolize, to desire to become as good. Vladislav Tretiak, the first great Russian goaltender, chose to aspire to be as great of an international goaltender as Canada's incomparable Seth Martin over such early Russian goaltenders as Viktor Konovalenko and Nikolay Puchkov.

The Russians new him very well during their international clashes in the 1960s. He routinely impressed them with his consistency and style. They respected him and feared him perhaps more than any other Canadian amateur during this time period. They thought of Martin as being the supreme goaltender, and copied his style to train future Russian netminders, including a young Vladislav Tretiak. Martin would become the role model for Tretiak and Soviet goalies of the future.

But other nations also studied Martin, most notably Czechoslovakia. Czech goaltending legend Jiri Holecek, who later influenced Vladimir Dzurilla and Dominik Hasek, closely watched Martin.

Most people in Canada don't have a clue who Seth Martin is however. The record books show that Seth Martin played only a handful of NHL games, all with the 1968 expansion St. Louis Blues.

He is best known for his international play during the 1960s. His most glorified moment came in Switzerland during the 1961 World Championships where he backstopped his hometown Trail Smoke Eaters to the World Championship. He allowed only 11 goals in 7 contests en route to being named as the tournament's best goaltender.

The Smoke Eaters became legendary as they were the last Canadian team to win that prestigious tournament until the mid 1990's when a team made up of NHLers not involved in the NHL playoffs. However they were true amateurs, most with day jobs at the Cominco smelters, facing off against the all-but-official professionals from eastern Europe.

Unable to win on the international stage with true amateurs, Canada turned to Father David Bauer's plan to have a true national team. The players would remain amateurs, unlike their Soviet counterparts, as players were enticed with room and board plus full scholarships at the University of British Columbia. Canada would be able to train a team for international competitions year round, but would rarely attract top talent.

One exception was Martin. A charter member of the International Hockey Hall of Fame, Martin would represent Canada in the IIHF World Championships in 1963, 1964, 1966 and 1967, winning bronze medals in four championships. In addition to his 1961 gold medal and best goaltender nod, Martin's trophy case also proudly notes his status as the best goalie at the 1963, 1964 and 1966 worlds.

He also participated in the Olympic Winter Games 1964 in Innsbruck, Austria, controversially finishing fourth. After watching the team struggle in pre-Olympic exhibition games, observers gave the Canadians little chance of winning a medal against the pros from Europe. But Canada started strong, winning 8-0 over Switzerland and they would chalk up four more wins, including a 6-4 win over the defending gold medalists from the United States. Against Czechoslovakia, Canada led 1-0 and goaltender Seth Martin looked unbeatable until Czech forward Miroslav Vlach ran into him on a clearing play, hurting his knee. He was replaced by Ken Broderick, who surrendered three goals and Canada lost 3-1.

Canada's final game was against the Soviets, who had won all six of their games. Canada, needing a win to clinch the gold, jumped out to a 1-0 lead. The Soviets tied it in the second before Bob Forhan made it 2-1 for Canada. The Soviets stormed back to tie the game with two minutes left in the second. For the start of the third, the Canadians made a goaltending change, inserting Martin even though his knee was not 100-percent. Bauer felt the presence of Martin would be enough to throw the Soviets off their game. Soviet coach Anatoli Tarasov responded by telling his players not to shoot unless they were certain to score - he did not want to give Martin a chance to warm up in the nets. The Soviets would score on their first shot of the third to take a 3-2 lead. Martin would face 18 more shots in the period, but would stop them all. Unfortunately, the Canadians could not tally the equalizer, giving the Soviets the win and the gold.

At 5-2, Canada was tied with Czechoslovakia and Sweden for second place but based on goal differential, Canada would be placed third behind the Swedes with the Czechs in fourth. Olympic officials surprised the Canadians by ruling that the tie-breaker would be goal differential based on the entire tournament - not just among teams involved in the medal round. That decision moved the Czechs up into third and dropped Canada to fourth, out of the medals for the first time in Olympic hockey history.
In 2005, a motion almost passed through the IIHF hierarchy to compensate Canada with a second bronze medal, however the IIHF feared setting the precedent may open up a slew of similar appeals and ultimately rejected Canada's motion.

The Canadian national team was never good enough to challenge to professionals from the Soviet Union, but they admirably and valiantly represented the nation. Martin was undoubtedly the MVP of the "Nats." Without his strong goaltending, Canada would never have captured what they did during the 1960s.

