HOH Top 60 Goaltenders of All Time (2024 Edition) - Round 2, Vote 2

[Michael Farkas]

Georges Vezina

Pros

• Remembered by most who saw him as the greatest goaltender of early hockey, and was considered the GOAT for decades

Clint Benedict -

Remembered by some as the best of his era

Chuck was inducted into the 1945 inaugural class of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was just an incredible goalie, the best of his generation, and without a doubt the best the game had seen up until that point.

All right, fellows...don't to be reductive, but which is it?


(also, awesome post @overpass - there's even notes about how they played! :swoon: )

 

[jigglysquishy]

My hold up on Gardiner is really centered around career length. His first two years the Blackhawks are awful and his stats aren't great. But in that third season you start to see references to him being the best goalie ever. How much do we weigh 5 all time great seasons? Well, we voted Sawchuk high.

On the other hand, Vezina's praise isn't as high but is consistent for 14 seasons. I think that in 1925 he had done enough to be the greatest goalie of all time.

Going over both Benedict's and Vezina's careers I'm confident with Vezina ahead.

Brimsek upsets this whole balance too. Lots of greatest all time quotes in his prime.

All are realistic candidates to go high this round.

 

[VanIslander]

Both Gardiner and Vezina were inducted in the inaugural class of 1945.

No goalie in the next class of inductees, nor the class thereafter, nor the class thereafter, nor the class thereafter.

Not until the boatload class of 1958 when Moran and Connell were inducted were early era goalies inducted.

So,... Gardiner & Vezina deserve to be spoken about in the same breath.

 

[VanIslander]

Benedict wasn't inducted in the first dozen classes.

(After 11 other goalies. It wasn't until 1966.)

Why not?

 

[Professor What]

Benedict wasn't inducted in the first dozen classes.

(After 11 other goalies. It wasn't until 1966.)

Why not?

I don't know, but I'd tend to think it was because of the drinking problem.