HOH Top 60 Goaltenders of All Time (2024 Edition) - Aggregate List & Individual Records
- Thread starter Dr John Carlson
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MXD
Partying Hard
- Oct 27, 2005
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- 18,165
Wow. No Highest, No Lowest, No Unique. Most boring Round 1 List. There was just somebody a bit higher (Charlie Gardiner, Chuck Rayner, Semyon Varlamov) on guys I were high on, or a bit lower (Vladislav Tretiak, Connor Hellebuyck, Tuukka Rask) on guys I was low on.
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Dr John Carlson
Registered User
A few items of note...
Most of the risers from 2012 to 2024 were new entrants; mostly goalies who hadn't proven enough when the first project was underway. I believe the only inactive goalies to move up more than 1 placement were Bower at +3 and LeSueur at +2. However, there were a few notable droppers from 2012:
Tim Thomas: -21
Ed Giacomin: -20
Rogie Vachon: -16
Gump Worsley: -15
Chuck Rayner: -15
Tony Esposito: -12
Esposito, Rayner, and Thomas hardly changed from their finishes on the aggregate list, so it seems our mind had already been made up on those three. However, Giacomin, Worsley, and Vachon all dropped at least 7 spots from their aggregate position.
Biggest movers upward from the aggregate include:
Paddy Moran: +13
Connor Hellebuyck: +11
Riley Hern: +7
I think this makes sense; two oldies who voters may not have been fully familiar with, and Hellebuyck, who's in the midst of likely another Vezina season.
Most of the risers from 2012 to 2024 were new entrants; mostly goalies who hadn't proven enough when the first project was underway. I believe the only inactive goalies to move up more than 1 placement were Bower at +3 and LeSueur at +2. However, there were a few notable droppers from 2012:
Tim Thomas: -21
Ed Giacomin: -20
Rogie Vachon: -16
Gump Worsley: -15
Chuck Rayner: -15
Tony Esposito: -12
Esposito, Rayner, and Thomas hardly changed from their finishes on the aggregate list, so it seems our mind had already been made up on those three. However, Giacomin, Worsley, and Vachon all dropped at least 7 spots from their aggregate position.
Biggest movers upward from the aggregate include:
Paddy Moran: +13
Connor Hellebuyck: +11
Riley Hern: +7
I think this makes sense; two oldies who voters may not have been fully familiar with, and Hellebuyck, who's in the midst of likely another Vezina season.
jigglysquishy
Registered User
I kept a (separate) list as we went so make a "new" top 60 for me.
The biggest risers between my prelim list and my final list
Holtby +24
McNeil +24
Hern +23
Rinne +20
Fleury +15
Quick +15
Shesterkin +13
Bobrovsky +13
Rask +12
Vasilevskiy +11
Mostly active goalies, so that was clearly a blindspot for me. McNeil wasn't on my prelim, but I came away very impressed in the newspaper reports. Hern another big riser so thank you @rmartin65
Biggest droppers
Worters -13
Giacomin -13
Chabot -13
Worsley -10
Broda -8
A mixture of dynasty guys, guys who had tremendous stats, and Giacomin.
The biggest risers between my prelim list and my final list
Holtby +24
McNeil +24
Hern +23
Rinne +20
Fleury +15
Quick +15
Shesterkin +13
Bobrovsky +13
Rask +12
Vasilevskiy +11
Mostly active goalies, so that was clearly a blindspot for me. McNeil wasn't on my prelim, but I came away very impressed in the newspaper reports. Hern another big riser so thank you @rmartin65
Biggest droppers
Worters -13
Giacomin -13
Chabot -13
Worsley -10
Broda -8
A mixture of dynasty guys, guys who had tremendous stats, and Giacomin.
jigglysquishy
Registered User
Overall, I read somewhere in excess of 1000 newspaper game reports. I don't want to ever do that again, but I will probably talk myself into it. I would love to split the workload with someone. I learned a lot about hockey, how teams were covered, and how things changed. A few standout names to me
Terry Sawchuk
I had largely dismissed him coming into the project. We talk of a "big 6" and I thought he was the weakest. But man, the actual game reports are immensely flattering. The entire 50s Red Wings dynasty he is just a stud. And then the team gets weak and he comes back in the 60s and he's second only to Howe in terms of praise. Those post-Lindsay/Kelly Wings were weak in general and particularly weak on depth. The defensive acumen was low and Sawchuk got minimal support. Game after game he's praised as the only thing preventing a blowout. And I always dismissed 1967 as him being just an old backup. But it's a Conn Smythe calibre run and the greatest goaltending duo performance in NHL history.
Johnny Bower
I looked at him as a lesser Turk Broda, the beneficiary of a defensive juggernaut. But the game reports are immensely flattering. Throughout the 60s Dynasty he is praised very highly. But even into the 50s he is given lots of love. A battler, a stud, and someone that would be the best goalie of an era in a sane era.
Tom Barrasso
This forum doesn't like him. He's not popular. But in those 1991 and 1992 runs he's the #2 praised player to Mario Lemieux. He grew on me a lot.
