Can goalie ever be considered best player in the NHL? Has anyone been close?

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

When you lose the art ross race to Jamie Benn in the middle of your prime you don’t get to call yourself the best player in the world.

Crosby led the NHL in PPG but missed 5 games, while Benn and Tavares both played 82. If Crosby is healthy, he most likely wins that Ross too.

And I'm not sure you want to compare quality of competition, considering Price beat Devan Dubnyk.

 

[MXD]

Crosby led the NHL in PPG but missed 5 games, while Benn and Tavares both played 82. If Crosby is healthy, he most likely wins that Ross too.

And I'm not sure you want to compare quality of competition, considering Price beat Devan Dubnyk.

That's kinda like saying that, had Crosby won the Art Ross, he'd have done so over Jiri Hudler.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

That's kinda like saying that, had Crosby won the Art Ross, he'd have done so over Jiri Hudler.

Not only that Dubnyk nearly matched Price's stats.

.933/1.96 vs .929/2.07

ninja edit: Not to tear down Price, but it does bug me that the media/fans love to forget that he played behind Subban-Markov-Emelin-Gonchar that year. It's not like it was him and a bunch of AHL'ers

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

No.

 

[MXD]

Not only that Dubnyk nearly matched Price's stats and might've beaten him if he didnt spend part of the year on the Coyotes

.933/1,96 vs .929/2.07

Dubnyk wasn't even second in the Vezina voting.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Hasek comes to mind

Hasek is the only one with a case, and only because of the perfect circumstances of when he was at his best. Gretzky was about to retire, Lemieux already had, it was the dead puck era when goalies were at their peak as far as impact.

Unlikely to ever be repeated. Price’s hart season I guess was similar but I was just one outlier year.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

Dubnyk wasn't even second in the Vezina voting.

He was 4th in the Hart vote. Does that make him a top 5 player in the world, or just a mediocre goalie who had a single great season?

 

[Help]

Hasek, Price

 

[MXD]

Unlikely to ever be repeated. Price’s hart season I guess was similar but I was just one outlier year.

That's the issue with Price's injury in early 2015-16, of which he never really came back 100% from.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Hasek is the one and only.

We probably wont see it ever again because the difference between a good goalie and a top goalie is so much less than for skaters.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Prime Hasek is the closest we’ve seen.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

That's the issue with Price's injury in early 2015-16, of which he never really came back 100% from.

Yeah but scoring was at its lowest point maybe ever that season, that certainly played to his favor.

 

[MXD]

Yeah but scoring was at its lowest point maybe ever that season, that certainly played to his favor.

That's the issue with these things and the injury. If you don't, or can't validate your status, you can't be considered the best.
Had Price replicated 2014-15 in 2015-16, he'd have a very solid claim. But he didn't.

 

[Duder54]

Hasek comes to mind

He was literally the first goalie to come to mind.

 

[MadLuke]

it was the dead puck era when goalies were at their peak as far as impact.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, .....

My brain would have an hard time to say if the lower scoring era (and the nature of how the goal were scored I imagine not all low scoring era would be egal for how much impact goaltending can have) made it harder or easier in term of impact and separating yourself from the pack, it was the dpe for Brodeur-Roy-Luongo-Belfour-Cujo and company has well.

Being an era where number one goaltender could often play 65 or more games could have helped (but even there, doing it in an era when it was rare for goaltender like Fuhr-Hextall-Liut in the 80s to do would have helped even more) and there is less goals around to remove.

Bernard Parent-Dryden in the 70s, Patrick Roy-Joseph in the 1993 playoff environment, had quite an impact and in eras when it was maybe easier for a goaltender to dominate the one in face with higher disparity, after all it is all about how much goals you saved over the competition. That said each goal was quite precious and it is a how much goal you save * value of goals in the league, I am not sure how it balance all out, but I suspect that Patrick Roy in the 1986 to 1996 did not had a lesser impact because it was an high scoring era.

 

[MessierII]

So I assume McDavid is far from the best player in the world at the moment since he is being outscored by 8 players

8 players that are all way better than Jamie benn

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Not only that Dubnyk nearly matched Price's stats.

.933/1.96 vs .929/2.07

ninja edit: Not to tear down Price, but it does bug me that the media/fans love to forget that he played behind Subban-Markov-Emelin-Gonchar that year. It's not like it was him and a bunch of AHL'ers

Gonchar f***ing sucked. He retired after that season.

Emelin is alright. Above average bottom pairing, an OK number 4.

Jeff Petry came there later in the season to make the d better, but his better seasons came in the following years.

 

[MXD]

Not only that Dubnyk nearly matched Price's stats.

.933/1.96 vs .929/2.07

ninja edit: Not to tear down Price, but it does bug me that the media/fans love to forget that he played behind Subban-Markov-Emelin-Gonchar that year. It's not like it was him and a bunch of AHL'ers

WTF, that's kinda like saying Tim Thomas 2008-09 was nothing special because the Bruins could count on Zdeno Chara, Dennis Wideman, Matt Hunwick and Aaron Ward. And even then, that's not even an appropriate comparison, because the guy who probably should've retired the year before could still at least defend, something Gonchar definitely could't do.

Besides, the team support (or lackthereof) argument for Price mostly stems from the fact that the team was 20th out of 30 for goals scored (making them the worst offense amongst playoff teams that season), yet the team finished 2nd overall.

For reference, here are the Sabres placing in Goals For during Hasek's Vezina years

1994 : 11th (out of 26)
1995 : 18th
1997 : 13th
1998 : 17th
1999 : 17th (out of 27)
2001 : 16th (out of 30)

Not once were the Sabres the worst scoring team to make the playoffs (though they were close from being so in 1995, and the only worst offense than the Sabres to make it were the Sharks).

EDIT : Because there's always a f***ing idiot somewhere, no, I'm not saying Price was better than Hasek. And I've made myself very clear on the topic earlier. There's Hasek. And, retrospectively, there's probably Frank Brimsek.

 

[Ignatius]

Jose Theodore

 

[Umingmak]

Hasek is the only one who stands out.

 

[chris kontos]

Gonchar f***ing sucked. He retired after that season.

Emelin is alright. Above average bottom pairing, an OK number 4.

Jeff Petry came there later in the season to make the d better, but his better seasons came in the following years.

Price that yr was the product of the eastern media to throw montreal a bone that yr which was flawed then as now.
What did price ever win? Popularity contests? Winning counts. Numbers add up to nothing in competitions. But they mean alot in media popularity contests.
Lmao

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Price that yr was the product of the eastern media to throw montreal a bone that yr which was flawed then as now.
What did price ever win? Popularity contests?
Lmao

Still mad that Price was that dominant.

Just accep Jesus Price into your heart.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Hasek and Price

pfft Toskala was better

 

[chris kontos]

Still mad that Price was that dominant.

Just accep Jesus Price into your heart.

J Quick was better that yr.

 

[Stealth1616]

I think to be considered the best player in the league you need some consistent multi years playing at that level.

Hard to conclude one player is the consistent best in the world after only one season playing at that level.