Goalies who were one-hit wonders in the playoffs

[Jasonthegreat]

I'm sure there have been a few goaltenders who, in one particular SCP year played the best hockey of their lives, and beside that never came close to playing that way again.

A couple of goalies that come to mind:
Cam Ward, 2006. Won the Conn Smythe trophy as a rookie. Since then, he has only made the playoffs once, and has looked awful at times.
Jaroslav Halak, 2010. When Montreal was trailing Washington 3-1 in the first round, he played out of his mind for the rest of the series as Montreal completed a shocking upset. Halak was also the reason Montreal almost made the SCF in 2010.
Michael Leighton, 2010. A career minor leaguer/backup, he became the Flyers' starting goalie in that year's playoffs and looked like an all-star, taking the Flyers to the SCF. Clearly a flash-in-the-pan performance.

Can anyone else think of goalies who overachieved one playoff year, and flattened out after that?

 

[Ace36758]

I would disagree on Halak. He has had some very good regular seasons and a fairly solid career so far.

 

[Moose Head]

Steve Penney in 84.

 

[David Bruce Banner]

Richard Brodeur 1982

 

[Doctor No]

Richard Brodeur 1982

That'd be discounting quite a bit of WHA success.

 

[McGuillicuddy]

Steve Penney in 84.

Yup, this is the Steve Penney thread .

 

[MXD]

I'm sure there have been a few goaltenders who, in one particular SCP year played the best hockey of their lives, and beside that never came close to playing that way again.

A couple of goalies that come to mind:
Cam Ward, 2006. Won the Conn Smythe trophy as a rookie. Since then, he has only made the playoffs once, and has looked awful at times.
Jaroslav Halak, 2010. When Montreal was trailing Washington 3-1 in the first round, he played out of his mind for the rest of the series as Montreal completed a shocking upset. Halak was also the reason Montreal almost made the SCF in 2010.
Michael Leighton, 2010. A career minor leaguer/backup, he became the Flyers' starting goalie in that year's playoffs and looked like an all-star, taking the Flyers to the SCF. Clearly a flash-in-the-pan performance.

Can anyone else think of goalies who overachieved one playoff year, and flattened out after that?

Dustin Tokarski...? That's completely premature.
Frank McCool? That's completely disregarding the fact he was decent-at-worst during regular season. The regular season before his great playoff run.
John Davidson? Kindof unfair because he wasn't a bad goalie at all. A bit of a Halak-case, if anything.
Pure stat-sheet : Mikhail Shtalenkov? Backup goalie, always below average throughout his career. Plays great in a very small sample. All he gets for it is three losses.

 

[Super Fadio Bro]

Johan Hedberg(???) in 2001 with Pittsburgh: I believe he played one playoff game since.

 

[Sadekuuro]

Obviously a quality goalie in the regular season for years afterward, but Miikka Kiprusoff sort of fits. He was lights out in '04, never won another playoff series after.

 

[Killion]

Halak. Montreal.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

If there are two-hit wonders, Roloson would be leading in that category.

 

[Czech Your Math]

I think Bryzgalov sorta fits the bill:

First two playoff series ('06): 6-1 (loss in OT), 0.87 GAA, .967 SV%
Remainder of playoff career: 14-24, 3.19 GAA, .893 SV%

 

[Disengage]

Mike Moffat for the Bruins in 1982. 11 of his 30 career NHL games came in the 1982 playoffs.

 

[Sanf]

Decent goalie with decent career, but still Glenn Healy in 93 is one that comes to my mind first.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Decent goalie with decent career, but still Glenn Healy in 93 is one that comes to my mind first.

ah glenn healy, who in one year went from being a major hero in the upset of probably the greatest offensive juggernaut of the decade to sitting on the bench holding mike richter's jock.

the fact that, more than twenty years later, healy is still on tv puffing out his chest and bragging about being part of 1994 is pretty revealing. healy was a backup goalie; that was his mentality. he remembers opening and closing the bench door for leetch and messier and graves and high fives kypreos on tv acting like they did something that spring. the islanders run the year before, well that was like a dream. even he can't believe it happened.

other one-hit wonders? '91 jon casey sticks out. decent career, was an average-to-above-average starter for a respectable stretch, but memorable for just one crazy magical run. '07 ray emery? i mean he wasn't lights out great or anything, but good enough that it looked like he might develop into something special. johan "moose" hedberg: a very good backup for a very long time, but broke into the league killing it during mario's comeback year and making it to the conference finals before falling to the defending champs. and sean burke, he had a very long career, almost all of it as a starter and a "name goalie," but like hedberg he only ever did one thing in the playoffs, right at the beginning, but he was great. those two were like the bizarro-world/alternate reality patrick roys.

 

[tjcurrie]

Jon Casey - Minnesota 1991

Not that he wasn't a good goalie otherwise, so maybe he wouldn't qualify here, but playoff-wise that was his only success.

 

[Terry Yake]

came here to say leighton

roloson and ward are other notables

 

[Killion]

Roger Crozier in 1965 (Calder, 1st Team All Star) & 1966 (Conn Smythe Winner in a losing effort to the Canadiens). He suffered from injuries & pancreatitis along with depression and actually announced his Retirement the following season, 66/67, but was talked out of it. Played in Detroit for several more seasons, Buffalo for several years, retiring in 76/77 as a Washington Capital. Steady, but never did achieve the lofty heights of 64/65 & 65/66 again.

 

[Super Fadio Bro]

Others: Olaf Kolzig in 1998 (he never won a playoff series prior oe after that), Brian Boucher in 2000, Roman Turek in 2001, Tim Thomas in 2011 (he won one playoff series prior to that year and none since)

 

[NewtJorden]

Steve Penney in 84.

That thread was made for Steve Penney

 

[Hobnobs]

Jon Casey - Minnesota 1991

Not that he wasn't a good goalie otherwise, so maybe he wouldn't qualify here, but playoff-wise that was his only success.

Apart from almost upsetting the Red Wings you mean?

 

[Doctor No]

Apart from almost upsetting the Red Wings you mean?

Twice!

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

Others: Olaf Kolzig in 1998 (he never won a playoff series prior oe after that), Brian Boucher in 2000, Roman Turek in 2001, Tim Thomas in 2011 (he won one playoff series prior to that year and none since)

If simply "winning a playoff series" is your criteria then yes, Thomas fits the bill. But he had a great 4-5 year run with the Bruins and his playoff numbers in 2009 were almost as good as 2011's, so I don't think he really fits the definition of a one-hit wonder that the OP was looking for.

 

[mrhockey193195]

Brian Boucher was the first to come to mind. Some others - Hedberg, Hrudey, Davidson, Healy,. To a lesser extent - Ranford and Hextall

 

[Hobnobs]

Twice!

Forgot about 92. He was golden in the hawks series prior to Stars cinderella run too.