sunb
Registered User
Who is the greatest goalie of all-time and why?
International accomplishments can be considered.
International accomplishments can be considered.
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justsomeguy said:Plante, by a slim margin over Sawchuck and Hall. Sawchuck may well have been the best money goaltender of all time and Hall was one of the first to use what has evolved into the butterfly style but Plante's talent, achievements, personality and innovations set him apart from the others.
Yeah, there's the mask but there was the way he'd roam, refusing to be hemmed in by a painted painted rectangle in front of his net, digging the puck out of corners and moving it up the ice. Doesn't get the credit as an offensive contributor that he ought to get.
While he loved to blow his own horn and, if he were to be believed, never gave up a goal through any fault of his own, Plante knew the game inside out and wasn't at all shy about sharing his opinions, which often differed from team practices, making him very popular with writers on the Hab beat, if not in the dressing room.
Toe Blake did not like Plante, who was far too much of an individual and far too open with dissenting opinions for his liking. When Toe Blake took a dislike to someone he went all the way. He hated your play, he hated your clothes, your car and the way you parted your hair. In fact, Blake got rid of Plante as soon as he possibly could.
Several years later,when asked who the greatest goalie of all time was, Blake's answer was almost immediate, "Jacques Plante".
Good enough for me.
- Red Fisher - The man in the maskKnow something? While Blake at times hated Plante, he always insisted he was the best goaltender he'd ever seen.
"Especially those five years we won the Cup, eh?" Blake said. "I played with (Bill) Durnan, and he was the best I'd ever seen up to that time. Plante was better during those five years."
Blake knew it and so did Plante. His teammates knew it, even though he stretched their patience from time to time. It's true he played behind many of hockey's best players, starting with Doug Harvey on defence, Jean Beliveau, Dickie Moore, Maurice and Henri Richard, Boom Boom Geoffrion and others. The result was that on some nights, Plante's work was minimal because his colleagues controlled the puck most of the game, but he always made the big stops when the Canadiens needed them. No goaltender I have ever known was more confident in his ability to win.
kruezer said:Is is just me, or are Hasek, Roy and Brodeur a complete recreation of Plante, Sawchuk and Hall?
It struck me lately, that both groups of guys came along during the same time and compare strangely well to each other, Plante and Hasek being the individualists who won Harts, Sawchuk and Roy being the money guys who were not known to be the nicest guys off the ice and Hall and Brodeur being the guys that came last of each group and had brilliant form and the ability to play a tonne of games.
Talent Analyst said:Patrick Roy , He's a REAL ONE . He's a winner and he got the passion of hockey .
BM67 said:Jacques Plante
He was a 7 time all-star, and won the Hart Trophy in 1962. His 6 Stanley Cup wins, 10 Finals appearances, and 7 Vezina Trophies are all records for goaltenders. A Retro Conn Smythe win in 1960 also makes him the only goalie on the list with both a Hart and a Conn Smythe.
- Red Fisher - The man in the mask
"If Jacques was in the nets today, I'd still be playing. That's how good he was." - Bob Plager
"Jacques Plante is the best goaltender I've ever seen." - Anatoli Tarasov
"He did it his own way, and he was so damn good, he could do it his way." - Red Fisher
Ogopogo said:The one thing is his Vezinas were not "real" Vezinas - they were the equivalent of the Jennings trophy today. The 1st team all star was the goaltending award until 1982. With that in mind, Glenn Hall is the only goaltender to be voted the NHL's best 7 times.