In 1968 the NHL doubled in size by expanding from 6 to 12 teams. With the continuing Canadian struggles about the professional-amateur status debate in international hockey souring and ultimately ending Canadian participation in international hockey, Martin opted to give the National Hockey League a try.

With the St. Louis Blues he backed up Glenn Hall, one of the greatest goaltenders in hockey history. Martin appeared in 30 games, posting a 8-10-7 record with a 2.59 GAA. By no means did set the league on fire, but he did hold his own.

Outrageous NHL salaries were still a few years away. Happy enough with his one season in the NHL, Martin returned home to Trail where he returned to his job at Cominco, making comparable money to the NHL, and returned to play with the local senior team.

Remembering the Smoke Eaters

The following article was recently printed in the Vancouver Province newspaper -
Seth Martin, who backstopped the Trail Smoke Eaters to claim the 1961 world hockey championship still gets cards and letters.

They arrive at his Trail home from all over Europe, notes wishing him well and requests for autographs.

"I probably get 150 a year," Martin says. "I got one just about a month ago from a guy in the Czech Republic. He remembered me. He wanted an autograph.

"It's exciting when I do get them, sometimes overwhelming."

The '61 Smokies still are regard as highly - if not more so - in Europe as they are in Canada, perhaps because they were the last Canadian team to win the world title since Paul Kariya - another B.C. native - led the nation back to gold glory in 1994.
Or it could be that the Smoke Eaters - made up mostly of hometown boys and coached by the relentless Bobby Kromm - were never expected to win.

The Canadian Federation of Hockey doubted we'd do well." Martin says. "In fact, (federation president) Jack Roxborough apologized to us after we had won. He just as much as said he didn't think we would win, but he was certainly glad we had proved him wrong."

It came down to Canada's final game against the Russians. To win the world championship, Trail had to beat the Russians by two or three goals - there was some confusion over the tie breaking formula.

Any confusion vanished when Norm Lenardon scored to put Trail up 5-1 - the final score - with about three minutes in regulation.

I can remember skating the length of the ice" after the goal, Martin says. "I was probably the third guy to get to (Lenardon)."

And with that, Martin's successful international run began, as he wound up playing in five more world championships, wowing crowds around Europe.

Says hockey researcher Ron Boileau:

"The Europeans think of Seth Martin as much as we think of Vladislav Tretiak here in Canada."

Al Rollins

2006-05-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

Al Rollins entry to the National Hockey League is associated with nothing more than a publicity stunt by Leaf boss Conn Smythe. But in actuality, there was some very serious implications when he arrived and asserted himself as more than just a temporary solution.

Legend has always had it that Rollins was brought in simply as a measure to put pressure on Turk Broda - Toronto's superstar though overweight goaltender. It wasn't completely true, as Al was brought in to shore up the Leafs rapidly thinning goaltender depth chart.

However, Rollins, acquired from Cleveland of the AHL in 1949, filled a big hole in the Leafs lineup from the day he arrived.

"Toronto at the time had Turk Broda," recalls Rollins. "They had Baz Bastien who was probably the best goaltender in the minors. Howie Harvey (brother of Hab's great Doug) out of St. Mike's was probably the best amateur goalkeeper of the day. They were set forever."

However Toronto's fortune quickly deteriorated.

"The first day of training camp they lose Baz Bastien (to an eye injury). Howie Harvey was probably the first player who retired because of a skin disease - guck they called it."

That left Rollins as the only goalie besides The Turk.

Rollins first task was to serve as an apprentice - the norm in the old 6 team league.

"They brought me in and I spent all year just practicing and traveling and watching the visiting goalkeepers. I always sat behind the visitors' net and watched the other goalies and, with coach Hap Day, I had to go over every goal with him, visitor and home team, what the goalie did wrong. That first year I played two games. It was a learning process. I appreciated it. If you were to do it today to a rookie, he'd be insulted."

Over time Rollins assumed the starting job from the legendary Broda. He backstopped a strong defensive club throughout the early 1950s. He won the Vezina trophy in 1951. He was the goalie when Toronto won the cup thanks to Bill Barilko's legendary goal.

However Rolly was dealt to the weak Chicago Blackhawks team in 1952. The team was desperate for players and the other NHL teams sent them some in an "unofficial" aid plan to save the Hawks. In fact in Rollins first year in Chicago, they only had about 20 players in training camp and Rollins was the only goaltender. The poor trainer had to suit up as a goalie in scrimmages.