I gotta say, the O6 was just brutal to goalies. HHOFers lose their job regularly. Management treats them terribly. Guys play hurt all the time. And they're not little injuries. Concussions, pucks to the face, pulled groins, ACL injury. And guys are just back out there. The 20s and 30s is a tough guy league, but I don't think any era is tougher than being a goalie in the O6.
For non-goalies
Bobby Orr
Man, does he just get praise. Like the religious reverence he gets in the 1970-1974 time period is something I've never read for any other player. I know he's Bobby Orr, but actually reading it game-by-game you get a sense of just unreal dominance.
Bobby Hull
Another guy who gets praised all over the place. Mikita, very much less so. Hall is overworked and given no support. Pilote does his best. But Hull is a superstar of superstars.
Frank Boucher
He is the most praised playoff performer 1925-1945. Just a force.
Frank Nighbor
We love him and I feel we still undersell him a bit. He's easily the most praised player in the 1910-1925 time period and might be the most praised player until Richard comes along.
Mike Bossy
I always looked at Bossy as the third wheel on the Islanders' dynasty. But he is just a clutch goal-scoring machine. Trottier has less star power than I expected, Potvin about what I expected, but Bossy is just game-after-game of goals. 6 months ago I was not a Bossy fan, but I definitely am now.
Mark Messier
I flipped through some regular season games and he doesn't get near the level of praise as he does in the playoffs. The 1984 Finals is an all-time finals.
Rocket Richard
I want to dig into him more, but just a playoff monster. Might be the most praised player I've seen across all players in the playoffs.
Reading through the decline of newspaper coverage is surreal. Into the early 70s, the coverage is fantastic. But it slowly declines. Local coverage is gone from some cities and is copy-pasted from somewhere else. By the mid 90s its weak and by the 2005 lockout is really bad. Even the difference between 1995 and 2000 is stark.
Terry Sawchuk
I had largely dismissed him coming into the project. We talk of a "big 6" and I thought he was the weakest. But man, the actual game reports are immensely flattering. The entire 50s Red Wings dynasty he is just a stud. And then the team gets weak and he comes back in the 60s and he's second only to Howe in terms of praise. Those post-Lindsay/Kelly Wings were weak in general and particularly weak on depth. The defensive acumen was low and Sawchuk got minimal support. Game after game he's praised as the only thing preventing a blowout. And I always dismissed 1967 as him being just an old backup. But it's a Conn Smythe calibre run and the greatest goaltending duo performance in NHL history.
Johnny Bower
I looked at him as a lesser Turk Broda, the beneficiary of a defensive juggernaut. But the game reports are immensely flattering. Throughout the 60s Dynasty he is praised very highly. But even into the 50s he is given lots of love. A battler, a stud, and someone that would be the best goalie of an era in a sane era.
Tom Barrasso
This forum doesn't like him. He's not popular. But in those 1991 and 1992 runs he's the #2 praised player to Mario Lemieux. He grew on me a lot.
I gotta say, the O6 was just brutal to goalies. HHOFers lose their job regularly. Management treats them terribly. Guys play hurt all the time. And they're not little injuries. Concussions, pucks to the face, pulled groins, ACL injury. And guys are just back out there. The 20s and 30s is a tough guy league, but I don't think any era is tougher than being a goalie in the O6.
For non-goalies
Bobby Orr
Man, does he just get praise. Like the religious reverence he gets in the 1970-1974 time period is something I've never read for any other player. I know he's Bobby Orr, but actually reading it game-by-game you get a sense of just unreal dominance.
Bobby Hull
Another guy who gets praised all over the place. Mikita, very much less so. Hall is overworked and given no support. Pilote does his best. But Hull is a superstar of superstars.
Frank Boucher
He is the most praised playoff performer 1925-1945. Just a force.
Frank Nighbor
We love him and I feel we still undersell him a bit. He's easily the most praised player in the 1910-1925 time period and might be the most praised player until Richard comes along.
Mike Bossy
I always looked at Bossy as the third wheel on the Islanders' dynasty. But he is just a clutch goal-scoring machine. Trottier has less star power than I expected, Potvin about what I expected, but Bossy is just game-after-game of goals. 6 months ago I was not a Bossy fan, but I definitely am now.
Mark Messier
I flipped through some regular season games and he doesn't get near the level of praise as he does in the playoffs. The 1984 Finals is an all-time finals.
Rocket Richard
I want to dig into him more, but just a playoff monster. Might be the most praised player I've seen across all players in the playoffs.
Reading through the decline of newspaper coverage is surreal. Into the early 70s, the coverage is fantastic. But it slowly declines. Local coverage is gone from some cities and is copy-pasted from somewhere else. By the mid 90s its weak and by the 2005 lockout is really bad. Even the difference between 1995 and 2000 is stark.
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The Pale King
Go easy on those Mango Giapanes brother...
I'm right there with you. I was wondering if there was a mistake and I was left off the list (the blank spot next to Quick's highest position?) but I cracked the list in a big, BIG way, being the highest on our 126th ranked goalie, Gary Smith (who I had at 73). Groundbreaking stuff!
Bear of Bad News
"The Worst Guy on the Site" - user feedback
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Professor What
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MXD
Partying Hard
- Oct 27, 2005
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seventieslord
Student Of The Game
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