Despite the terrible team, Rollins was incredible. And the hockey public noticed. In his first year he played 70 games and averaged 38 shots against! He had an incredibly respectable 27-28-15 record with 6 shutouts and a 2.50 GAA. He finished a close second to Gordie Howe in the Hart Trophy balloting.

The following season, 1953-54, the Hawks seemingly got worst. And while Rollins numbers took a beating he only got better. Forget about the 12-47-7 record. He played in the all star game and had 5 shutouts. Most importantly, he won the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP! That tells you just how good Rollins was - a 12 win season in 66 games earned him the most prestigious individual prize in hockey, over names like Howe and Richard!

Many modern fans remember how valiantly Ron Tugnutt battled the Boston Bruins when he played for the sad sack Quebec Nordiques in the early 1990s. The Bruins had 70 shots on goal, and superstar Ray Bourque had an unofficial record of 19 shots on goal by himself. Tugnut stood on his head that night and almost singlehandedly earned the tie for his team that night, and became an instant fan favorite. Well that's how Al Rollins was for almost every game that he played for the Hawks. He is on of the most underrated goalies in hockey history.

Rollins continued to battle for a couple more years but ultimately he couldn't improve the team by himself.

By 1957 Rollins was sent to the minors because he and coach Tommy Ivan "didn't see eye to eye." Except for a brief appearance with the New York Rangers in 1959, his NHL career was over.

Though he was 37 years old at the time, he continued to play and by age 40 he guided Drumheller to the Allan Cup.

"I was a better goal keeper at 40 years than I was when I won the Vezina Trophy," offered Rollins.

After retirement, Rollins coached at the University of Calgary for 5 years before roaming around the American minor league circuit as a coach in places like Spokane, Salt Lake City, and Tulsa. He was able to lead Spokane to the Allan Cup in 1970 - the first US based team to do so.

Alo, who was a big goalie for his era, played in 430 games with a 141-205-83 decision record. He posted 28 shutouts and 2.79 career goals against average.

Jacques Plante

2006-05-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

Jacques Plante's contributions to the game of hockey, as both a player and innovator, are substantial. So much so that he may ranks as one of the most imporant figures in the history of sport.

A seven time All Star, Plante won the Hart Trophy in 1962 as the league's most valuable player. He'd win a record seven Vezina Trophies and also 6 Stanley Cups in his illustrious 18 year career. His lifetime GAA of 2.37 is almost as amazing as his 82 shutouts.

Plante played for six teams during his career, most notably the Montreal Canadiens as well as the New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and finishing up his career with the Edmonton Oilers of the WHA at the age of 45.

Plante started many trends which we now simply take for granted. He was the first goalie to signal with one of his arms to his teammates when icing was going to be called. His strong skating ability - something goalies of older eras were not noted for like they are today - enabled him to come out of his net and challenge shooters, thus cutting down the angles. Yet another taken-for-granted play started by Plante was stopping the puck behind the net. Prior to Plante, no goalie would regularly roam around the ice and stop the puck and give it to his defenceman. That was unheard of!

Of course Plante's greatest contribution and most recognizable innovation was the goalie mask. He wasn't the first goalie ever to use one, but he was the first to permanently adopt a practical face mask. Prior to this time, goalies would bravely (foolishly?) stand in their net and stop flying pieces of frozen rubber with nothing to protect their face. Now goalie masks are even being used by baseball catchers.

Ironically, by hiding his face behind a mask Jacques Plante became one of the most recognized figures in sporting history.

Montreal Canadiens coaching and management staff were dead set against Plante using the mask, but allowed him to use it in practice at times. However during a game against the New York Rangers on Nov. 1, 1959, Plante was hit in the face with an errant backhand shot by Andy Bathgate. Plante wanted to return, but he refused to play without the mask. Coach Toe Blake finally relented and Plante returned to the ice, literally changing the face of the game forever.

Jacques and Toe never really saw eye to eye. That was probably because Blake, like many of the media, fans and hockey people of the day, was a traditionalist, and Jacques was revolutionizing the game. Many of today's goaltending techniques are attributable directly to Plante.

Jacques Plante was one of the great innovators of the game. But he was also one of the games greatest players.

"I rate him and Terry Sawchuk as the best goalies I've ever seen," wrote Jean Beliveau in his autobiography. "With Ken Dryden, Glenn Hall, Bernie Parent and Patrick Roy on the next rung down."

Beliveau had a good chance to watch "Jake the Snake." His long time teammate also played against him in junior hockey. The two were integral parts to the dynastic Stanley Cup championship teams from 1956 through 1960. Plante, who only became the Canadiens regular goalie in 1954-55, won the Vezina Trophy each of the 5 years that the Habs had won the Cup. Despite all the great scorers on what many think is the greatest team of all time, you simply don't win a Stanley Cup - let alone 5 in a row - without great goaltending. Plante, described by Boom Boom Geoffrion as "one of the cockiest, most confident goaltenders I've met," was the game's best during this time.

In 1961-62 Plante won the Vezina Trophy for the 6th time, and also became just the 4th goalie in NHL history to win the Hart Trophy. Roy Worters, Chuck Rayner and Al Rollins had done it previously. Dominik Hasek became the 5th goalie to accomplish the feat nearly 40 years later.

Despite his great play, Plante, a severe asthmatic, was traded to the New York Rangers in a multi player deal that saw Gump Worsley head to Montreal. He played a couple of seasons in New York, but wasn't overly happy there. The Rangers team wasn't too strong, and Jean Beliveau referred to Plante's job there as "a year and a half of rubber therapy."

Plante retired and returned to Quebec, where he worked as a salesman for a brewery. Everyone felt Jacques' retirement was too premature, and sure enough Plante would make a comeback. His comeback started under unusual circumstances. He tended net in an exhibition game with the Montreal Junior Canadiens against the touring Soviet national team in 1965. Plante played spectacularly, and the curious fans at the Montreal Forum gave him a great ovation.

According to most statistical sources, Plante was inactive from competitive hockey in his three year retirement, but Jean Beliveau stated otherwise in his autobiography My Life In Hockey. He claims Plante played for the Quebec Aces during that time, which obviously would have kept his skills sharp.

Plante attempted a comeback in 1967 - the first year of NHL expansion. Jacques tried out with the California Golden Seals, but he was ordered to leave training camp once it was decided that the Rangers still owned his NHL rights.

The St. Louis Blues were able to secure Plante a year later though. In the Gateway City Jacques shared not only the netminding duties but the Vezina Trophy by 1969. Plante was then moved to Toronto for three seasons, before joining Boston and WHA Edmonton briefly.

Jacques, like many goalies of his day, was a little bit "off." He was aloof among many of his teammates and the public in general. Like many goalies he had an odd habit. His was a fascination for knitting. While traveling on trains or while sitting in the dressing room, he'd knit everything from underwear to toques. Some said he did it because the concentration required kept his mind off of hockey. Others said he did it to save money for his family.

Jacques once was asked if goaltending was a stressful job.

"Stressful?" he replied. "Do you know a lot of jobs where every time you make a mistake, a red light goes off over your head and 15,000 people start booing?"

Plante left his stressful life in North America behind and moved to Switzerland where he was quickly embraced as a person more so than a hockey hero. He died and was buried their in 1986 after losing a battle with cancer.

In 837 NHL games, Plante won 435, lost just 247 and tied 145. 82 times he blanked the opponents, and had a tiny 2.38 career GAA. That GAA fell to 2.14 in 112 post season games. He won 71 of those games, and 5 Stanley Cups. He was enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978 and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League remembers him by naming its top goalie as the Jacques Plante trophy winner.

When it comes to the eternal debate about the greatest goalie of all time, Plante's status remains near the top despite time's natural erosion. Perhaps Ken Dryden, a great goaltender in his own right, puts it best: "There are a lot of very good goalies, there are even a fair number of great goalies. But there aren't many important goalies. And Jacques Plante was an important goalie"

Bill Durnan

2006-05-23T19:41:00.000-07:00

Bill Durnan had a short but absolutely brilliant career with the Montreal Canadiens.

Durnan had a very peculiar trait that helped him excel: he was ambidextrous. Instead of wearing a blocker, he would wear modified gloves on both hands. He would then switch which hand he used to hold the stick depending on which side of the rink the opposition was attacking from. Thus, the shooter would always be facing his big catching glove. He became known as Dr. Strange-Glove.

It wasn't a natural thing for Durnan though. A natural rightie, he worked very hard at it under the tutelage of church league coach Steve Faulkner.

"His idea of switching the stick hand really impressed me when I played against better teams, since the goalie always keeps his catching hand out toward the big part of the net," said Durnan. "At first it felt as though I was transferring a telephone pole from one hand to the other, but after a while I'd hardly realize I was doing it. Soon I noticed the opposition was unaware that I was switching hands, and later on when I was in the NHL it often took years before the other guys knew I was ambidextrous."

Durnan was originally property of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he was released because of a bad injury. As a result, Durnan was devastated and basically gave up.

"When the Leafs found out about my injury they dropped me and I vowed that even when I got better never would I play pro hockey. I was disillusioned and figured if that was the kind of treatment I was to get, then hell, I didn't want any part of it.

"Besides, there wasn't much money involved. In those days they weren't paying anywhere near the money to be had today. So, I quit altogether. Playing in the NHL was about as far from my mind as swimming on Mars."

Durnan moved to Kirkland Lake and got a job at the local gold mining mill and played senior hockey with the local Blue Devils. After 4 years which included the 1940 Allan Cup championship, Durnan moved to Montreal where he took a job in the accounting department of Canadian Car and Foundry Company, and at the same time played goal for the Montreal Royals in the QSHL.

"My boss was Len Peto, who was also a director with the Canadiens and a man who knew his hockey. I hadn't given the NHL a second thought, that incident with the Leafs was still sharp in my mind and I never wanted to go pro. Money wasn't a problem any more, I had a good job and was making a little extra from the Royals, so everything was just fine when Peto started pressuring me to sign with the Canadiens."

At this time Durnan was 28 years old, and about to finally embark upon his NHL career.

"I wasn't ordered to sign, but there's no question that some stress was put on me, which I resisted at first. Somehow I managed to hold out until the day of the opening game and got the Canadiens management to give into my wishes. I signed for the huge sum of $4200 and found myself on a hockey team just beginning to gel."

Gel they did. Rocket Richard was just coming into his own, and line mates Toe Blake and Elmer Lach were incredible, as was defenseman Butch Bouchard. And Durnan was a big part of the Habs success.

Although his career lasted only 7 seasons, it was long enough to earn him top consideration as perhaps the greatest goalie in hockey history. He won the Vezina trophy in his rookie season, and would win the Vezina every year he played in the league except one. He was a 6 time First Team All Star and led the Habs to two Stanley Cup championships.

In 1949 he set the modern record for consecutive shutouts with 4, as he played over 309 minutes of NHL action without surrendering a goal. The record stood until Brian Boucher broke it in 2004.

Durnan left the game he loved because of the pressures involved in tending the net.

"Hockey started to get rough for me at the end of the 40's. I had broken my hand and after it mended it felt as if my arm was falling off whenever I'd catch the puck," said Durnan. "One of my main reasons for chucking it all was because the fun was going out of the game for me. A lot of my old pals were leaving - or had gone - and much of the camaraderie was missing."

Durnan also cited the money as a reason he got out of hockey.

"My reflexes had gotten a little slow and, besides, the money wasn't really that good. I'll admit, if they were paying the kind of money goaltenders get today, they'd have had to shoot me to get me out of the game! But at the end of any given season when I was playing I never seemed to have more than $2000 in the bank, so I wasn't really getting anywhere that way. I wasn't educated and I had two girls to raise."

Things came to a head in the 1950 playoffs against the New York Rangers however. The Rangers were on the verge of an upset when they had the Habs on the brink of elimination 3 games to 1. Durnan pulled himself from the series.

"I was afraid I was blowing things. I really wasn't, I guess, but we hadn't won a game and I didn't want to be blamed for it. And I felt I wasn't playing as well as I did in the past.. The nerves and all the accompanying crap were built up. It was the culmination of a lot of thinking and I realized 'What the hell, I'm quitting and this is as good as time as any'"

Gerry McNeil stepped in and finished the playoffs.

"A lot of people thought it was a nervous breakdown but it wasn't. To this day, people still won't believe me."

Elected into the Hall of Fame in 1963, Durnan passed away in 1972. His final numbers are an impressive 208 wins against 112 losses with 62 ties. 34 of his games ended in a shutout while his career GAA was a paltry 2.36. In 6 of his 7 years in the NHL he led the NHL in GAA, as well as in 3 playoffs. His career playoff GAA shrank to just 2.07.

Durnan is often forgotten about when it comes to discussing the game's greatest goaltenders. Sawchuk, Hall, Plante, Dryden, Hasek and Roy usually are the names brought up, but not Durnan. Perhaps if he had been professional a little longer in his career he would have gotten the credit that is due.